Trips & Adventures – 10 January 2019

The day started well – the Northern Rail train arrived early (!) – and the day continued well. We travelled comfortably from Manchester, enjoying some refreshments, and arrived in York at about 11.40am.

Peter had been a resident in York when he was a student in the mid-1960s, so he acted as our guide. We headed for the York Arms that, back in the day, used to be a gay pub (apparently only on a Wednesday when there was an R in the month).

The York Arms is a traditional pub and we settled in one of the back rooms with an open fire and without muzak. The food came in super-sized portions and was served on large plates. It not only tasted great but was very reasonably priced. The sticky toffee pudding tempted us but we had to admit we were too full.

Stuart coming out of the closet

We posed for photos outside the York Minster before making our way to the Yorkshire Museum to view the Jurassic World Exhibition. There were some hands-on exhibits and Peter impressed us with his expert knowledge of ammonites and crinoids (sea-lilies). The largest ammonites have reached over three metres across. We handled a bone from the neck of a pterodactyl which was possibly 130 million years old! The greatest fun was putting on the virtual-reality glasses and feeding tree branches to a dinosaur.

We also viewed the various exhibits from Roman times when York was known as Eboracum to more modern times, as well as the library and reading room. We always take an opportunity to dress up:

Our final stop was Bailey’s Tea Rooms where we managed a cake as well as our tea and coffee.