England Day Eight and Nine: York, and Endings

Old York Old York! The one place from my first trip to north England that I specifically requested to repeat visit. I was absolutely enraptured by this city with its cobblestone walking streets, upper stories that lean out into the streets as if sharing gossip with each other, and the snickelways, each of them named in strange and unusual ways.

My ensemble for this day was my favorite one of the trip, I felt so cute! I jokingly called the look “Anne of Green Fables, and Gilly countered with “Faun of Green Gables,” so we’ll mash them together for “Faun of Green Fables.” (Don’t you dare take that name! I may just use it somewhere.) I wore my new straw horns from Mayqueen Crafts that I preordered to have mailed to Bryony while I was there, rackishly wrapped on my new straw hat, with my new to me courderoy dress, goblin skirt hikes on my belt, and trusty brown boots.

We drove to Gilly’s place and left the car, taking a bus into the downtown York area. Our stop was Mickelgate, where Gilly led us to a 13th century chantry house with a gorgeous carved wooden front awning/porch piece. (Jacob’s Well) We were taking pictures of the details when we noticed a gentleman was standing nearby waiting. Apparently he was the caretaker of the place and needed to get in the door. And he invited us to tour the building as well! What magical timing!

He told us some of the history, and we oogled the gorgeous old wooden beams. My highlight was this unusual design of beams in one corner of the ground floor.

From there, we went to breakfast at a cute little café, where I got a full English that unfortunately didn’t agree with me very well later in the day. I have all sorts of chronic stomach issues though, so it probably had nothing to do with the quality of the food. And the waitress told us all we had a very Florence (Welch) look, so I can’t be mad. Before we left, I popped a little donation in the box and got three different British bird badges from a charity fund.

By the time we finished our meal, Ali and Matt had arrived, and we all meandered the various snickelways together. One, Nether Hornpot Lane, especially amused Bryony, which amused the rest of us.

Although there was no time again to visit Barley Hall, we did stop by the gift shop, and I found a lovely little felted medieval unicorn ornament I purchased. (It’s hard to find medieval-style unicorns.)

The next stop was a little shop called Rookscroft & Company. It's an individual artist's shop who does art and felted pieces of anthropomorphic animals, and they pack so much whimsy into the square footage. I was charmed by the little vignettes you could peek in and see, especially the little tea shop nestled in the front desk. I bought two pins and a postcard, but I was quite tempted by much more than that.

We then proceeded to the Shambles, where I was surprised to see the queue for the York Ghost Merchants actually wasn't that bad. I didn't need more ghosts, but it was nice to walk by there again. We went to the Society of Alchemists, because I have a holiday perfume from there that I really love. It has excellent staying power, and I was hoping to find another scent I really liked for daily wear. But sadly none of them really spoke to me very strongly at all.

Next was our scheduled arrival time to do Jorvik, the Viking experience. Ali and Matt split off to go do some separate adventures, and Gilly and Bryony and I got in line.

After a short presentation in a room that was built on a Viking home, with glass floors to look down and see the excavated details, we got in line to get onto the main experience. It was a dark ride!! Bryony didn't realize it, but some of my favorite things at Disney are dark rides, especially old school ones. So I was delighted by the experience.

The last room has glass cases with real Viking artifacts, and I had a Viking coin "struck" for me as a gift for my friend Dave. As we left, the gift shop worker stopped us and said that we made his day with our "fabulous look." Aww!

Ali and Matt were in Waterstones, where Gilly works. (It must've been strange going in on a day off) We moseyed around and I found and bought a cozy fantasy title that wasn't on US Amazon so I suspect it might not be available here. (Lovely clock right down the street from Waterstones.

More charity shopping happened, and we found a collective for local artists where we all got book plates based on medieval marginalia and historical curses. Then we swung by the Minster Bookshop, which I was not warned about. Shelves full of actual Arthur Rackham and other golden age illustrated volumes.

By this point, we were feeling a bit worn, so we knew it was time to part ways. One last photo by a construction sign near the York Minster, which sadly I still didn't get to tour this trip. (Just saves something for next time) And we boarded the bus back to Gilly's.

On day nine, Bryony and her husband Bruce and their dog Thorin and I went back to Heptonstall for our scheduled meetup with the gallery owner to pick up Fen and Fionn. First we went on a walk in the woods down a steep set of stairs that have been there a long time and have a ton of character. It was a gorgeous walk, but by this point in the trip, I was struggling and felt bad that I was struggling. I'm glad I saw the beautiful views though.

When we got to the gallery (after Bryony got more vegan cheesecake next door!), the owner was wrapping up the faerie and their rabbit friend. And then it was time to pay. But she couldn't get her Square to connect. After several attempts, she asked me to pop down to the post office to see if I could get a cash advance on my credit card, which I've never tried to do and honestly I was quite nervous about because I've had issues with fees on my card for similar things. But the post office couldn't do it anyway since it was a foreign card. We walked back to the gallery, and my heart was sinking. After all this would I still not get to take them home?

But when we got there, she explained that her phone had been trying to connect to the wrong network, and she had resolved the issue. Oh my gosh, what a journey to get these two!

We dropped off Bruce and Thorin, and headed to Ilkley, where, on the last trip, we had gone to see Steeleye Span perform (one of the only days I didn't get to summarize from my 2023 trip!). We met up with Naomi when her bus arrived, and together we went to a perfume shop called Bath House, where we started smelling at all the amazing sample perfumes. Unlike the day before in York, I found several perfumes I thought were amazing, but it was one called Bracken and Stone that enraptured me. This is Bryony's signature scent, but she was gracious about my getting it if I wanted.

As we were sniffing sample papers, I had a jar of blackberry jam for Garett tucked under my elbow. Had. Until it slipped in slow motion and shattered all over the tile floor. I was absolutely mortified and shocked and embarrassed, and Naomi was a dearheart and wrapped me in a big hug and told me to breathe. She could tell I was really upset and panicking about it. The store employees were gracious...as gracious as they could be, trying to figure out how to clean up a half pint of sticky jam off of their minimalist, spotlessly clean floors. I apologized a million times. And we did all come back later and buy perfumes.

Garett met up with us, and we went to have tea at Betty's. I got egg sandwiches and the clotted cream and scones tea.

Then we just hopped in and out of the local charity shops and local stores. On the way home, we stopped by Booths, where I picked up some black truffle salt I've been enjoying since I got home. Naomi drove back with us and we dropped her off at her house, where she took us on a tour of her belfry (her art studio) and the work she's been doing there. It. Is. Amazing. And I cannot wait to see it all come to completion and be shared more widely!!

When Bryony and I got back to her place, Bruce packed up little Fen and Fionn, doing honestly some of the best packing work I've ever seen. I somehow managed to get all of my many many numerous souvenirs into my suitcase, though it was now inexpressibly heavy. After some deliberation, I decided to go ahead and get an Uber back to the airport the next morning rather than take the trains. Thinking of tugging that massive heavy suitcase across the gap just did not sound fun at all.

So that's what I did! The next morning, I had a lovely drive back to the airport, the Virgin employee helping me check in told me my luggage wasn't too heavy (phew) and then I hopped on a plane home, where I was able to sit in a row with no one else and watch Hamnet (good movie.)