I woke up after one of the best sleeps I've had on this holiday. It's was early, but I felt refreshed. After breakfast my first plan was to have one last go at photographing some of the older buildings in the city and then explore some more of the wall. 

Capturing the feel of the buildings is challenging. The streets are so narrow its often difficult to fit the whole building in and the streets are so dark that the contrast created by any light makes getting the right light balance tedious. I got some shots that I think will come out all right in post processing, but these two are OK as they are. The second one is meant to show just how ramshackle some of the buildings are. 

I picked up the wall from the eastern side and followed it around. It was still early in the morning and there were some great views. The wall is fascinating to walk and it's punctuated by gates and towers.

It was a beautiful clear morning and by the time I'd walked around the wall I was getting warm so I popped back to the apartment to change into lighter clothes. Then it was back to visit the Merchants Hall I had seen on my wall walk. It was built in the 1400s and was a guild hall for merchants. 

Somewhere on my walks I came across these cute goslings. There are quite a few geese in the rivers of York. I'm not fond of geese so I always make sure to keep my distance. 

From the Merchant Hall I made my way to Clifford's Tower. This used to be part of a castle. 

After grabbing some lunch I made my way to the main destination for the day - the National Railway Museum. 

They have a series of Royal carriages. This was the setting inside one of them.  Luxury.

They even have an authentic bullet train from Japan.

And some historic British trains. 

Probably the most fascinating was this cutaway steam train. I never realised that the round tank at the front contained all those pipes. I'd assumed it was just hollow. 

I spent quite a few hours wandering around before buying some great things from the shop. One is a book of transit system maps from around the world. It may sound a bit boring but I think some of these maps are mini works of art. I've always been a fan.

After popping back to the apartment again to drop of my purchases I walked my aching feet to one last destination - the York Museum. I had considered giving it a miss but I figure tomorrow is a train day and my feet can rest then. 

The museum was really well presented and gave a great insight into the history of York from prehistory, to Roman, Viking, Anglo and Norman. I took a photo of this tile because of the stamp. It just made it a whole lot more personal and real to think that someone placed that stamp there 2,000 years ago. 

That was a jam packed day. My feet aren't talking to me right now but I will rest them. Tomorrow I head on to the Lake District. 

Today I visited the National Railway Museum. At numerous times I experienced a feeling of nostalgia. Seeing this picture was just one of those occasions. The rounded booths selling newspapers and refreshments seem so familiar. But the reality is I've probably never seen them in real life.

As a kid I was into trains and making models. The catalogues all contained English and European railway scenes and I think I grew up with those scenes imprinted in my memory rather than those of Australia. 

It felt weird to feel so nostalgic about something I've only experienced secondhand. 

One of the reasons for staying in apartments during some of this trip was so I could do some washing. Last night I put on a load. By the time I went to bed it was still going. I went to bed anyway, thinking it would finish soon. This was about 9:00pm. I was tired and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke around 1:00am the washing machine was still going!  I reckon it got itself stuck in some kind of loop. I tried changing the cycle to drain the machine but it just kept filling itself up. So I turned the water inlet tap off. Finally, the machine drained. I was able to spin the load but I couldn't get the drier to work. I went back to bed to leave it for the morning. This morning I tried again with no success. I was going to have to dry the clothes in the room. I was worried that might take a while so I cranked up the heating. 

I wanted to visit York Minster today, so after messing with the washing machine and having my breakfast I headed out. I intended to be there ready for opening time at 9:00am. 

In the early morning I was able to walk through the city. I discovered a number of narrow streets lined with quaint shops in varying styles, some dating back to the 1400s. With hardly anyone around, it should have been the perfect time for pictures but the light wasn't very helpful. I took better pictures when I came back later in the day. 

There are lots of sweet shops. 

When I got to York Minster it was hard not to be impressed by the grandeur. It was equally hard to fit into one photograph! As I marvelled at the size I reflected on how much more imposing it would have been in the 1400s when it was finished and the buildings around it would still have been small. 

As impressive as the scale of the building is, the architecture has an unsettling side to it. I couldn't help seeing the structure as an instrument of power and control over the people. 

Inside was equally as impressive. Again, it was difficult to capture the scale in a single picture and what should be the most cavernous part was inaccessible due to stage and seating being constructed for upcoming performances. Nonetheless, I managed to see most of it. These are only a few of the shots I took. 

Beneath the Minster is a crypt with interesting artifacts including parts of earlier Roman buildings. 

