After waking up bright and early in our itsy-bitsy hotel room, I took a shower in the crappy little bathroom. Now even though this was the worst hotel, at least it didn't have the worst showers, that award goes to the hotel in bath. Breakfast was very similar to what you would find at Sodexho, blah. All of us were very ready to get out of there. But enough of my complaining, the day was still young and London was just hours away.

York Minster

Before we left though, we had the morning to spend in York. A lot of us headed to the York Minster in the center of town. It is, I believe, the largest Cathedral we've visited. What was extra cool is that the inside looked specially large because every January they move out all the 700 chairs and such so that people can see what the Minster looked like in medieval times. The cathedral is FULL of stained-glass. It is said that 50% of all the original medieval stained-glass throughout England is in York, 40% of it is in the actual Minster itself. My favorite window was the one called the Five Sisters which was made from 13th century Grisaille glass. That type of glass is not as bright as many other glasses, and the designs in the windows they use it in are usually more geometric than picturesque. I really liked all the different shades of green in it. Our tour guide at the Minster was the first guide to really explain how that during WWI and WWII many churches actually removed all the glass from their buildings, and I thought that was an interesting fact I had never considered before.

The land the Minster is on was originally where the Roman army's North Britain headquarters were located from about AD 71-400. You can see a Roman Pillar on display outside the Minster which was recently excavated. After the Romans moved out from the area, the Normans came and built a small church, and then eventually the Minster was created. Minster in Latin means a missionary center staffed by clergy, however this particular church is also a cathedral because it contains the seat of the bishop of York.

Unlike most other Cathedrals in Britain, the Minster has a full staff that takes care and renovates the cathedral. They have been working on repairing and releding the stain glass windows. Usually it takes around five years for each of the giant windows to be redone. They have also replaced some of the stonework in the building. Many fires have plagued the cathedral though the years and many parts of it are replica and no longer original. Our guide also explained to use about how the giant pillars often contain spiral staircases so people could get to the upper sections of the cathedral--this was something that none of the other tour guides had explained to us.

The guide pointed out many hidden pictures in the stained-glass. There were lots of bunnies and one window had a scene called "The Monkey's Fueneral" which depicts exactly that. Some of the woodwork has mice on them, and some of the statues had pea pods hidden on them as an artist's mark. One of the gargoyles is of a man, with a woman sitting on his shoulders with a bit in the man's mouth like a horse. This is amusing because it was only men that got to do the carving work, so I wonder why it was done. Nobody knows why all these odd touches exist, but we do know that the artists usually have the freedom to add their own touches.

After the Minster we went to Caffe Nero for lunch. It's a great place to go! It's mostly a coffee shop but it had many food choices: sandwiches, salads, pasta, pastries, and all at great prices! Only downsides--it was smoky and I heard that the chain is owned by McDonalds--they are evil!

On the Coach

Then we headed back to the coach to begin our approximate four hour drive to London. We passed through Sherwood Forest which is actually a National Park, and home to the famed legend Robin Hood.

We also made a pit stop at a rest area again. We all raided the candy section yet another time. Yummmm....Mint Aero bars are my new all-time favorite candy! The bus ride was long, but the anticipation of making it to London was helping the time go by more quickly.

We're going to stay at the Strand Palace Hotel--yea for being able to unpack and have a place to call home for more than two days! I hope London isn't too overwhelming. I'm used to living in a city, but not a city that huge, and I've been stuck in Mt. Vernon for the last three years were the biggest city I ever visit on a regular basis is Cedar Rapids.

There's snow on the fields we are passing (we haven't seen any snow so far on this trip)--hopefully the weather won't be too bad in London.

Driving into the city Shawna commented that the traffic made her feel like we were driving into hell. Haha.

Anyway, now it is later and we are in London! Yep this place is overwhelming, so many people, so much to look at! I've been trying to study the map, and my eyes are going cross-eyed! The map for the underground system looks scary too! Eeeeeeep!

Room in the Strand Palace

The Strand Palace Hotel seems nice, not too fancy, but it was nice enough that I was impressed by a few things. Our view out our room window is not fabulous--office windows across the way. We're on the lovely fifth floor, room 521. After getting in our rooms and unpacking a little bit, a bunch of us headed out into the great big city to find food. Ironically we ended up at an American restaurant, Garfunkels, but I did get something I had never had before--a vegi burger that was fried on the outside, vegetarian cheese on the inside along with vegi's. Nummmmm.

Trafalgar Square

After dinner we went walking and found Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column which is right next to the National Gallery. Trafalgar Square was designed in the 1820's by John Nash who died before it was completed. In 1843 the giant lions were added, and the fountains, which were uncommon in London squares, we're added until WWII. It was really gorgeous to see at the night because of the way they light everything up.

We also found our way to Leicester Square, once known for it's music halls and accommodations for prostitutes. Today the place is full of dance clubs and cinemas. Pretty cool. Lots of light. I want to go back there in the daylight.

Can't wait til the coach tour of the city tomorrow, should be cool.

Okay, I can't stay awake anymore. Bedtime!