CHAPTER FOUR: Stepping It Up In York
July 4, 2022
CHAPTER SIX: Final Day In York – Minster, Merchant & Mansion
July 12, 2022Surviving Mai Tai Tom’s “Royal” Blunder: 2022 England & Scotland
CHAPTER FIVE: An Incident In York & Hitting The Walls
Day Five: Five-Star Garden, High Chairs, No Manors, Hitting The Wall, Not On The Money, A Crucial Mistake In Judgement, Running Into An Old Royal Friend, Fawkes’ Church, Getting On Track, Elusive Europcar, Can I See Your License Again, Hitting The Wall (Part Two), Trembling Again, Not A Cosy Place, Return To Italy & Where’s My Purse?
The morning started innocently enough with a tasty breakfast spread at St. Raphael’s Guesthouse.
Eggs Benedict, some pancakes, and we were on our way to see more of York.
We took a back alley shortcut and within about five minutes we were at the entrance to the Yorkshire Museum Gardens.
The gardens were established in the 1830s and it’s a quiet respite in what can be a very crowded town. Lots of colorful flowers and plants for Tracy to take photo upon photo.
A nice backdrop here are the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, which at one time many centuries ago “was one of the most largest and most important abbeys in England.”
The gardens and abbey are free to visit.
Whenever oversized chairs are included in our trips, you get can bet photos will be taken … no matter how goofy they are. Had I attempted to do what Kim and Mary accomplished, I probably would have needed hours to extricate myself.
We walked by the 13th century ruins of St. Leonard’s Hospital, which at one time was one of the largest hospitals in Northern England.
Our first disappointment of the day was when we learned that King’s Manor, a 15th century building originally constructed for the abbots of St. Mary’s Benedictine monastery, was closed due to Covid. It now comprises the York University archeology department, and we had been told not to miss it as it houses a collection of Henry VIII artifacts (although I could not confirm that online).
Above the doorway is the Coat of Arms for Charles I, the son of James I and VI in Scotland (remember, he’s the same guy). He stayed here a couple of times in the 1630s. Charles also introduced the unicorn (supporter of Scotland) into the Royal Coat of Arms (the lion is the supporter of England).
Onward and upward onto the city walls of York. We entered at the Bootham Bar. Even on a rather overcast day, the views of York Minster in the distance with the greenery surrounding the area was quite spectacular.
There was a lovely outdoor seating area that we learned was part of the Gray’s Court Hotel. From the wall, Tracy chatted up the hotel gardener who was working in the hotel herb garden.
After exiting the wall at Monk’s Bar on our way to the Treasurer’s House, we stopped by the hotel where the concierge gave us a whirlwind tour of the hotel. We guessed it was above our pay grade. A few minutes later we learned that the Treasurer’s House is closed on Thursday and Friday. Yes, bad planning on my part, but this must be the only attraction closed on those particular days.
We continued on towards the York Minster …
… and made our way toward another sight on my list, the York Mansion House. So far the day had been relaxing, and to to tell the truth, a little boring. That would soon change. As we approached St. Helen’s Square where the York Mansion House is located, a crowd was slowly gathering. 
Soon both sides of the street were awash in people waiting for some type of parade to begin. But I still wanted to visit the Mansion House. Standing in the square, I saw some movement inside the Mansion House. “Great, there are people in there,” I told my cohorts, “I’ll go over to make sure it’s open while you guys stay here.” In a few minutes, they were very happy they had stayed put.
I wove my way through the masses, darted across the street (it’s not very wide, so “darted” might be an overstatement) and soon I was standing at the front door of the Mansion House attempting to open it a few times in vain. Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, someone asked Mary what I was doing. After her reply, she was told, “He can’t go in inside, Princess Anne is in there!”
Oblivious to my predicament, I was approached by a York Police officer, who looked and sounded like he was in command. He inquired, “What are you doing? You can’t go in there it’s closed.” He was friendly enough, but he had that look in his eyes that said if I did something stupid I would soon be face-planted in St. Helen’s square. Hoping beheading was not still legal in York, I told him my story, and I think at this point he realized I was not a senior citizen terrorist. (The bruises and bandaids on my arm from getting out of a taxi in a hurry in London may have given me away.) “Come back tomorrow,” he said sternly but politely, “it will be open then.”
As I walked back to Kim and Mary, I saw people giving me quite a perplexing look. I had not seen local citizenry stare at me this way since I accidentally drove on the pedestrian town square in Trevi, Italy. “What’s going on I asked?” I was then told the “visitors” I had seen in the Mansion House were actually Princess Anne and her entourage. Oops.
Digression: This episode was not our first run-in with the Princess Royal. While visiting Edinburgh in 2017, we were shut out of a visit to Holyrood Palace as she was in residence. Then we saw her later at an event at Princes Street Gardens. When Tracy got a little too close while taking photos (below), Anne’s security guard gave Tracy what can only be called “The Royal Look.”
On this occasion Princess Anne was in York to review the troops during the Freedom Of York Parade. That duty would have normally been taken care of by the Duke of York, but as we would find out, Prince Andrew is persona non grata in York these days and has been stripped of his Freedom of the City title. The people were genuinely very receptive and appreciative to Anne. Kim and Tracy got some nice photos of Anne walking with the Lord Mayor of York.
