Sigh. Mom, my roomie, just left (bearing two suitcases full of my books-- Mom, I love you) but she, Rosemary, Grandma and I had a fantastic time the last four days as we travelled around Leeds, London, the West Yorkshire countryside, and York. The three worldly ladies left this morning from Manchester, back to the cold, cold avalanche of snow that has apparently fallen on southern Ontario… I bet now the torrential downpour that greeted us on Saturday night here doesn’t seem so bad now! :)
After recovering a bit from jetlag, Sunday afternoon we toured around Leeds; we saw the campus, the city centre, and ventured a bit further to see Kirkstall Abbey (below), the ruins of a 14th century monastery next to the river Aire. We also stumbled upon a St. Patrick’s Day parade and fair (just a week early) and saw some great Irish dancing. The city square was packed with local Irish patriots drinking Guinness and eating kiwi, of all things. After walking through the crowds, we met up with Matt and Erin and had lunch, which was lovely too.
The next day we tackled London, leaving really early and arriving around 10:30. True to British tradition, it poured, and we spent the day taking advantage of the brief patches of sunlight that came around every so often. Happily, we had decided to do a bus tour, so we had shelter for most of the day! We managed to see the highlights, especially around the Thames, and Rosemary and I went into the Tower of London to explore and catch a glimpse of the crown jewels. I love to see piles of diamonds just lying around…although Rosemary and I decided that none of the diamond jewellery in the shop interested us, really ;).
So after a whirlwind day in London, we decided to take it easy the next day and took a short train ride out to Harrogate, just west of Leeds. Harrogate’s a quaint town in the middle of gorgeous countryside, and is quite close to the hamlet of Ripley, home of the famous Ripley Castle. We spent the day there, and what a beautiful day it was:
The Ingilby family has lived in the castle for 700 years, and still live there today. The family lives on the top floor, although the entire house does get used. The grounds are also open to the public, and you can get right up close to their deer as you walk around their lake. They also have an immaculate English garden…I felt like we had walked into a Jane Austen novel. The history there is amazing: James I stayed there once, as well as Oliver Cromwell and countless famous members of the nobility throughout the centuries. A well-known story is about Lady Jane Ingilby, who held Cromwell at double gunpoint while he slept in the library: she said that if Cromwell’s men found her brother in hiding, she might miss with the first shot, but not the second ;).
Tuesday we used our saved-up energy from the day before to visit York in the morning. It was nice to take a tour of Yorkminster Cathedral and then wander the shops and the Shambles before taking a break in a pub. Our time was short though, as Mom, Rosemary and Grandma had to get back to Leeds to take a train to Manchester, where they stayed the night before their really early flight the next morning!
It was a crazy, full four days, but also incredibly fun … I never thought I’d be able to say I’d gone to a pub with my mum, either, but it happened! Woodie’s Alehouse: a real, live, local pub filled with shouting football fans… and Rosemary, Mom and I. Loved it.
So, thank you so much for coming over and visiting me! I can’t tell you how great it was to see you all and be able to show you, up close, my life over here. And I swear, again-- I do actually go to school! ;)
xx
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