As an admirer of old towns (medieval towns, to be more specific), I’d known that I had to visit York someday. I’d been longing to go to York since I came here, but it isn’t that close that I could make an impulsive trip like I did to Winchester and Bournemouth. So after what seemed like such a long way, I came here just three days after Christmas. There were still some traces of Christmas here and there.

My first impression of York: it’s a more dramatic version of Winchester. And I LOVED it. It’s a small town where everything is within walking distance, with narrow cobbled streets (my favorite!) and friendly atmosphere. The shops there are such eye-candies, I found it hard to keep my wallet safe (but I did, thank God).

And it’s definitely a heaven for food lovers too.

These beautiful shops, of course, were not my favorite parts of York. As predicted, the old buildings won my heart, big time. I first went to York Minster and stood in front of it in awe for about two minutes before I could get rid of my amazement for a while to take my camera out. And of course, my photo here doesn’t do much justice.

A little bit further away from the town center, is York Castle. It might look small here, but it actually isn’t that small.

I went up and paid my ticket for this view.

Back down, I walked to the town center again and got a glimpse of this old beauty.

I hadn’t expected it to be that crowded, actually. But since it was only two days after Boxing Day, all shops had been slashing their prices and I guess everyone was still in a fierce shopping spirit. The streets (and of course, the shops) were packed. It was too crowded for my taste, but the beauty compensated it.

Another charm of York, is that there are street-musicians at every corner. When I was there I found at least 5 different performers at five different spots. Some were with guitars, others were also with mics and speakers. But my favorite, was an old man with his bright red piano in front of York Minster. Since York is really small, I found myself passing the Minster again and again, and after the third time, I found this pianist who hadn’t been there before. It was cold outside, but I was glued for more than half an hour. He was so talented, and hearing him play had some calming effect to me (which was why he reminded me so much of my sister). The passers-by were spoiled with some classic numbers, and some modern songs. The great thing about him was, he could make Daft Punk’s Got Lucky (and other pop songs) sounded so classic.

I found an empty bench and sat there with the wonderful music and this view.

Happiness can be that simple, really.

On the way back, I accidentally found this park (Dean’s Park, to be exact) and couldn’t resist to walk around despite the steady drizzle.

Feeling tired after walking for the whole day, I decided to go back to the hostel. The long walk back there turned out to be nice, as I had this view of River Ouse just for myself. I really didn’t mind the 2.4 miles under the drizzle, thanks to this scenic view.

York, indeed, is a charmer that nobody could resist.