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York Minster looming over the bustling streets of the old town

Next up was another two-night stop, this one the city of York. I found it a little odd to see all the signs referencing “York” without a “New” in the front but you wouldn’t really confuse the two cities. And somehow it felt appropriate to come to this namesake town after visiting the original Cambridge just a few days ago.

Founded by the Romans in AD 71 at the confluence of the Ouse and Foss Rivers, the city has a bit of history behind it. Perhaps most important, Constantius I was serving as Emperor here – one of the original four Tetrarchs when Emperor Diocletian decided the empire was too big for one man to rule. When Constantius died in AD 306, the troops quickly proclaimed his son Constantine his successor. Constantine, of course, went on to overthrow the tetrarchy, become sole emperor, convert to Christianity, and relocate the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople. In other words, he was kind of a big deal.

Some of the medieval city walls are still standing

And a more recent big deal is Judy Dench, perhaps England’s greatest actress, who was born here. Sadly though we didn’t see her.

The main tourist attraction here is the Cathedral, known as the York Minster. Begun in 1220 explicitly to rival the cathedral in Canterbury, it wasn’t completed until 1472 and is today the second-largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. Mark was here some 33 years ago and remembered it almost magically, the massive size and beautiful architecture. And after all these years and all the cathedrals that we’ve seen since then it still packs a pretty powerful punch.

Most impressive here are the enormous stained glass windows, some of which date back to the 12th century. The window on the east side of the church – furthest from the entrance – is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. Perhaps even more impressive are the 53-foot high windows known as the Five Sisters. Painted in a monochromatic gray, they are simply stunning, unlike anything I’d ever seen.

These windows blew me away

To go along with just wandering around the Minster, we took a “tour” up to the central tower. I call it a “tour” because even though it was advertised as such it was just an opportunity to climb the 275 steps to the top of the tower. Because there’s only one set of stairs and they are quite narrow tickets are sold for a specific time: everyone goes up together and then you come down before the next group starts. The views were nice but for me most fun was listening to the woman in front of me act like she was going to die climbing those 275 steps. It was quite the show.

Otherwise the stop included a bit of wandering around the old town, a nice run and a couple long walks along the River Ouse, some decent food, and even a little shopping. From here we’re off to Edinburgh so we’re leaving England for a couple weeks. I’ve never been to Scotland so this will be a big adventure for me!

Mark enjoying perfect weather and a pre-dinner cocktail in a lovely square. What’s not obvious in this picture is that there is a guy in back of him with a microphone and big speaker singing show tunes very loudly and very badly. Made the whole experience decidedly imperfect.

After touring the Minster and climbing the tower we sat in a little park to read while enjoying this view

The view from the top of the central tower

Flying buttresses seen while climbing to the top

Boats tied up along the River Ouse for miles outside the city

This statue of Queen Elizabeth – head of the Church of England, of course – was added to the front of the Minster in 1977 in honor of 25 years on the throne

Back inside the church

The massive East Window, depicting stories from the Book of Revelations

Enjoying an excellent Perfect Manhattan

After our first lunch Mark went in search of a haircut while I wandered around. And then I stumbled onto said haircut in action!

Lincoln Cathedral dominates this town

I love a great English cathedral town, and we’ll be visiting several of them on this journey. I booked a stop here in Lincoln for two good reasons: 1) it’s reasonably on our trajectory up the East side of England toward Scotland; and 2) the town is dominated by a huge medieval cathedral. So here we landed for a couple nights.

What I didn’t realize when I put Lincoln on our map is that 1) it’s kind of a smallish town; and 2) it’s off the American tourist route.

It turns out there are places Americans go and places they don’t. Our previous stops have all seemed flooded with American tourists. In hotels and restaurants it seems like half the voices you hear have American accents. Not so here in Lincoln. Sitting at breakfast you hear all English accents of one sort or another. One woman here just used the word “bloody” twice in one sentence.

On our first evening, two college age lads were sitting at the table next to us, and they seemed to take some interest in us. Finally, they asked where we were from, admitting that they were just baffled as to where our very exotic sounding accents could be from. We enjoyed quite a bit of conversation. Just as we are Midwesterners who made our way to the big city of New York (which they are fascinated by), they are from the Midlands, contemplating a path to better places.

Turns out they are brothers from the very industrial town of Derby, famed for making cars, including Rolls Royces. Fergus, 26, has managed to move up a bit, landing in Lincoln, where he is doing a PhD in neurosciences. Malachy, 20, is still back in Derby — and dreams of going to New York some day.

Fun dinner conversation with Malachy and Fergus

A view from the lower town toward the upper town and cathedral — before the road gets steeper and steeper

An elegant gateway just before the roads starts to really climb

The actual road name gets right to the point

Tantalizing views of what’s at the top of this monster hill

The features that really stand out in this surprisingly small-feeling town: 1) the 12th century cathedral that just dominates the place, hulking over the town from every angle; 2) the huge 11th century Lincoln Castle, built under orders from William the Conqueror; and 3) the incredibly steep road that gets you from the train station up to the town.

