York - A Living Treasure

York was outstanding. It reminded me so much of Florence, not in architecture or design but in the way the entire city has been preserved. It hasn't been spoiled by garish contemporary buildings placed higgledy piggledy among some of the best examples of ancient and medieval architecture in Britain. York is old, its ancient Roman fortification testify to that but it has endured the travails of many cultures. The Romans built it as a northern outpost, it lies not far from Hadrian's Wall. After the Romans left it became the capital of Northumbria, a kingdom of the Angles. Then it was taken over by the Vikings who gave it the name that has endured – Jorvik or York in English.

Walking around those twisted cobbled streets one encounters pleasures at every turn both visual and culinary. What could be better than discovering, in the home of British confectionary and chocolate making, a crooked house on a twisted street selling sweet delights that would tempt any modern day Hansel or Gretel. Some of its streets could quite literally be from a Grimm's Tale. York is definitely due for a return visit.

We are now back in London with Dal, Renata and Little Monster Mat. We are waiting for some things to be delivered that we need to have for our Europe Trip. We all cycled from Dal's place to Battersea Park to take Matrim to the Children's Zoo there. He was more interested in the play area than the animals. And speaking of animals, my enduring memory of Battersea (from when we lived here in the 70's) is the Pink Pig floating over the power station during the photo shoot for Pink Floyd's Animals album.

The day was sunny and warm and the ride through the park was great except for dodging the skaters, skateboarders, tricycles, prams, wayward kids, thick parents, dogs and the droppings they leave that are rarely cleaned up by their owners. 21^st century London and it's still covered in dog shit.

The weather has been behaving itself here as well. The nights are still cold but the days have been sunny and warm although the wind is still cold. We have cleaned and prepped the van and are ready for Europe. The next post will be heralded with a Bonjour. So its Au revoir for now.