Headed North to Jorvik (York)

Today we are finally headed to York.  I have been looking forward to this for some time.  Our plan is to get to York today and do a quick walk about.  Then on Saturday check out the Jorvik Museum, the Minster, and the rest of York.  Saturday afternoon we are planning to head up to Whitby which is a village on the coast with great fish and chips.  Finally on Sunday we head back to St. Albans after breakfast.  That is the plan, we will see how it goes!

We got an early start leaving in the early afternoon to avoid some of the traffic.  Like most major cities in the US the Friday traffic heading out of town can tie up the motorways for hours.  Peter had his new GPS with the traffic alerts from the cell phone towers to break in on this trip which we hoped would take us around the worst of it.  It is 157 miles from St. Albans to York but with traffic we expected it to take 5+ hours.

The drive north was a great experience.  The UK version of rest area is kind of a combination rest area/truck stop in the US and they are quite frequent.  Each has petrol, food, and plenty of parking.  As we headed north the countryside started to have more hills and valleys.  It was quite beautiful, very green.

At Nottingham apparently is a large intersection of different motorways and can sometimes take more than an hour to get through.  The GPS took us off the highway, through some back roads and then back on the motorway.  In less then 15 minutes we were past.

We arrived in York in slightly under 4 hours, so excellent time and checked into our hotel.  I was anxious to get out and start exploring.  Just around the corner from our hotel was a section of the old city wall.  York is one of the few cities in England that still has most of it's old city wall nearly intact.  Most of the gatehouses are still standing as well. 

Having grown up playing D&D, as well as reading fantasy fiction, I have always been in love with Castles, City Walls, etc.  It was amazing to actually stand on one of these fortifications.  The battlements were higher then I expected.  In most films they only come up to chest height, but I could stand behind them and be fully covered.  I looked out and while not as high as I expected I could see how difficult it would have been to attack the walls.  I imaged patrolling them, looking out for barbarian raiders with the town safe behind the walls. 

We walked over most of the walls, even climbing through a couple of the gatehouses.  If I had done only this it would have made the trip worthwhile.  There was even more to do the next day.  While we were out exploring we checked on when the Jorvik Viking Center opened as well as a quick look at the York Minster.

We ate dinner at a carvery, which was quite good.  Still haven't found that horrible English food I keep hearing about.

Northerners ...

My dad had recommended that if I got the chance I should head to York.  He said with my love of history it was a "must see".  It was founded in 74 AD by the Romans and after the Romans left England it was taken over by the Vikings for a long period as well.  Needless to say this has given it a diverse and rich history.

I mentioned York to Peter, and it turns out he grew up there so offered to show me around.  I had also learned that just like in the US there are "Northerners" and "Southerners" in the UK.  There is quite a bit of disdain by both parties of the other.  Primarily the Northerners think the Southerners are "soft".

The Coaty McCoaterson story I think captures some of this :).

We are taking a half day this Friday and heading north, I can't wait!

There are good burgers in St. Albans

I took the burger judge (aka Peter) over to The Snug for a burger.  I had been warned by many people to not have a hamburger while over here as I would be very disappointed. 

I was in The Snug for cocktails (they have 2 for 1 on all their cocktails during happy hour).  Most people know my love for anything with fruit juice and alcohol.  I ran into one of the owners who had lived over in Canada for a time.  We were discussing the warning I had received and he insisted they had "good" burgers.  So I took the risk and ordered one.  I thought it was quite good, not the best but above average.

I wasn't sure though if perhaps it had been so long since I had had a hamburger that I needed a second opinion.  Peter had just returned from the US where he had some hamburgers so I felt his palate would be neutral.  We headed over and each had another hamburger.  My opinion was validated, they do indeed have good hamburgers.

So if your over visiting St. Albans and have a hankering for a decent burger check out The Snug.

In the new Flat - Finally!!!!

Just a quick note -

Finally made it into the Flat.  It is near the center of town at the top of the hill just off Lower Daganol street.  Two bedroom, two bath so plenty of room.  So nice to finally unpack.

Farmer's Market in Harperden

This Sunday I went to my first Farmer's Market in the UK.  Peter took me to the one in his town of Harpenden.  It was bigger then I expected but I soon learned that it basically travels between the various small villages/cities in the area.  They have them on different Sunday's of the month.

There was tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese, olives, bread, jams, etc.  We picked up some fruit, bread, and Sausage Rolls for later.  I was to be introduced to "pickle" as well.

First Oil Painting

For a long time I have enjoyed watching Bob Ross and his show about oil painting on PBS in the US.  I have wanted to try his method of paainting for over 20 years and when I got the opportunity to come to the UK I decided to send along my unused painting supplies rather then putting them into storage.


On a whim last week I decided to do a search on Google for "Bob Ross Certified Instructor St. Albans" and found Linda Peacock at Hidden-Talents who offers a class once a month.  I decided to sign up and today was finally the day to do my first Bob Ross oil painting, and my first oil painting that wasn't paint by numbers!

When I arrived I had all my supplies but had decided to not bring a lunch as it was only 6 hours and I had a Full English for breakfast.  When I arrived Linda asked if I had brought my "Kitchen Roll".  I didn't understand.  I asked Dana today what she thought a "Kitchen Roll" was and she got it right so clearly I'm just dense.

I thought they meant a roll, you know the kind you eat.  So I told Linda, "No I didn't bring a Kitchen Roll as I'm not hungry.  I had a full breakfast".  After much back and forth she finally went and got an example of a "Kitchen Roll".  Turns out it is a roll of paper towels.  So we had a good laugh about me being to hungry to bring my Kitchen Roll.

I thought my painting came out pretty good for the first time.

Definitly not PC

Nothing much happening this week as I am mostly just working.  I did want to make an observation though.  The UK is NOT PC.  It is refreshing watching the news.  People say what they think, if a politician doesn't like another politician they say so.

Watching the latest scandal around the phone hacking incident, I have seen their debates in the House of Commons.  When someone is speaking and makes a statement, if people in the audience disagree they make grumbling sounds.  It is so funny to watch, yet it also makes me think.

In the US we talk about our "Free Speech" yet often most of us are not free in our speech choosing instead to moderate it to not offend.  Our Congress acts like stuffy old men and women.  Yet we have this impression of the English as being the stuffy ones.  It must be the accent!

The other thing I have noticed.  Not only are people polite and apologize, but so does the police, companies, and government.  In a recent case a woman was killed by her x-boyfriend.  She had sought help from the police and courts but they moved to slow.  The police department actually apologized to her family and stated they were investigating.  In the US this wouldn't happen for fear of admitting responsibility and liability.