We got the rest we needed to recuperate and after a quick breakfast we were on our way straight into the center of York.
Yorkshire pudding anyone?
York Minster
At the ticket counter we found they also had tickets to go to the top of the cathedral, but you have do join a tour every hour or so. We managed to convince the ticket seller to sell us 2 tickets even though the current tour was full. They gave us two tickets for the next tour and said we could run and join the current one. We ran to the staircase where a grumpy old lady was checking tickets. Unfortunately she was not as lenient and didn’t let us up because they reached capacity, 49/50. She even stood there and counted each ticket to check the number… I’m quite sure that one additional person would not bring down the cathedral tower, but she obviously didn’t want to take any chances. However, there was still one spot left so I took the initiative (and the exercise) and ran up the spiral staircase!
Tip: If you want to go up to the top of the tower, make sure you get your tickets in advance otherwise you might find yourself out of luck!
I hurried down as fast as I went up to meet my party waiting in the car. We then partook on a long drive via highways all the way back to Horsham.
We stopped for lunch at a British fast-food chain, which wasn’t either fast or food. The service was quite dismal as well. Besides that we had one other stop at a highway rest station for a large muffin snack.
Near London we were met with some pretty heavy traffic that took over 2 hours to get through, which we partially attributed to the Olympics.
Horsham
Once back to my aunt and uncle’s home we had a huge home-cooked barbeque!
After dinner we watched the opening ceremony. It was a memorable experience huddled in front of the screen seeing which country was next. I was counting all the countries I still had to go through and I still have a long way to go!
I can’t believe how quickly the tour around Ireland and Scotland was. I’ll remember the bright green rolling hills and friendly locals with their distinct accents for years to come.
The next adventure starts tomorrow in Italy!