The Arctic Monkeys concert last night ended about 1:00 and was great. The big news is the Rolling Stones are performing tonight for the first time at Glastonbury. They have been quoting Mick Jagger this week, in an interview he said being a rock star was boring, not really intellectually stimulating. He thinks perhaps he should have been a teacher, or a journalist. Yup. I know I sure feel sorry for him.
Well, today was the perfect weather we had been hoping for, 70 degrees and sunny all day. It is the first day I have walked around without a coat. People lying on the grass in the park or sitting along the river catching rays. This section of the river, like so many in Europe, is lined by concrete steps and walkways. Long, low canal boats are tied up alongside, kind of like s small scale Amsterdam. Some of the boats have firewood on top, a chimney sticking out; others have flowers in pots, or garden boxes full of vegetables. The boats are low and narrow, maybe six feet side at most. The interiors must be just a long row of rooms: entry/sitting area, kitchen, loo, bedroom. I'd love to go in one and explore.
We walked up to the York Minster. It is a huge church, and I think more interesting and beautiful than Westminster Abbey in London, except for all the cool dead people in Westminster. York is huge, with the largest stain glass window in the world, really interesting clocks that gong and tell the sun and star positions, nice towers full of gargoyles and an interesting octagonal room. This church is so big the side rooms alone are larger than normal churches in the US. The choir sits in the middle, so the main church is split in half, along the ornate wooden walls of the choir loft, facing the crowd, are statues of the kings, proving to all that Kingliness is next to Godliness. The area around the statues is covered with gold leaf, but before you get all excited about that gold, I read that they would pound out a piece of gold the size of a sugar cube to a sheet as large as a driveway. We saw where the original Roman columns and foundations are, both here and around town.
We spent time walking the streets, sampling York Brewery beers. I had a take away roast pork, stuffing and applesauce sandwich (not so great), and we clambered about on the city walls, which were OK but not spectacular. Guy Fawkes (gunpowder plot to assassinate King James 1, you have seen the mask) is from here, there are plaques commemorating him, and a pub named for him with real gas lights and candles everywhere. We stopped in for a break. This city is packed, absolutely wall to wall with tourists. One popular thing seems to be that brides throw their bridal party here. They all wear pink sashes, or matching flowers in their hair, or T-shirts, and roam the streets in loud packs, drinking and yelling. A "Hen" party. I guess what happens in York stays in York. Another popular thing here is coloring your hair. I see these really cute cute girls with vibrant pink, neon red-orange or worst of all, purple-grey hair. Not that they care what I think, but it wrecks their natural beauty, though I was a bit fascinated by the purple-grey color. Kind of like being fascinated by a car wreck, but this is worse.
We were walking down the street, out of the bar ahead of us a bridal group is spilling out onto the sidewalk, kind of a tangled heap of high heels, party dressed, long arms and legs, the bride with her veil, everyone with flowers. They set off in a funny, laughing-too-loud group, some stumbling, on to the next bar. A tall, good looking girl tosses her bright bright red hair, and behind us there is a tremendous burp. The deep, low earthquake rumble of a guy watching too much football, three six packs under his belt. We laugh, and glance back, and there is the most petite, cute blonde, stumbling a little behind the group. She looks at me with those big eyes, puts her hand up and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, so sorry!" We all just laugh our way up to the corner, and as we part she apologizes again. I am thinking, if we were in high school we would all have loved you, the cute girl who can burp like a real man!
Gail got tired, I was weary of the crowds, so we headed to the room for a little down time. She took a nap, I read, then headed back out to catch the cathedral bells tolling. As the afternoon wore on, the day trippers left town and things quieted down a little. We had a nice dinner at Café Concerto. I had Dauphinoise of chicken, bacon and mushroom in a creamy sauce, which was like a hot dish with all the above in it, and a layer of sliced potatoes with cheese melted on top. Gail had breaded, fried goat cheese salad, and loved it. Finally... finally a good meal!
We enjoyed walking in the warm evening before returning to the room. At about 23:00 the Rolling Stones started playing at Glastonbury, live on BBC2.
It has been nice to just have a warm, sunny day.