York

We went to York. Not New York — just York.

Until the beginning of the week, the city had apparently still been affected by flooding, which we could partly see on the drive there. But today the sun was peeking through the clouds, and we got to enjoy a wonderful day in what is supposedly the most beautiful medieval city in the kingdom.

We started with a short guided tour and then had about four hours to explore the city on our own. I lost my “usual” group, so I joined a group of French girls instead. First we wandered through the city center, then visited the tower, walked through the pedestrian zone, and briefly stopped by the Viking Museum. The entrance fee was fairly expensive, but even more “discouraging” was the fact that the museum tries to recreate the Viking era as authentically as possible — including the smells.

For lunch, we ate in a small pub rather than the recommended one. Waiting an hour for lunch seems a bit silly to me when there are perfectly good alternatives.

The finale — and the highlight — was chocolate. We visited a chocolate museum with a small café, where we warmed up again with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and brownies.