There are cats in Britain.

On Wednesday the 9th I went into York again - and this time made it to the city center. Tom (who is also on my program) and Becky (another American who is also studying history of art at York these two terms and lives next door to me) and I went in for a bit of sight-seeing and shopping. It was beautiful out but very cold and windy - as it has been most days, when it hasn't been raining. We traversed the city center (the part inside the walls), seeing the narrowest street in Britain - The Shambles - before meeting up with Patrick, the Dutch chemistry student we met Tuesday, outside the Minster.

The York Minster is the largest medieval building in Britain, and it is duly impressive. Quite tall and... made of stone. We didn't go inside, but took lots of photographs and walked in the park beside it. We'll be back before tourist season heats up - that's one advantage of being here while it's freezing, we get to see York without the throngs of tourists that apparently flock here.

After that bit of sight-seeing we had to do shopping - which took us both to cell phone stores and H&M and to the central city market, where I bought some wonderfully cheap produce from (as one of my study abroad orientation documents put it) "authentic farmers." My other big purchase of the day was a bird book, so I can go about identifying all of the birds which float by my window daily.

After the shopping Patrick had to go, and Tom, Becky, and I looked for lunch. We ended up at a place we'd heard mentioned - El Piano, which is a sort of vegetarian Mexican/Latin/Mediterranean place. It was excellent. A lot of food for fairly cheap, and both filling and tasty - which is more than I can say for a lot of the food I've had here so far. As soon as my food came El Piano became my favorite restaurant in York - a crown which is going to be very difficult for any other establishment to claim, I think. There's little that can beat a bowl of beans and rice.
After a satisfying and warming lunch we set off for the city walls again - starting west of the Minster and heading north for the same store we ended up at the first time we walked the walls. The walls were very cool - quite heavily restored, and impressive. The views of the Minster and of the gardens of some very fine houses were nice, too.

We ended the day with more shopping at the big grocery store, actually buying things to make meals. Then we trudged back to campus, just in time to see kids coming home from school in their uniforms, which was cute. In all we must have walked 8 miles - maybe more - and some of it with all our shopping. It was a tiring day, but very good.

....
On Thursday there was an initial meeting for my class - or module, as they say here. We talked about the course and went over the syllabus. It doesn't seem too bad - it's a seminar, so the teaching style isn't too far removed from what I'm used to in the US, and the material seems really engaging.
The lecturer mentioned "In Ruins" as one of the books she thought might be worth buying (unlike in the US, we're meant to mainly rely on checking books out from the library, not buying them) - and I was quite thrilled, as that is one of my favorite books, and I never expected to meet anyone else who had read it - let alone be told to study it. It's too bad I don't have my copy with me.
Today I've been doing a lot of preparatory readings, boning up on my architectural knowledge. This weekend I really need to start doing the assigned readings, as our first class is on Monday.
Tonight I cooked for the first time. The three Americans (including me) on our hall got some pots and pans to share, so tonight I made couscous - which was really easy, given that we have an instant boiling water tap. I also had some of the green beans I bought at the produce stand - it was quite a good meal. It's nice to be able to cook for myself. I know I'm eating better, and cooking food I like and know, in my own space, is so comfortable (and comforting).

All right, it has gotten quite late on me. Tomorrow I will post a few pictures from my most recent trip to York, but until then, you check them all out here.

Also! I'm now keeping a life list of the birds I see whilst I'm here. You can see it here, or by scrolling to the bottom of the page.