Captains log. Stardate 5 January 2016

We spent the day in York. Started off with a nice breakfast in the hotel and then a short drive to the park and ride at Monks Cross. A whole £2.80 each later and free parking we were on our way into town. First stop the information centre and then across the road to York Minster. A short wait for our guide and we discovered that the Minster was built on a previous Norman cathedral and Roman barracks. 

We had decided that the absence of rain meant we should climb up the tower, so 275 steps later we were on the top of the Minster. It was very narrow but the girl at the ticket desk assured us that we would fit in the spiral staircase (25 inches wide). The views were excellent and on a fine sunny day the horizon would have been in sight. The Minster has a flat tower as the weight was too much when they were building it in the 13 and 14 centuries. After getting down we continued our tour with the chapter house, having a short conversation on either side of the room, going down the undercroft and being lucky enough to view the church Christmas banners hanging in the Quire. "Ask and you shall receive", Diane wanted a look so asked and the verger let us up close to them. 

Upon leaving we walked around part of the Walls by the Minster to the next gate, Monkgate Bar. The short days meant we made the decision not to walk the whole wall as we still wanted to wander the streets. Good rampage, The Shambles, & Shambles Market led us to the worst cream tea in England. We then wandered a few more places before heading back to the Viking Loom embroidery shop and York Museum. We were expecting a textile exhibition but had chosen the wrong museum so went in anyway. A very interesting 75 minutes later we had been into the philosophical society reading room (where Stephanie read us the book about the Queens knickers)learnt all about extinct species (including a Moa), Viking treasure and more Viking, Roman and Tudor facts- did you know Henry VIII waist was 52 inches when he died at 59 years.

A final stop at the info centre and we went to the oldest pub for an early dinner. Quite nice. Back on our bus and to Monks Cross we decided to go into the shopping centre and did a bit of retail therapy including dessert from Marks and Spencer (where you can buy your 5+ a day prepackaged).