A day out in York

I am planning on going out on a regular basis from now on, maybe a day out once a week. I feel the older I get the more precious life becomes, I don't want to waste a minute of it. None of us know how much time we have been alotted or how our health is going to pan out, so I need to replace some of my laid back - no rush - it doesn't matter attitude, with get off your backside and 'DO IT NOW.'

Today I fancied going to York. I looked at the bus timetables to see if it would be possible to do the journey on my bus pass. I would need to get a bus to Hull, change, then on to York, the journey would take three hours. Double that for the return, six hours on a bus didn't sound too exciting. I chose the alternative, drive to the outskirts of York to the Park and Ride, time one hour, get a free 20 minute ride into town on the pass, much better.

Armed with my free street maps and a packed lunch, I set off to walk around the city along the walls. It is almost complete except for three gaps, two where you cross the river, and one when you walk along the road for a short distance. Some of the sections are quite high and don't have any railings along one side. I did it anticlockwise, so I had the wall on my right and sheer drops on the left down grassy banks and into people's gardens. It was strange walking at the same height as some rooftops and peering into office windows on the same level. People beavering away at their desks, I smiled, look at me, I'm retired :-)

I only found one art gallery which was free to go in, all the other tourist attractions had quite a hefty entrance fee, so I decided I was quite happy to look at the outside of the buildings. The river walk was very pleasant, ducks waddling along, people enjoying a drink and an ice cream, tour boats cruising and canoes racing. Here are a few pictures.

Mummy and daddy ducks walking their babies, so cute.

Tour boat passing under Ouse Bridge going back to it's moorings.

The wall passes over the road at this point.

View of part of the Minster from the city wall.

There is a lot of restoration work going on at the Minster at the moment, so some of it is covered with scaffolding, but I managed to get a few good shots.

Street entertainment, singing and dancing.

Shambles, the world famous shopping street where the upper floors of the building almost touch each other across the narrow street.

This corner shop has the address No 1 Shambles.

On the way home I called in to see my friends Janet and Alan at their Breighton Lodge Cattery. Their garden is a blaze of glorious colour at the moment with their hanging baskets, bedding plants, and rose bushes, it looks lovely. As usual I did my tour of inspection I have to say hello to all their pussycats, a full house at this busy time, and also lots of cuddles for their own seven cats. It was lovely to see them again. Here is a link to their site. http://www.breightoncattery.co.uk/