Our Trip to York

Jackie and I went to York today, on a school organized trip via bus. In case you didn't know, York is about 3hrs north west of Wolverhampton. We had a very hot and crowded bus ride with 62 other students, all speaking either French or Chinese....and some didn't wear deodorant! I am still getting over being carsick in buses because no one likes to stop ahead of time, all the drivers stop at the last darn second and the whole bus lurches forward. also, England is made up of traffic circles, which are quite complicated with people circling and huge buses trying to enter the circle. So, we were glad to be off the darn bus.
York is considered the most haunted city in England, and has a ton of Roman and Norman history. There is the biggest cathedral basilica North of the Alps, called York Minster. It is this huge gorgeous chruch that has been built upon old Roman ruins, then old Norman ruins, and parts of the church have been in existence since 1100AD. Constantine was proclaimed emperor on the space the church sits on (old Roman buildings) in 308AD....so, pretty cool. We started to take a free tour, but we could hardly understand this old guy who was giving it. He had the absolute hairiest eyebrows and ear fluff I have ever seen! His accent was so thick and he didn't talk loud...so, we just made our own tour. There are apparently, amazing stained glass windows, still in existence in the church since 1200ad. Beautiful. The church also has tombs of a bunch of people...old archdeacons, people who gave money to the church, etc. Also, St. William's remains are entombed in the crypt in the undercroft. We couldn't take pictures of that, but, there is a little area devoted to him down there. Also in the undercroft, there is basically, a tour of this large archeological site that goes through the levels of where the Roman ruins are, then the Norman ruins, then the Saxon...it was cool.
After the church, we went around to all the lovely stores. The town is so little and quaint and has the cutest stores of all kind! Also, restaurants. Jacks and I didn't want to spend a long time in a restaurant due to time, so we got a panini and a Meat pie...very tasty. So, all in all, York was cute. We had to be back at the bus at 515, so, we spent a good 5 and 1/2 hrs there. We couldn't wait to get off the darn bus on the way home. Here are pictures from our day....tomorrow, we are shopping in Birmingham, possibly going to the Cadbury cream egg factory, and the German Christmas Market! Talk to you soon!



I know these are sideways, but I can't figure out how to change them!!
This is a picture of us at the bottom of the steps to this huge really old viking lookout! It is dark, but somehow, our camera made it look lighter.....really cool.