I woke up early to take advantage of my complimentary breakfast and to try and get out to see some more of York before I had to check out at midday. After grabbing a nice hot buffet meal, I headed out to have a look at a few more shops and to visit the Jorvik Viking Museum.

The previous day, I had found a shop called Ancestry Names that specialised in plaques and prints of family heraldry and history. I was tempted to at least acquire a print of the history of my family name, however the shop was not open when I went past, contrary to the sign in the window. I walked onwards and went through the street market that had been set up in one of the town squares to see what was on offer. Nothing caught my eye, though, so I decided to head over to the Minster again to take some more photos.

At 9am, the bells of York Minster began peeling and they were very loud indeed. Standing close to the base of the bell towers, the peeling sent vibrations through you. I took some more photos of the Minster and then came across the statue of the Emperor Constantine. This statue is situated close to the spot where he was informed that he was now the Emperor - it felt strange to be standing in such a place.

Another couple of photos and then I started the walk to the museum, in order to get there for opening, so that I would hopefully avoid most of the crowds. The Jorvik Viking Museum is built over a dig site where they have exposed the foundations of a house and yard from the era of the Viking conquests. Inside, you get to walk on a perspex floor that has been laid over the dig site, so that you can see what has been uncovered. There are also plenty of displays around the museum that show the bones and other artefacts that have been uncovered at the site. The attendants are all dressed as villagers of the period and are more than happy to answer questions from visitors.

There is also a "ride" of sorts - a small car suspended from the ceiling that seats six (three in front, three behind) that takes you through a reconstruction of a village of the period. Some of the villagers have animatronics in them which allows for displays of how certain tasks were done, such as weaving, leather-work or woodwork. There is an audio track that plays through the headrests of the seats and it interacts with some of the villagers in what we assume is the language of the time. At six points during the ride, there is a "smell" exuded from the display to add to the experience. Unfortunately I found the smells nauseating, so I would have to block my nose the next time through. It is worth noting that the ride cannot be skipped, if you want to get through the whole museum.

After the ride, you proceed through more displays of artefacts and descriptions of historic life, some of which are delivered by "holograms" of people dressed as particular characters from the village. Just before the end (and the gift shop), there is a metalworker sitting in a display who shows the kids how coins were made at the time. All in all, it is a very interesting place to visit, especially if you have any interest in the Vikings who came to Britain. I had a quick look through the gift shop and then headed back to the hotel in order get my bags together to head off to the station.

I grabbed a cab to the station, as it was raining quite heavily, and I had a great chat with the driver, who had actually lived in Australia for about five years at the end of the Sixties, before his Mum decided that she preferred to be back in England. He asked me where I was from and, when I said Australia, he replied, "I thought I heard a bit of an Aussie twang there, but your accent isn't as strong as other Aussies that I've heard." I thought that was amusing.

I grabbed a sausage roll and a bottle of water from one of the station cafes and went to my platform to wait for my train. I had a nice chat with a young man who was heading to London to start an internship with a law firm, which he had won by being the top of his class in his recent exams. We chatted some more and then our train turned up so we went to board.

For those of you who have never been to the UK before, the Brit-Rail pass is a great boon that allows you to simply hop onto a train whenever you need. One disadvantage of this, though, is that it only guarantees you the right to travel on the train - it does not guarantee you a seat. If the train is booked up, as these ones were that day, you have to make do by riding in the passageways and baggage spaces between the carriages. If you are a backpacker, this is not a problem. If you have luggage, or are not too limber, this can be uncomfortable. Unfortunately the trains to London were nearly fully booked, so I wound up sitting in the baggage space of a carriage for the two-odd hours trip to London.

After arriving at Kings Cross / St Pancras, and after working the kinks out of my back, I made my way through the tube station to the Piccadilly line platform so that I could grab the train to Earls Court Station. The train was fairly packed and unfortunately I was unable to stand up fully in the train, except in the very middle of the car. After a 20-minute trip, we arrived at Earls Court and I headed out to find my hotel, which was just around the corner. I checked in and went to my room, which was again small but fairly comfortable. After putting my things in my room, I went back out for a short walk to see what was around, grabbed a few items for dinner from the nearby Cooperative store and went back to my room to settle in for the evening. The rough ride down from York had worn me out, so I was glad to eventually hit the hay.