York, England!

     So this past weekend was definitely my favorite part of this trip so far.  Eleven of us met to York for two nights (although we met with another person from the trip and her friend on Sunday).  So bright and early Saturday morning we got up and trekked down to the Ormskirk Train Station.  We caught the 8:06a train to Preston where we were supposed to switch to a train that would take us directly to York.  Unfortunately that train was cancelled and we wound up having to take a train to Manchester Piccadilly and then switch there to York.  We arrived in York around 11:20a which wasn't bad, and while changing trains a couple times was a pain it took about the same amount of time as it should have with the direct shot.  As soon as we arrived we headed to our various hotels to check in and drop off our luggage.  I stayed in the Warrens and I shared a room with Susan.  Kaitlin, Kelsey, and Emily were next door and two of the professors who came with us downstairs.  After getting settled in to the absolutely charming hotel we headed out to meet up with the others at York Minster.

     York Minster is the largest Cathedral in England and it really was impressive.  It was about a fifteen minute walk from our hotel but it was definitely worth it.  As soon as we got to the cathedral we realized how hungry we were so first we decided to grab a bite to eat at a pub.  After a decent meal we went into York Minster and looked around for a while.  It was very beautiful inside, but unfortunately many of my pictures did not come out well because of the lighting.  Anyways, after exploring the cathedral we went down into the crypt where we could see how it had changed over time.  Originally there was  a wooden church where York Minster now stands, but that burned down in the 700s.  The cathedral what we explored was erected sometime before 1000AD and underwent several changes.  It is a Gothic cathedral as evident just by glancing at the outside.  After going to York Minster we headed back to the hotel, but on the way we decided to stop at Betty's Tea Room.  It was delicious!  I had a cup of their house blend and a fruit tart with raspberry sauce and organic vanilla ice cream.  It was one of the most delicious desserts I have ever eaten.  After that we went back to the hotel where I spent the evening hanging out with the girls and professors in my hotel.  We watched Leap Year and just had girl talk.  It was great!

     On Sunday we got up around 9 (how nice it was to sleep in a bit) and went downstairs for the breakfast.  It was unlike any continental breakfast I had ever eaten!  They served a full traditional English breakfast and it was amazing.  I am not typically a breakfast person but I was craving it that day.  After breakfast we set out for Castle Howard, which is actually a really large mansion.  It was designed for Charles Howard the 3rd Earl of Carlisle.  It is still home to the Howard family and I am totally jealous!  I asked if they had a son and apparently they do... but he is 7 years old.  That seems a tad too young.  Anyways, when we got there we explored the house and it was very beautiful.  Although I'm not going to lie, having visited Versailles, Castle Howard really paled in comparison.  It was still a lot of fun to see though and a movie that I have yet to see, Brideshead Revisited, was filmed there which was kind of cool.  I'll have to see the movie now.  I have heard it wasn't that great, but Emma Thompson is in it so it can't be terrible!
     After looking around the house for a while we set out to explore the grounds.  We took our picture next to the large fountain behind the house and then wandered past the pond and through the woods.  We walked around the Temple of Four Winds which was a cute little stone building with a gorgeous view.  We then walked around the woods some more, and although the forecast had predicted rain it was a relatively nice day.  It occasionally sprinkled and it could have been a bit warmer but overall it was lovely.  The best part of the day however was when we went to Adventure Playground!  Yes, it is exactly as it sounds.  Earlier I had read about it on the pamphlet and had mentioned it to one of my professors, Carolina, who is definitely a kid a heart!  She readily agreed that we must go check it out and I must say it really exceeded all of our expectations.  We spent over an our sliding down slides, playing on teeter totters, and spinning around on some disk-thingy.  It was fantastic!  I have not laughed so hard in such a long time.  
     When we finally left the playground we were exhausted so we decided to head back to York and grab some dinner.  We ate a pub where I had steak and ale pie which was delicious!  I also tried a Stella which is a type of beer, but it was really bitter and actually quite disgusting.  After the pub some people went on a ghost hunt but I don't really believe in ghosts/care about that stuff so I went back with a few and took a nice hot shower and just relaxed.  I went to bed pretty early because we had to get up fairly early to head to Durham.

     Durham was so cool!  It is about 45 minutes from York and when I woke up I was a little iffy about going because I didn't see what was so exciting about it, but I soon discovered it was awesome!  The first thing we did when we got there was walk the 15 minutes to Durham Cathedral where we could take pictures in the same location that scenes from Harry Potter were filmed!!  Everyone was so excited because, well, we love Harry Potter!  It was awesome to be walking where they walked and I could even remember some of the scenes.  Here is the link to pictures from the Harry Potter scenes and then you can compare them to the pictures of me in Durham Cathedral: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/films/locations/durham.htm.  We took a bunch of pictures in the walk way and even went into the courtyard where we took a few pictures.  Another scene was filmed right in the courtyard and so it was cool to walk on the grass.  As it turns out though we were not supposed to be on the grass so we were asked to get off it pretty quickly.  The guy was really nice though and he told us about a few other scenes that were filmed in the cathedral, and although we couldn't go into the room where the filming took place we could look through a window.  I took a couple pictures but they didn't turn out that well.  He also informed us that when we had been lying in the grass in the courtyard we were actually lying on a graveyard which was a little creepy.
     After leaving Durham Cathedral we bought sandwiches and had a picnic out on the lawn.  It was a gorgeous day and it was nice just to lie back and relax for a little while.  Then we took a tour of Durham Castle which was really cool.  It is now a college and it is apparently pretty difficult to get into.  The tour was interesting and it is always fun to visit castles!  Now I am back in Ormskirk and should be sleeping because I have to get up and go to class in the morning.  We only have a few more days of classes and then head to London on Saturday.  I cannot wait!!  My birthday is one week from today!  
     I love and miss you all!