London - To York

Saturday June 10th, we pretty much just took it easy, it being our last full day in London, and the first game for England in the World Cup. We spent some time in the cafe, and then went to a pub to watch England win 1-0 versus Paraguay. We were both quietly rooting for Paraguay. We had some excellent Thai food there at the pub, and after the game, just went back to the Mad House to relax. Eventually, Vee worked on getting our pictures ready, and then I spent the rest of the night uploading them.

Sunday the 11th, we got up early, checked out with Joan, and took the tube from Russell Square to Kings Cross station and got a train to York. We debated whether or not to wait in line, and buy a special ticket for our trip, since our FlexPass was not supposed to work for the entire trip. Deciding to risk it, and not buy the additional ticket, worked out perfectly fine, as the train agent checked our FlexPass tickets and thought they were perfectly fine. Once in York, we were floored by how beautiful it was. There was a magnificant gate, and old city wall that we walked through, and the streets were lined with really really old buidlings in fantastically restored condition. Vee lead the way to our hotel, where we left our bags, and we headed out to explore the town some more. The York Minster cathedral was beautiful, from the outside, and tomorrow, we'll go inside. We walked through the many shop-lined streets and markets and then back to the pub, Weatherspoons, across the street from our hotel for a good cheap pub meal. We checked into the hotel, and attempted to listen to the French Open final between Federer and Nadel, but it was not on any of the tv stations. So, improvising, we hooked up the laptop to the wireless Internet and found that it was being radio-casted online, so we listened to the match, while watching Mexico beat Iran in the World Cup. With the light still bright outside, but the day growing long, we were eager to get back outside before nightfall, and see more of York. We took a really nice slow stroll through town, and began walking through the gardens, but had to leave because they were locking the gates. Just outside the gardens, and across the street from the cathedral, we shared an ice cream and read our books and talked. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped back into Weatherspoons for some nachos and a nightcap while we watched Portugal finishe off Angola in the World Cup, and then back to the hotel and called it a night.