Before leaving Oxford, we take advantage of breakfast "en plein air" on a warm, sunny day in Oxford.....a local "happening"!!!!
Colin, the resident dog, who only shows up at breakfast!
Off to York...our first fuel stop. We are driving a diesel car. Like the States, diesel is more expensive here, but only by 5 pence. But they say that you get a little better mileage with diesel. During the two weeks we have been away, the British Pound Sterling has reached an all time high!!!! A real blow to our budget!! We now have to nearly DOUBLE the cost of everything.....we just bought 6 gallons in our tank and paid $50!!!
On the motorway (interstate), the "services" are extensive, clean and all under one roof.
Happened to notice this headline.....seems that Prime Minister Cameron is trying to privatise some of the National Health Care.....the government can't afford it! Reread that....the government can't afford it....similar to our Medicare....so why are we trying to follow their footsteps?
The "services" stop includes charging stations for your hybrid car.
The compromised hand doesn't slow down Kathy's driving....once on the M1 Motorway, I discovered I was driving faster than ever before in my life...90 MPH....and keeping up with the traffic!!!
We passed a sizeable nuclear power plant on our way to York.
Parked in York and ready to explore. We have named our car "All Black" in honour of the New Zealand famous rugby team.
The city was founded by the Romans in 71 AD as a fortress and enclosed by a protective wall about 30 years later. We were immediately charmed by York....much prefer it over Oxford.
We are hungry....our parking fee, as you see, is £4 ($7) for two hours.
The Windmill had good food AND Wimbledon (too early for World Cup)
After lunch, we decided to "walk the wall". Fragments of the Roman built wall still remain, but it is the medieval walls, carefully maintained and restored, which now encircle the old city, almost three miles around.
On the horizon is the York Minster, the cathedral....more later. What a fun way to see the city and get to know it.
Captivated by the scenery, the history and the wall, we lost all sense of time. Panic! We stop to ask the tourist info centre what would happen. If you are in a car park, you can call and extend your stay by paying on the phone. We are parked on the street and they didn't know whether they would ticket, tow or boot it. It is now 3:15; we have 14 minutes to return to the car. We were 12 minutes late, but the car was still there with no ticket, no boot. We hurried out of city centre and went back to our bed and breakfast to check.
Mark, our host (in the shorts) had to assist Tom in the teeny, tiny car park.....should have taken a picture....6 vehicles in a 30'X30' square. If you were last three in, you had to leave your keys with Mark so he could move them, if necessary. Walking along the alley was the fellow on the left, Jeremy, a New Yorker, who has lived in York for 20 years. His wife works for the University of York as a syntax linguist. After this long residential tenure and with his wife working, he finally has to start paying property tax.....which is expensive.....and he hasn't figure out a way out of it!!!
It doesn't flush the toilet; it turns on the light in the bathroom.
Cruise ship showers must be on sale in England!
The view from our bedroom window.....Jeremy lives four doors down. We decide to go for another walk around town and find something to eat.
We think it says: Kerbside Recyclng.....We Think Your Rubbish!!!!!
We didn't know that the Tour de France had ever started outside France. It turns out that "Le Grand Depart" has occured outside France 19 times since 1954. This year it was in Yorkshire, UK. The Tour has started in the UK only one other time, London in 2007. This year Stage 1 was from Leeds to Harrogate, Stage 2 York to Sheffield, and Stage 3 Cambridge to London. Then on to France. Yellow bikes, banners and flowers were everywhere to honour the auspicious occasion.
We ended our walk near our b n b at the Priory
a rather ordinary pub....then back to our room to try to catch up on the blog. Tom looks at me with a blank stare, crushed look, nearly in tears...."It's a blank screen", he says. "Whaddya mean?" I ask. "It won't work" "Why?" "How the hell do I know?" On and on and on for half an hour. That computer has been in the car in the briefcase or in our room being used, never out of our sight!!!! What has gone wrong? Finally, Tom just shows it to me....the glass screen is shattered (which he hadn't even MENTIONED!) I turn it over.....
Looks like someone hit it with a hammer....right where the hard drive lives! When....How?????? Took another half hour to piece it together.....remember that teeny, tiny car park.....well, I moved everything from the back of the car before Tom backed up to try to park. When he did so, I noticed the briefcase which I picked up at the time, having no idea that he had RUN OVER IT! It was placed on the outside of the car, but not visible to me....he didn't notice it as he got in the car.....As I think we have already mentioned, we are not off to a great start on this journey!!!
