Today I present proof that I did end up seeing some fireworks. Granted, it was through my skylight and on Friday night rather than Thursday, but I'm still going to say it counts.
I've got some other pictures and stories to share, but I have to transfer pictures over to my laptop, so in the meantime, here are some quaint British/medieval-y things.
This is a view down the street just past Bootham Gate, walking towards the Minster. I had to return a book to the Minster library :) Its really true that all the shops have the hanging signs. I really like them, I think they're cute. You may also note that people are walking down the middle of the street. Most of city centre is pedestrians only during the main part of the day. Even bikes have to go a round about way around to avoid the pedestrian only section.
And here is the side of the Minster, as seen from the Minster Gardens, which aren't very big, but nice to walk around. You can also see all the scaffolding on the end- that's the East Window (THE largest medieval stained glass window) and it is undergoing preservation work expected to end in 2014, but our tour guide at the Minster said not to hold your breath for that, so don't expect to be able to see it in all of it's glory anytime soon. But they do have a full-scale banner hanging in the space so you can sort of almost envision what it looks like. Also kind of cool, while preservation work is on-going, they have panels on display so you can see them up close. It is amazing how much detail goes into each frame, especially since the fine detail is completely lost to viewers from the ground. I mean, how could it not be, the thing is the size of a tennis court!
I have no idea what this is, but I think its cool. If/when I find out what it is (I assume a monument of some kind), I'll let you know. Located near the Minster Gardens entrance.
And here is the opposite side of Bootham Gate. I showed you the front in one of my first posts- it has Roman fortress/walls stuff underneath. The city wall runs off to the right and is a medieval addition built on top of earlier Roman fortifications. I was "inside" the city where I stood to take this picture. However, there were walls within walls around walls all over the place in the medieval period. St Mary's Abbey, which is located behind King's Manor had its own set of walls which still stand in sections around Bootham down to where I live. Speaking of where I live...
That's my street. It isn't terribly exciting, especially since they've been doing all kinds of crazy road work and scaffolding has gone up on and down on a bunch of buildings. But it is a nice area. Most of the houses on the street are actually B+Bs. The Bootham area is kind of the Bed and Breakfast zone in York. If you keep walking down this street, go down about 5 stairs, walk across the public parking lot, you arrive at the River Ouse, (pronounced Ooze. And before you ask, no, it is not named because it is sludgy and disgusting, although you can't swim in it. The current is really fast and strong and people (often intoxicated) do drown every so often.) The Ouse will be one of the subjects from my next post, once I upload pictures :)
Anyway, back to my living situation. My house might not be the prettiest or the nicest or the cleanest house ever, but we do what we can with it :)
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