England Trip Report -- Tuesday and Wednesday

[klwilliams]

As I did last time, I got a flight that left in the evening and arrived midday the following day. On the flight over I sat next to a 75-year-old retired nurse who was travelling home to visit her younger brother, who, from what I gather, is a highly ranked judge in London (he wears a wig in the courtroom and is called "your honor", which I think from what she said isn't the normal address for judges in England). The nurse, Jill, is originally from England, and came to San Francisco in 1964 with the intention of staying only two years. They liked her so much at St. Mary's Hospital that they wouldn't let her quit, and she eventually retired in 1995 and still lives in the city.

Jill told me that milk goes in the teacup before the tea, because putting the milk in first keeps the tea from staining the porcelain cups. There you have it.



My plane arrived in London on time, I took the tube to King's Cross, and a train to York, arriving tired but happy. I had tried booking a room online at the last minute at Bar Convent, but when I arrived I found out they hadn't received it in time and were booked up. They were very nice, though, and found me a room down the road at Wheatlands Hotel, a wonderful Georgian building with comfy rooms (all en suite) and friendly people. Gareth, the handsome young clerk, seemed to like me, and gave me the room at half the rate he initially quoted.





After I checked in I walked the short distance into the main area of York.
My way into the old town of York was through Micklegate Bar (which means the big wide (mickle) street (gate) gate (bar)).



When I was here a couple of years ago with acanthusleaf we discovered Betty's, a cafe and tea shop that makes delicious food (and is open most of the day). I made my way here for dinner, where I had the first of several delicious meals. This one was something called rotri (with two dots over the "o"), a Swedish dish which is essentially a potato-and-cream pancake (the rotri), piled with chicken, mushroom, and two kinds of cheese. Yum yum yum. With it I had an excellent Swiss red wine. For dessert, I had a chocolate and pear torte with Kwazulu tea (a blend made for Betty's, from Africa).

Then I staggered back to the hotel, full, jetlagged, and so to bed.

Comments

[edanam.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful start to the trip!

[acanthusleaf.livejournal.com]

Sure the milk goes in first, if you've made a pot of tea to pour in. If you're a pathetic teabag-using wank, you must pour boiling water over the teabag, with no milk in it to cool down the mixture prematurely.

The past two days I have made entire pots of tea, so I must remember Jill's advice. Probably save me some scrubbing.

Mmmm. Betty's. Mmmmmm. I adored York.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

York is lovely. I wish I could go back and spent more than 24 hours next time.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Hi there! Good to hear you (read you). I look forward to your views on (wet) Wales.

*bouncing up and down impatiently*

[lifeofglamour.livejournal.com]

C'mon, c'mon, get to the good stuff!

(kidding. sort of. I'm glad the trip started out well...)

Re: *bouncing up and down impatiently*

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

That's what filtered posts will be for.

[broider-barones.livejournal.com]

Betty's is famous! You haven't done York if you haven't done Betty's for tea.
Get a timed pass for the Jorvik tour - saves standing in line and you need to do the tour. Take a good look at the workrooms as you walk out. The stuff on the walls was priceless for those of us into textiles.
Love York - could spend weeks there! Enjoy.

[darcyjavanne.livejournal.com]

I ADORED York! Sigh. Your post brings it all back! More, more trip report!