Friends of the Intrepid Traveler told us that York was worth at least 4 days – and our sources had better be right – We’ve paid for our Air BnB lodging, so we’re going to be stuck if our sources are wrong.

But confident travelers that we are – we head out bravely – figuring that at worst we can finally get a much needed break. We’ve basically been on the go since we left Montreal May first – and frankly getting up and at’m every day is wearing a bit thin.

So York – here we come! The view from the train ride between Manchester and York is very different from the scenery we’ve been seeing during all our previous trips. For starters – suddently there are no dry stone fences. None. There are a few stone fences held together with morter, and lots of wood or wire fences – but no dry stone fences. Clearly – when the glaciers went thru, they dropped stones all over the fields west and south of Manchester – and had none left to drop when they receeded from York. How interesting. I’m sure my friend Thea Alvin – stone mason extraordinare – could explain it, but we just note the difference – and continue our ride. The types of animals in the fields change as well. Before this trip, we were looking only at sheep. Lots and lots of sheep, with maybe the occasional cow. But now cow herds seem to equal sheep herds in popularity – and there are lots of horses as well.

Our arrival in York is nothing special – thank goodness. I’m not sure I’m up for anything special right now. We get off the train, find a lift, find a map, find the street – and start navigating ourselves to Liz’s house. Despite her detailed directions, we’re slow walkers. And we constantly stop to double check that we haven’t missed a turn. Our path takes us around the wall of the city – and a wonderful wall it is too. There are stone gates – just one car wide of course – in various locations, a beautiful river with those distinctive canal boats on our right as we walk, and flowering bushes everywhere. We’ve clearly arrived at Springtime. We drag our cases pass signs for various museums – several of which feature Vikings as a theme. That should be fun. I don’t know anything about Viking occupation of the UK, wonder what they will tell us?

Our Air BnB hostess Liz is waiting for us outside of her house – and graciously invites us into her lovely home. The entrance way and the main ‘living’ room has the traditional super high ceiling of the Victorian houses – and correspondingly, the stair case up to our loft room is steep and winding. But she helps us with our tiny carry-ons – and we are quickly installed in our new home.

There is just one tiny problem. We count on having access to the kitchen of the places we stay in order to fix our meals. We can’t afford to eat out on our budget. And somehow I’ve overlooked the fact that at Liz’s place – the kitchen is strictly off limits.

I’m stunned by this news. What will we do? How will we cope? We have made no provisions for dealing without a kitchen. The angst must be visible on my face because Liz quickly realizes something is wrong.

To our everlasting delight – Liz offers to settle the problem by feeding us dinner. We’ll deal with the cost later – right now we are simply relieved beyond measure. She tells us to come back by 6:00 – so off we go.

Our plan for the rest of the day is simple – get our bearings in York and perhaps check out the newly renovated Viking Experience. We wander to the Minster – which given that it is a huge Cathedral – isn’t that much of a challenge to find. We check out the times for Evensong figuring that’s a good way to get a peek inside – and enjoy some music. Turns out that Monday night is just a prayer service, but tomorrow there will be Evensong. We will return.

We wander a bit more of York, noting the abundance of thrift shops and thinking that those are also places to come back and check out more carefully. We then wander thru the ‘Shambles’, an aptly named winding little road packed with shops on either side.

We stop at the Sainsbery Local to pick up a bottle of wine – our offering for dinner – and arrive just in time to join Liz. She serves us a dynamite salmon dish – apparently she’s been taking cooking courses and loves the idea of having guinea pigs. We sit out in her just finished garden full of blooming flowers and comfy furniture. We soak up the last of the sun, eat and chat. 3 hours flies past. By 9:00 we’re ready to call it a night – so we amble off up stairs to bed down. Tomorrow we will find that Viking Experience – it has to be here somewhere.

Signing off – very very full of yummy salmon and a nice pudding for dessert – The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveler.