Jul 22 - Out and About

I spent a great day with Allan and Christine but not until the bike was assembled and I'd had a short ride.  In this case, that ride was with accompaniment -- James, a friend of theirs.  We only did 15 miles but it felt good to stretch my legs.  If the weather holds, I might get out again tomorrow with him and "Wheel Easy", their bike club, but at this point the prediction is a bit dicey, could be heavy rain.

After that it was lunch time and then we set off for the city of York.   We did several of the main attractions of York, but not together.  Allan and I went to the Convent first, Allan having given me the history of the lady who started it, was deemed a heretic for not knuckling under to the Catholic Church but eventually she seems on her way to Sainthood.

Next came the train museum, a real working train turntable where each offshoot of the turntable has an old, some very old, steam engine.  Up to a couple of weeks ago, the last six surviving Mallard 75's were there, one being the "Dominion of Canada" brought over for the exhibit.   The DofC was still there and of course we have the obligatory pictures :).

Next, and the longest part of the day, was a walk around the perimeter of the walled city - on the top of the wall.  That was a brisk hour-and-a-half walk covering about 2 miles.  It takes longer because of steps up and down at the gates, other walkers, photo-taking, etc. etc.  Allan was a little winded; we were both hot and sweaty by the end.  It's a medieval stone wall varying in height from about six feet to twenty.  There are a couple of sections missing -- one area where it was marsh back in the day, which provided protection for the city and another area where it had been torn down to make way for housing construction before they smartened up, luckily only 300 yards.

Meanwhile, Christine had been taking in another of the city's attractions -- shopping.  She was looking for new sandals but didn't find anything that she liked.

We met for dinner at the Assembly House, now turned into a chain Italian restaurant.  It was quite good -- Christine having a ravioli; Allan Lasagna and me a wonderful risotto.

Back home, we caught the news of the Royal Baby and I hit the sack.   Of course my body is still on EDT so I read until almost midnight.  I did sleep well though, until after 6am, so perhaps I'm adjusting.

Today we are supposed to visit Harry and Eric.  Sandy and I saw Eric when we came over to the U.K. a couple of years ago but have not seen Harry since the last time that he and Marjorie visited us in Radnor PA with my Mom and Dad.

Onward ...