York, part 2

I didn't have a lot of trouble waking up at 5:30 to catch the 7:00 bus to York Sunday morning; when I know I have to be somewhere, my body doesn't fight the early morning sunrises too badly. The National Express bus dropped me off in York right at 9:00. I knew nothing would be open that early on a Sunday. The Golden Arches of McDonald's invited me in, where I people-watched for an hour until the service at York Minster started. I had never been to a Catholic service before so I wasn't entirely sure of what I was getting myself into; it turned out to be a really cool experience! As the choir sang, I couldn't help but tear up. I knew this would be the last time I'll ever be in a cathedral for a reeeeally long time. There's just something about listening to the sounds of the choir bounce off the ceilings and high arches that just gets me. There was an older gentlemen who started off the service and introduced the priest, and surprisingly both of them had a sense of humor (I was definitely not expecting to laugh during a catholic church service in a 1000-year-old cathedral!). After the service we enjoyed free coffee and tea in one of the chamber rooms, and I head out to hit the town for a bit more shopping and exploring.

Although I had been there once before, I remembered that the streets of York are ridiculously complicated to navigate, so I grabbed a map from the tourist information office. I walked around part of the outer city walls and was greeted with some pretty views of York Minster and some gardens. Then I just started wandering all the streets, popping in and out of thrift stores, charity shops, and places to get souvenirs. Munching on some apples and breakfast bars supplemented me throughout the day. While I was in the York City Art Gallery, I ran into a lady from Morgantown, NC who was visiting her daughter in Leeds (yay North Carolinians!). Because I've gotten so used to English accents, American accents stick out like a sore thumb (and to think -- that's what I sound like. Eek!). After perusing the gallery, I walked around the outer walls on the other side of the city.

My friend Allison from back home hadn't texted me or messaged me back since I first talked to her, so I was just really hoping I'd run into her group somewhere. After staying in hostels all throughout Europe I learned just how limited Internet access can be if you don't live there. Much to my astonishment, I stumbled upon the big group from App while they were on the tail-end of a walking tour of the city. They had a group dinner planned afterwards and I didn't want to impose on them, so I said my goodbyes and finished wasting time in the city for a few more hours. As is typical in England, all of the shops closed at 4 or 5, so after grabbing dinner at Subway I just hung out in a few pubs until my bus left at 10. Even though I didn't get to see Allison except for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, it was still really cool to run into so many people from my school 4000 miles away. Tomorrow they're going to Stratford for a few days (which is near London), then they're doing Paris for 6 days, then they're heading back to England until June 4. I know she's definitely going to have a good time! Although I was by myself for a large portion of the day, it was nice to enjoy the city of York without freezing to death or getting snow dumped on me. My next big trip won't be til the week before I leave; I'll be traveling throughout England and staying with a couple girls from CU. It's gonna be great!