Lilac Tinted Views: Exploring England: York Day, Fun Day

It was my brothers birthday on a lovely Friday in October and I went to spend the day with him up in York where he's just started uni *brownie points for sibling of the year!* I took him mountains of food to stock his fridge with as well as other bits and pieces to help him settle down into properly living on his own *more brownie points*

Doesn't he look so excited to see me?? Hmph, "teenagers"!

But he actually was and together we went around exploring York. I knew it was going to be an exciting day when one of the first things I saw was this sign... I hadn't been there for 30 minutes and already we were being rebellious!

"Students are advised not to use this footpath"

Obviously we ignored the sign... It's a stupid thing to do I know but according to my bro, the way round takes sooo much longer. Plus we wouldn't have had the time to scare each other shitless and imagine how awful it would be to walk there at night, which I made him promise to never do!

There were horses in the fields on either side of us and I would have taken pictures but I don't really like animals in general plus I'm scared shitless of horses! There's just something so dominating about them, especially the ones that the police use!

If I'm completely honest I actually kinda like the look of it. It's so green and that branch going horizontally across looks perfect for swinging, from a proper swing obviously!

We went to the city centre and were greeted by the prettiest stalls in the farmers market. Everything felt so vibrant and colourful, the atmosphere was lovely. Is that a weird thing to say about a city centre? It just seemed so different from the usual Manchester/London rushed vibe even though it had just as many people, everyone was just minding their own business but in a much more pleasant way!

Even the melons looked yummy in their greens and yellows!

There are so many quaint little stores that sell all sorts of bits and bobs. My nose was glued to the window where this Peter Rabbit was, I loved reading the book by Beatrix Potter when I was younger and watched countless VHS videos on the little guy, I would have gladly bought him and given him a nice loving home and family but unfortunately he wasn't for sale :( that really hurt.

We also happened upon the York Minster, I say happened upon because truly we were just having a random stroll whilst my brother tried to remember the way to the River Ouse which runs through the city, but honestly, this would have been pretty difficult to miss! Apparently it's the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, my picture barely does it justice!

Hello to the pillar on the right which completely kills what could have been an 'alright' picture!

So I found one that better shows just how vast this cathedral is! Pretty epic isn't it?

(Original Source)

And as if Peter Rabbit and the York Minster weren't enough excitement for one day, these group of guys had the most angelic voices, I could have stood there listening to them sing all day long. They even did that song "Chama-chama-chama-chameleooon, you come and go, you come and go-oooo", yes I have no idea what the song title is, no I don't want to google it, I'm sure it's called "Chameleon"! Lol. My mum and baby brother used to sing it all the time a few years back, it brings happy memories to my mind.

After a bit more walking we finally found the River Ouse! My brother used a word to describe it, I don't remember exactly what it was now but it was along the lines of "average" and "not-that-great". But that's easy for him to say seeing as his own city centre isn't filled with horrid canals instead of lovely rivers!

I can imagine coming here on a lovely day and just reading/writing by the river. So inspiring.

He also told me the story of the great wall, built during the War of the Roses between York and Lancaster for the throne of England we believe. We started walking across the wall until we got to this bit with no more rails on the left hand side, looking up to the grey skies and the infinity of wall we decided to abandon this mission for another day and head to Nandos for his birthday meal. *Just give me all the sister of the year awards already!*

York's City Wall built during the War of the Roses.

I would much rather have gone to this cute coffee shop in the watch tower but it was his day so he was calling all the shots. Next time I'd explore somewhere a bit more true to York that Nandos!

All in all it was a pretty spectacular day spent bonding with the bro but my train conductor was making the final calls and I had to hurry back home!

But the journey can't be over yet, not until I show you my new favourite picture! The spectacular orange tree I mentioned in "The Phantom and The Sushi"