5-21-12
We woke up at about 8:30 and showered and packed up our things.
Gill also cooked us a Full English breakfast which was fantastic. She then showed us her new greenhouse with all her plants. I wish I could keep a garden like she and Jude have. She also cut quite a bit of rhubarb for Catherine to take with her. Gill also gave Andy and I an ammonite fossil before we left. We loaded Cath's car and waved goodbye to Gill as we headed off to York for the last leg of our journey.

We arrived, following Stu's directions and checked into the Cavalier Hotel. Jane, one of the hotel managers showed us to room 10, on the top floor under the roof, which is the same room that we all stayed in 11 years ago with our parents the first time we went to York. Andy helped Catherine get her car into the miniscule garage and then we set out to walk around the city centre. We did some sightseeing before going to the infamous Betty's Tea Room where Catherine and I had sultana scones, clotted cream & strawberry jam. Andy had Earl Grey tea with Lemon, Catherine had Ceylon Blue Sapphire tea, and I had Yorkshire Cream tea. We decided to take a boat tour on the River Ouse. Afterwards we decided to look for a place to eat that was nearby a meeting place for the well known ghost tours, so we ended up at the Piano & Pitcher, where we sat outside along the river. It was a beautiful evening to sit outside. Andy had sausage and mash and a Guiness and Catherine and I split a bottle of wine and a couple of appetizers including fishcakes, fried halloumi cheese, ciabatta bread with tomato and garlic hummus, and a garden salad. Everything was delicious and our waitress was fantastic.

After dinner we went to the King's Arms Pub to meet up for the Original Ghost Tour in York. Our guide looked like a gothic Gene Wilder in all black, complete with a crazy walking stick. We completed quite the tour hearing haunted tales of the ancient city. Actually, York received its charter to govern itself 800 years ago this year! After the rather anticlimactic ending to our tour we headed into the Cross Keys pub for a pit stop before walking down Goodramgate to see if the jewelry store that our mom bought jewelry from 11 years ago was still there, and it was!

We walked around a bit more & went to York's oldest pub, The Black Swan, for drinks. It was a great historic little place were Andy and Catherine tried a beer called Copper Dragon and I had a Bulmer's Red Berries & Lime cider. We walked back to the hotel and Andy tried to call mom & dad, but our phone card didn't work and the wifi was near impossible to connect to.

Catherine, worried about a repeat of the "snoring symphony" of our last stay in the room 11 years ago that kept her up half the night, put some earplugs in and must've fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow so I wrote her thank you card (if you haven't found it yet, check the outside zipper of your suitcase) and Andy and I went to bed. It was I who endured the snoring symphony this time, but fell asleep shortly to the slumbering sounds.