Wandering North. First stop: York

John and I have just returned from a two week wander up North seeing much of what makes Great Britain so great.  We drove to York, St. Andrews, then around parts of Scotland and Hadrian's Wall, then the Lake District and Liverpool, and finally Snowdonia and Northern Wales.  It has been a grand tour and we have a long list of new favorite places we want to go back to.

Many Brits have told me that York is their favorite city and cathedral.  I can see why. The Cathedral, known as the Minster, is spectacular inside and out. It is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals of its kind in Northern Europe and it really is breathtakingly beautiful. And the town is just picture perfect -- it looks like what everyone imagines an old English city should look like. 

For me the most memorable part of the Minster was attending Evensong.  It was so beautiful that we went back again the next evening.  The York Minster Choir sang the first night and  a secondary school choir sang the next evening. Both were the loveliest Evensong I've been too. 

The Minster dates back to the 6th century with the final incarnation from the 15th century.  You can spend a day in the Cathedral and still not see all there is to see.  It is filled with such history and beauty. 

Each window has amazing detail.   Some of the stained glass in York Minster dates back to the 12th century. The 76-foot  tall Great East Window was under repair while we were there.  We'll have to return someday to see it.  ,Much of the glass was removed before both world wars and pieced back together.  That is in part why the windows are in such good shape.

The windows and the natural light in the Minster took my breath away.  Approximately 2 million individual pieces of glass make up the cathedral's 128 stained glass windows!

These are statues of the  Kings of England starting with William the 1st and going all the way to Henry 6th.  They are not particularly flattering likenesses.

There is a charge to get into the Monster but if you come for daily Evensong (5pm) and then tour the cathedral afterward, there is no charge for that. 

The Minster ceilings

Roman Coffins in a park on the outskirts of York.

Beautiful architecture everywhere.

Another view from the wall.

One of  the "bars" or gates to the city.

The Shambles

York Castle

The Bar Walls of York are the finest and most complete of any town in England.  You can walk 2/3 around the city on top of the walls. At two miles  they are also the

longest town walls in the country.

I highly recommend the "wall walk".  It really gives you amazing views of the entire city.  York is now on our favorite list!