The rest of the family (my parents, sister, and her four boys) arrived last night, a day earlier than expected. They had to rearrange their travel plans due to the country shutting down today because of the hot weather. Train travel and some restaurants and shops are closed today. This morning Amy, Ellie, and Luke went to a climbing gym with Ellie’s friends. I went for a run and then met up with the rest of my family at their hotel. My aunt Elise and Uncle...

Ellie stayed at her place last night and the three of us slept in and tried to make up for all the sleep we missed. I went for a run south along the Ouse river (pronounced “oooze,” it is the main river that runs through York). It was a nice and picturesque run. I got back to flat and Luke and I set out for pastries and coffee and explored a little more of York. Once we were all ready we took the bus over to Ellie’s house and hung out there. We got to ...

After hearing all of the horror stories of over seas traveling, our trip here was pretty easy. The flight was on time, we got through customs and got our luggage quickly, caught the tube to the train station, walked around the King’s Cross/St Pancras area of London, and then had uneventful train ride up to York. Ellie was waiting for us at the train station and it was so wonderful to see her. We walked to our flat which is in a nice central part of York on...

Ellie slept in this morning so I took a short walk over to Osbaldwick, a village not too far from Ellie’s place. On the way back I picked up a pork pie and a cream filled donut for breakfast (I am going to miss my savory and sweet breakfasts). When Ellie was ready we walked over to the university campus and fed the various waterfowl. We saw the famous Tallboy duck. Apparently he is a crossbreed of two different ducks and is very unique looking. After walki...

There was not much on the agenda today so the blog won’t be long and there won’t be as many photos. We caught the 10:00 AM train to York this morning and got in around 12:30. We went back to Ellie’s place to drop off our luggage and then went back into the city to grab lunch and go to the Minster. I finally had my fish and chips while Ellie got a sandwich from a high end sandwich shop. Once in the Minster we took a tour and then explored a bit more on...