Days 10 and 11, June 7-8 - A weekend in York

On Saturday morning, we took about a 3 hour drive up to York. The UK does this cool thing where instead of doing the usual rental car thing, you can do what is called a zip car. The company sends you an email where your car is parked and gives you a scanner. When you find the car, you put the scanner up to a barcode on the windshield of said car, and it unlocks for you, with the keys inside! Pretty nifty. It also took me a while to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. I wasn't driving, thank god, or I would have kept turning to the wrong side of the road lol. When we got to York, it was raining pretty good, the usual rainy and dreary UK weather. We stayed at a little B&B called Heworth Court. Once we got our things settled, we walked down to the main town center. It isn't too big of a town, but it is encircled by a huge wall (reminded us of GoT). After walking along the wall, we went into town and walked through the streets. We got to see where Guy Fawkes was born and grew up as well! 

                    

Later, we found a pub called Ye Olde Starre Inn (I think). There I finally got to have fish and chips! It was really good and really filling. I also had a delicious Swedish cider. We walked around some more afterwards and found The Shambles. It is an ancient street of the Butchers of York. It takes the name from the word 'Shamel', meaning the stalls or benches on which the meat was displayed. Honestly, that place looked more like Diagon Alley than in London. Then we headed into the Golden Fleece pub, which is the most haunted pub in York. There, we got some more brews and had dessert. Then, before the sunset, we headed over to the Castle Area, and viewed the York Castle. It is known that on Friday, March 16, 1190, some 150 Jews and Jewesses of York sought protection in this castle from a mob. They chose to die at each other's hands rather to renounce their faith. I thought that was really interesting. We went back towards the B&B at this point, and went to another pub 2 doors over from it called The Shoulder of Mutton. There we had several drinks and watched a fútbol game late into the night. It was upon going to bed where I started to feel really unwell. My throat got really sore and it was hard for me to stay asleep. 

The next morning, on Sunday, I woke up feeling even worse and very tired. We went to breakfast downstairs, and it got some hot tea and orange juice, which helped a bit. Once we walked into town, Scott and I went off and explored nearby gardens and ruins. 

   

Then I had to find a pharmacy to get medicine and lots of water because I was feeling really under the weather. It was nice to get some Sudafed right over the counter. We then ate lunch at a really coo, Japanese restaurant called Yo! Sushi. You sit at a booth, and plates of food are on a conveyer belt and you can just pick up what you think looks good. Each plate has a different color, and those colors stand for specific prices. When you're done, they will count up your plates and add everything up. This place is very dangerous, but so delicious! After lunch, we headed back to London. Needless to say, I passed out mainly the whole trip back. Those meds came in handy.