A sunny day in England... finally

Yesterday we arose bright and early and had our first English breakfast in the hostel, which was very similar to the American breakfast with a couple substitutions. Then we took a private bus ride to Fountains Abbey where Leah gave the rest of us a splendid tour. Fountains Abbey is an old church with no roof that monks would stay and study at. We came back to the hostel for a short time and purchased our tickets for the Jorvik Viking center which we went to later on in the day. Next we went a bank in downtown York because all of us were in need of cash from an ATM. After that, we had our first experience in an English pub. Many of us ordered burgers and didn't recieve the vegetables on top of the burger, but we survived. Next, we made our way to the Jorcik Viking Center which gave us a short history of what the area around York used to be like and displayed many artifacts found in and around this area. We took a short walk to a Merchant's House in downtown York. Next we went to Clifford's Tower which was a tower that used to be part of a castle. The tower was on top of a hill and we could see much of the city from that height. It was beautiful. Then we were released on our own into York and many of decided to go to a local grocery store and purchase items for a spaghetti dinner.

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Today: Cassidy, Emily and I woke up early and came into York hoping to go to an internet cafe, but not being able to find one that was open. So we got to do a little shopping and more exploring of the city on our own. Then we were given a tour of York Minister, which is by far my favorite cathedral thus far. All of us students climbed to the top of the central tower and were rewarded with a fantastic view of the city, this time much much higher than Clifford's tower as previously mentioned. We were released for lunch where we broke off into groups to get whatever sort of food we wanted. We went to another historical building in York only to find that it was already closed for the day, so we went to the Yorkshire Museum. This gave us an idea of how York came to be what is it today. Later on tonight we are going to a service at the cathedral and then possibly a haunted ghost tour of York.

As Emily said, it is very nice today in York and is finally finally not raining, something which all of us are very thankful for. There is no need to walk around with our raincoats and umbrellas anymore, and no more avoiding puddles.

I hope all is well back in the states, and I know all of us are having an amazing trip thus far. We will try to keep you posted over the next couple of days, but I am unsure of how much internet access we will have in Northern England. Internet is expensive here, so we try to get everything done really fast, so I apologize for spelling mistakes and other errors.

--Stephanie