The Warehouse
Close to the city centre we went to a dark, old looking warehouse that seemed to sell all sort of junk. Second-hand army jackets, leather suitcases in various stages of decay, old furniture, rusty bicycles, untuned pianos, dusty lamp shades, silver rings, random trinkets... When we had a slightly closer look not all of this “junk” could be bought for a few quid. Close to the entrance was a locked cabinet with old books costing up to £400 and next to it a piece of T-Rex bone could have been ours for £28. Little archaeological artifacts such as mini statues and old Roman coins covered a very wide price range.The Little Garden
There are so many little corners and alleys in York that I’d have trouble finding this garden again. It branched off one of the main roads and was pretty dinky! In essence it was an alleyway which was decorated with customised soft pots for flowers. I thought they were quite pretty especially when you don’t have much space in your garden you can get some lovely effects when they’re put together right. I have put this on my “to try one day” list. The Shambles
Hardly a secret gem, ‘The Shambles’ is generally considered to be the most well preserved medieval street in the world. The buildings are from the 14th and 15th century when it was still a butcher’s lane. Not one roof seems to be quite straight. The overhanging buildings protected the meat from direct sunlight and the pavements are slightly raised to wash away the blood from the doorsteps. In 1086 William the Conqueror mentioned ‘The Shambles’ in his Doomsday book and by now it has made it into countless tourist guides. I would have tried reaching the left and right side of the alley with outstretched arms, which is apparently possible in parts, but I think I would have vexed a lot of people. So it'd be nice to go there once all shops are closed to properly take it in without bumping into someone. There are plenty of quirky little shops as well as slightly more touristy ones to browse through if you have the patience and don’t mind a crowd. I was feeling quite zen that day and managed to “float” through the crowd. Well, until I started to get hungry anyway.
The National Railway Museum
Filled with curry and coffee (we didn’t have those at the same time), we made our way to the National Railway Museum. Like most museums in the UK it is free but you are asked if you want to give a £3 donation, however this is entirely voluntary. My train knowledge is limited and my feet were pretty tired from walking around town all day so I only remember one carriage and two trains in more detail. Queen Victoria’s carriage is situated in an inactive train station among many other royal and more common carriages. I do love the Victorian Age so seeing the carriage she used to travel in was really exciting. Inside everything was blue! As we went into the great hall we saw the Mallard. On 3 July 1938 it set a world record as the fastest steam train when it reached a speed of 126mph on Stoke Bank! The astonishing thing is that to this day the Mallard’s record is still unbroken. Next to the Mallard stood a Shinkansen Japanese bullet train. Shinkansen is a highspeed railway network in Japan and the driving car in the museum is a 0 series model, which was the first series. These trains could reach a speed of 130mph and later even 137mph. The 0 series retired in 2008 but can look back on a 44 year long history. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that the train didn’t stick in my mind because of its impressive stats but because the word Shinkansen reminded me of the German word Schimpansen (chimpanzees).Once we had seen enough trains we bought a few essentials we couldn’t bear to leave behind in the city centre before all the shops closed. This included a bottle of Lindisfarne mead, tasty pasties and my newly discovered favourite thing: cinder toffee. Pasty and toffee have long disappeared but the mead is still sitting in the fridge waiting to be opened...
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