York and the Yorkshire Moors

My car had a small chip as noted on the inspection sheet when I first picked it up. This morning, the chip turned into a 10 inch crack. I called the rental company and discussed it with them. They wanted me to get it fixed, but I think I will wait until I get back if it doesn't get bigger. On the way down to York on the A19, I spotted an American diner called the OK Diner. Intrigued and longing for something American, I decided to stop in and have a look and something sweet. To my surprise, there was no apple pie a la mode! So I had a fudge brownie sundae instead.
My hosts, Tanya and Huw, had an amazing location -- across the street from the York Minster. Well, I thought it was cool, but I think they are tired of the minster and the Catholic church next to it ringing dueling bells all the time. They had another couchsurfer from South Korea named Suhyeon who has been surfing across Asia and Europe for several months. Tanya and Huw assembled a picnic dinner and we went to a local park and had a nice spread.

Later that evening, we walked around the city and eventually made it to a pub with a quiz night. We met up with another guy named Dave, so we named our team Three Non-Daves. We ended up winning the pub quiz with 40 out of 50 questions correct. YEAH! That gave us coupons for a bunch of free beer. If I have time, I will post the questions in a comment.


Henry VIII was certainly a tempermental man. Here is an example of his opinion of the Church at the time






This is a view from one of the windows in the house.







Michael and I have been laughing at all of the To Let signs. He said that we should put an "i" in between them. Looks like someone heard us talking about it!





Walking around in York.
This is the view from my bedroom window.






This is a random ruined abbey or church along the road in the Yorkshire Moors. These ruins dot the land.






The Yorkshire Moors have a fantastic landscape. You can see for miles around you from the tops of the strange earth with deep cuts in the ground that have been carved away by the action of springs and time.




Legend has it that this depression was created by the devil when he scooped up the earth to throw at someone (can't remember the details, but that is the gist of it). I couldn't get a good picture of it because it was too big for a single picture to capture it, but it does look like someone tried to claw a handful of dirt from the ground.
I stopped by for a brief visit to Helmsley and Pickering, both quaint little market towns and ended up in Whitby by the seaside. Whitby is a fishing village, but is also known for a darker side. Apparently Dracula ended up here and so this is a big Goth tourist stop and hangout. Ghost tours, of course, abound. There were plenty of people there from all walks, but I didn't see any Goths hanging out in the dainty little tea rooms sipping a cup of Darjeeling. I escaped with getting a greasy fish & chips before hitting the road back to Newcastle.