I think she’s saying here to a military person, “Did you see that idiot trying to get into the Mansion House? I think he’s the guy from 2017.”
After taking photos of her reviewing the troops …
… Tracy and I ducked into St. Michael-Le-Belfrey church in case the locals came after me with pitchforks. This is the church where Guy Fawkes was baptized in April of 1570.
It was constructed between 1525 and 1536, and has a beautiful gilded reredos completed in 1712.
The stained glass window on the left has a panel showing St. Michael in action (panel on the left). I always have to have a St. Michael sighting on trips, because, after all, he did save my life in 2010.
We walked back through town …
… and eventually came upon St.-Martin-Le-Grand, a church that would not be open while we visited.
In 1942, the church was leveled during a bombing raid and was restored in 1961. The clock replaced the original one built in 1668.
We passed by The House of Trembling Madness (sure, now we can find it) …
… and decided to take a long walk to the National Railroad Museum, since it was located in the vicinity of where we would pick up our rental car. The museum happens to be the largest railway museum in the world.
The museum is free, and if you like trains this is a place to get on track.
Of course, there are more than trains here to peruse like these signs taking you to other destinations.
Not knowing the cost of a ticket, I asked the gang, “What would be the Scarborough fare?” Not surprisingly, I was met with the sound of silence.
None of us are huge train aficionados, but this museum held our interest. The saloons (salons) of queens were on display. This one was Queen Mary’s, wife of King George V.
The Queen Elizabeth saloon, one of nine royal carriages at the museum, operated between the 1940s and 1970s had armor plating to provide protection from bombs. On an overnight excursion, the train was put inside a tunnel as an additional precaution.
My favorite train on display was Gladstone.
It was built in 1882 for Queen Victoria, and many believe this is the “jewel of the entire collection.”
Coincidentally, so was Topaz.
The Duchess of Hamilton is a preserved 1938 steam locomotive.
I wondered when you climb aboard the Mallard, do you have to duck?
Finding the Europcar rental location was so difficult, even the information desk at the nearby train station had no idea where it was located. Finally, we found it in a warehouse with a very, very small sign. It took us an additional ten minutes to find the door, but that wouldn’t be the only part of the wait. The rental guy needed to see all the potential drivers driver’s licenses not once, not twice, but three times. Luckily, that was a charm, and after nearly an hour, our chauffeur Kim took the wheel and drove us to St. Raphael.
The skies had cleared and it was now a gorgeous afternoon, so while Kim and Mary rested, Tracy and I decided to replicate our wall walk to see how everything looks on a sunny afternoon.
It was well worth the effort. The day was warm, and the York Minster glowed in the sunlight.
Seeing the Fat Badger reminded me we hadn’t eaten lunch. I asked Tracy if she wanted to eat here, and she replied, “We don’t need no stinkin’ Badgers.” Her having to watch Blazing Saddle 100 times paid off.
The Great Gatsby crowd was outside enjoying afternoon tea (and other libations) at Gray’s Court.
We were glad to get an opportunity to walk the walls with better weather.
Part of the Minster was under scaffolding, but it still looked grand. We’d see the interior tomorrow.
We walked by a memorial to those who perished in the Anglo-Boer War.
Where was this booth when we were climbing Clifford’s Tower yesterday? The people in this building might have come in handy if things had gone more awry earlier.
You can’t miss the Minster from almost any part of town.
Many of the stores were stocking up on Platinum Jubilee items.
The Queen was featured everywhere.
We liked this sign to enter Harkers, but we had a sister restaurant of yesterday’s pub to visit.
We texted Kim and Mary to meet us at the Trembling House of Madness’s other York location.
This one is a little more upscale, with a nice dining area, too (below photo from internet).
Ah, gin and tonic after 100 miles of walking tastes good.
We quietly walked past the scene of the near crime this morning.
We headed down to Fossgate for dinner at a restaurant called Cosy.
There was a line to enter, but we thought it sent out a strange type of vibe, and Cosy didn’t seem very cozy to us, so we bailed.
After much discussion, we split up for dinner. Mary and Kim went to Forest, while we made our way back to Lucia and scored the last table on the patio. The meal was again great.
On our way back, we took a couple of photos, and after settling in for the night thanked my lucky stars that my brief encounter with the York police turned out the way it did.
Kim and Mary also enjoyed enjoyed a good night’s sleep, however, upon awaking, Mary came to the realization she’d left her purse at Forest the previous evening, complete with their passports and credit cards. Hopefully, the purse and all its belongings would still be there?
Tomorrow, after we found out about Mary’s purse, we’d join a tour at England’s largest Gothic cathedral, check out a medieval guild hall, have a spot of tea in its courtyard, finally visit the scene of the near crime (sans Anne), take a little river walk and have the best steak I’ve ever eaten in Europe. We’d then have the perfect ending to our stay in York
Next – CHAPTER SIX – Final Day In York: Minster, Merchant & Mansion
Day Six – Phew!, I Forgot My Tux, Hitting the “Pavement,” Medieval Merchants, I Hope She’s Not Here, Not Even Close To Sunset Dinner and Somewhere Over The Rainbow
