July 27 – Harry Potter Tour and York Minster

Today we are on a walking tour of York with emphasis on all things Harry Potter.  The tour started out with the Harry Potter Sorting Hat that sorted us all into the various Hogwart’s houses.  Then it was off along part of the old city wall.

We walked across a bridge over the Ouse River,

stopped in a pretty garden area with lots of flowers,

and then spent some time around the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey.  The ruins were beautiful. 

A good bit of time was spent having magic wand competitions.  Sort of silly but Liam really got into it.  He was one of the finalists, 

From there we wandered by York Minster but the tour didn’t stop in.

Behind York Minster was another small park where we stopped for photos.

We also stopped in the shortest street in York with the longest name (Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate).  The street has two addresses…#1 and #1 ½. 

From Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate we stepped out on to Shambles Alley.  Liam said that this street reminded him more of Diagon Alley than any of the other places we have seen.  It is quite narrow lined with old buildings.  The upper floors often stretched out over the street. It certainly looked medieval.  Love the old section of York.

Once the tour was over we wandered back to York Minster where we were able to go inside.  It was truly magnificent.

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More York Minster
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More photos from our walking tour of York.

On our way back to the hotel we found a lemonade stand that made real, freshly squeezed lemonade.  We all got a glass (could have used some sweetener…was pretty tart).  We sat down to enjoy our drink and at that point a young man set up his microphone and top bucket and started singing.  Because there were so many small children around he focused mainly on Disney songs.  And from his voice we’d say he definitely has the voice to sing in a Disney Movie.  Very, very good.  He got lots of tips.

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More York
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We went back to the hotel for a while and at dinner we headed out and found a nearby Italian restaurant.  The waiter was from Sicily and spoke with a light Italian accent.  On the other hand, the lady who also helped serve us was obviously local and her Yorkish accent was so strong that we had a bit of a problem understanding her.

We ended the day at the hotel with some ice cream and cheesecake for dessert.