Western State Tourism at Harlaxton

Well, the weekend was wonderful and full of adventure. Friday was the trip to York (my personal favorite), Saturday we journeyed to Cambridge, and Sunday we again rode a bus but this time to Lincoln. All three are beautiful, old cities that were very enjoyable.

York was the furthest away and we spent two hours on the bus going and returning. The countryside is nice and green with a church steeple almost everywhere you look. The cathedrals in all of these town are spectacular and beautiful. They are so very old and wonderful. One of the best places is a walking street called the "Shambles." This is an obsolete term for an open air slaughterhouse and meat market. It's not used for that anymore, but it is very neat. It will remind some of the depictions of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

Next was Cambridge. There are 31 colleges that make up the University of Cambridge. The school recently celebrated its 800 year anniversary...amazing. Unfortunately, many of the main colleges we wanted to see were closed to the public because students are taking exams. Cambridge was also the city of bikes. Wow, I've never seen so many. And you had to watch where they were or it could be pretty easy to get hit. The just ding their bells and keep going. Another interesting part of the area around Cambridge was a WWII cemetery that we visited before heading into the town itself. It is the only WWII American cemetery in Great Britain. Over 3000 men/women are buried there and there is also a wall of missing Americans that numbers over 5000. A sobering sight.

Finally, was Lincoln. This town is a bit closer and the cathedral and remains of the castle are pretty neat. They also had a 1940s festival going on and people were dressed in clothes of that age. It was very fun.

It was amazing to all of us the number of people who were out and about in all of these cities. It wasn't so surprising for Cambridge and Lincoln (since it was the weekend), but York was very busy with lots of people just hanging out, shopping, and walking around. It made me wonder if people work. ;)

Well, here are some pictures. I hope you enjoy.

YORK

One of the gates to the city. You can walk along the wall by going
up the steps on the right.

This is Diagon Alley...I mean the Shambles.

A view of the cathedral over the homes and cobblestone street.

CAMBRIDGE

Entrance to the cemetery

One of the angles down the rows.

They call these little boats "punts." It was amusing to watch people try to drive the punts while watching the guides who had some experience wind their way through the maze.