Now we’re set to climb back down that crazy steep road to catch the train to our next stop, which is York. I was in York with my parents 33 years ago and loved it. York, too, has a huge cathedral. But, as Fergus and Malachy insisted, we’re going to really love it because it’s a real town!

Did I mention that the cathedral dominates the town? That would include the view from our room!

An interior shot of Lincoln Cathedral

The cathedral is so huge that the services take place inside this large but comparatively intimate choir area

Inside the roof of the cathedral

Details from the roof

Lincoln Castle from the cathedral roof

One feature of Lincoln Castle is a Victorian era prison. Prisoners had private cells because the jailers believed that they were more likely to reform if they were kept from each other’s wicked influence. They would also bring the prisoners to services in this chapel, with little stalls built so they could see the preacher — but not each other.

The prison had a special exhibit about record album covers. You could sit in various prison cells and look at old album covers while they played the music for you. Very weird.

On a somewhat more sophisticated level, the prison also displayed one of the four existing original copies of Magna Carta from 1215

These people have the right attitude

Glorious views of architecture representing several centuries from lunch at a great tapas place

The dining choices here were limited enough that we went right back to the same tapas place for dinner

It was a good idea to change the name of this club

Mark and Jim on a bridge over the River Cam, with punts aplenty below us

After living in Cambridge, MA, for some 18 years we’ve finally made it to the real Cambridge, the one after which our long-time home was named. It was a quick two-night stop, just enough to drink in some of the ambience of an ancient university town. Ancient and lovely, I should add. On arrival we wandered around parts of the University somewhat randomly and found some gorgeous parks and lawns belonging to the colleges that were open to the public. It was really beautiful.

While some of the colleges restrict access, this area in Pembroke College was open to the public. Just a tiny hint of all the beauty behind the closed gates.

The main reason to come here, of course, was to see the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1209 by students fleeing the anger of locals towards the students at Oxford – an early version of town-gown hostilities – it is one of the great universities of the world, known particularly for its scientific excellence. Stephen Hawking, Watson & Crick of DNA fame, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing – they all studied here. Oh, and a guy named John Harvard, whose 1638 deathbed bequest to a then two-year-old college in Massachusetts so delighted the Massachusetts Bay Colony that they named the school after him. They even decided that the village across the river from Boston where the college was formed, then known as New Towne, was renamed Cambridge in honor of his alma mater.

Thus the link between our old home and this original Cambridge is formed. One fun little fact we learned on our tour of the University was the origin of the name Cambridge itself. The city, you see, sits on the River Cam. And when a bridge was first built across the river the then-small settlement became known as Cam Bridge. Or something like that, of course, in olde English. At any rate, that’s what one of our tour guides told us, and it makes sense.

King’s College Chapel, perhaps the most famous site in Cambridge

Though we are typically not tour people, we actually took two tours on our one full day in Cambridge, one a 90-minute walking tour of the University and the other a 45-minute boat tour up and back on the River Cam. The walking tour was great. Led by Annie, who had recently finished her Master’s Degree in Linguistics there, she explained all we wanted to know about the history and structure of the University. I had been confused by the structure of a university with 31 colleges and how they relate but now that’s been cleared up. In capsule form, the University handles academics while the Colleges handle student life. Simple enough.

The river tour was less informative but wonderfully relaxing. Basically there are hundreds of “punts” – small, flat-bottomed boats with square-cut bows – that are poled along the shallow river. Here in Cambridge they travel essentially behind many of the Colleges, giving you a view of the architecture and lawns you can’t see otherwise unless you’re a student here.

Mark and our punter, a local kid going to college somewhere else, but working for the summer at home

Beyond the tours and the immediate university vicinity, the parks and walks along the River Cam were really great. Bucolic, quiet, green – everything you would want, and the foot paths go on for miles. And on the weekend at least you’d see kids swimming, canoeing, fishing, all very relaxing.

Oh, and some good food, too. Steaks one night, Turkish another, and a spectacular Indian place (Dishoom) that was so good we had lunch there both days. There are a couple Dishoom restaurants in other parts of Great Britain where we’ll be stopping and we already have them marked. Now northward to Lincoln!

On arrival the weather was pretty typical for what we’re expecting in England. Later on though it was beautiful – just about perfect in fact.

Fabulous foot paths along the River Cam

A glorious riverside reading spot

Did I mention bucolic?

Back in town, here is Mark at the Eagle, a famous pub where Watson & Crick announced the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. As they modestly described it, they’d found “the secret of life.”

Speaking of science, here’s our guide Annie pointing out where Stephen Hawking lived with his first wife and their girls. She still owns the building and Annie, in fact, lived there while she studied at Cambridge!

Out for steaks one night, this was the view from Mark’s seat

The Bridge of Sighs over the River Cam, named for the more famous bridge of the same name in Venice

The back of King’s College Chapel as seen from the river

St John’s College, again from the river. You’ll notice that the clock tower is missing the clock. The story is that they just ran out of money!