York Minster, Fountain Abbey, and the Lake Country (29 July)

Walking to the minster in the morning. We walked along the old city wall-it's a Roman wall.

Today has been great! We first explored York Minster, the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe. It’s where Lori and I went to Evensong last night. It was fun to look around some more. There have been buildings on that site ever since the Romans founded the city in AD 71. Later the Normans built a cathedral in the same location. The larger gothic cathedral was built over that. It was fun to see the ruins and elements of all these buildings.

We rode about an hour north to Fountain Abbey. This is a huge ruined abbey. It was so beautiful. We could walk all around and see various lakes and ruins. I loved it and it was a beautiful day.

A small piece of the ruined abbey

Then we drove about 3 or 4 hours to the lake district. WOW! I have been so excited to be here and I haven’t been disappointed. Words can’t do justice to the beauty here. It reminds me of Ireland, except it has a different feel. There are many green fields, but also trees and rugged hills. I love it. I’m so excited to go running in the morning!

Lori and I walked a mile to our hostel while everyone else rode the bus. We really enjoyed the country roads and the scenery. We even ventured into a sheep and cow pasture so we could be closer to the lake. I think I will fall asleep to the baaa-ing of the sheep. Love it.