It was possible to climb the 276 steps to the central tower, which of course I did. The steps were really narrow all the way up. 

Half way up we walked along the roof line. Check out those flying buttresses.  

The views were spectacular. 

In one direction I could zoom in to make out the silhouette of a massive power station on the horizon. 

I ended up spending a couple of hours in the Minster. Longer than I'd expected. Afterwards I walked back through the streets which were busier by now. There is an open air market, part food and part crafts. I bought a little print of a painting by a local artist. 

At some stage I needed to pick up tickets for my next train trip on Wednesday. I had purchase them in Australia but needed to pick them up from the station. I also need to reserve seats. Unfortunately, I accidentally left my credit card in the machine (more about that in another post).

I rang the apartment agency regarding the washing machine. They were understanding and are trying to get someone to look at it. They gave me some tips on how I might be able to get the load I've done dry and they're drying nicely now. It will be nice to have some clean clothes.

Around 2:30pm I made my way to the river to join a 45 min river cruise. It took us a little way along the river in each direction. The guide was very informative, but there wasn't an awful lot to see that I hadn't already seen on foot. 

I spent the remainder of the day wandering around, taking more photos. I won't post them here due to slow wifi. 

All things considered, it was a good day. Just a couple of bumps along the way. 

Today I had by first travel mishap. Luckily it was resolved and there should be no lasting problems. 

It began when I went to the train station to collect my tickets for my next train journey on Wednesday. I needed to use a machine that required me to insert the credit card I had used to book with. I had a bit of difficulty entering the correct booking code and got a little flustered. Subsequently, I left my credit card in the machine by accident. It wasn't until much later in the day that I realised the credit card was missing. I assumed/hoped that I'd left it in the machine - I figured it would have been my best chance of recovering it. 

I made a beeline to the train station and asked. Yes, someone had handed it in. Unfortunately, their policy is to destroy cards if they aren't claimed within 10 min. I can understand and appreciate that policy. At least they confirmed that the card had been handed in and was now destroyed. 

The card was really only a backup anyway ... and I have a backup backup credit card just in case! The only thing I definitely needed it for was to collect my final train tickets. Luckily they were able to do that for me since they knew the card had been destroyed. So all good. 

I guess, considering I have organised the entire trip myself, I'm doing pretty well if that's been the only hiccup so far. 

My stay in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds has come to an end and today it was time to head north to York. After yesterday's troubles I checked the train website first thing in the morning. Everything was running on time. My train didn't depart until 1:10pm so I had some time spare. I was still up early - I'm not usually one to lay around in bed. It meant I could have a quiet breakfast in the restaurant before the hordes arrived. Then I stepped out into the beautiful clear crisp morning to take some snaps of Cheltenham. Funny but I found it difficult to find much that I really wanted to photograph. It's not that Cheltenham is an ugly town - quite the opposite - it's just a bit vanilla. 

The train arrived more or less on time. But unlike the train from Plymouth a few days ago, this one was packed due to the line damage and maintenance works. When I boarded there was someone already in my seat. It's possible to buy a ticket without reserving a seat. That just means you look for unreserved seats when you get on. Clearly mine was showing as reserved but he thought he'd try his luck. All good though, he was very polite about it and I was in my reserved seat in no time. 

I took some photos on the journey just to document the changing landscape but it didn't actually change all that much. We passed through a couple of major cities: Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds.  Overall though, I didn't enjoy the journey as much as my last one.

The train arrived in York on time and I hurriedly got my bearings through the very impressive building. I will come back to take photos later. Finding the apartment was quite easy and only about 15min walk. It's basic, but will do for this stay. I'm really looking forward to some simple food and getting heaps of washing done. 

After a quick dash to the supermarket for supplies, I headed out to explore before it got too dark. By this time it was already gone 5:00pm. At first I thought it was odd that the city was so quiet but then I realised it's Sunday - I've kind of lost track of days. 

I took a few photos. I won't try to post many because I think the wifi here is going to be a bit problematic. 

Two impressive features of York are the towering York Minster and the wall that surrounds much of the old city. I walked along some of the wall today. I will visit York Minster tomorrow.  

First impressions are that its going to be a very photogenic city. 

On my way back to the apartment I passed a little pub tucked away in a side street, so I popped into The Achorne for a pint of "beardo" golden ale. 

This morning as I was heading to the train station it occurred to me that it had been only a week ago (last Saturday) that I got back from Scandinavia. It feels so much longer. I guess I've packed an awful lot into the last week. That's a good feeling.