Travels in Yorkshire

Still behind, as usual.
The new term is in full swing now - reading, presentations, and (most exciting) study trips. The first two trips are York-based - I'm headed to the Minster this afternoon to look at the different Gothic styles contained therein - but starting next week, we'll be traipsing all over England to look at examples of the 19th-century Medieval revival.

I've been on one Outdoors Society walk, the weekend before last, from Bolton Abbey to Embsay. It was nice - I've been on enough walks now that I know a lot of the people, and it was a very friendly walk, a lot of chatting and laughing. It did rain the whole time, and Tom and I got epically splashed by a car while walking along a road (one of those moments you think could only happen in a movie), but the pub was nice, and we rode a steam train back to Bolton Abbey - which was pretty cool, but it was so jerky and smoky that I got a headache.

This past weekend it was a Bank Holiday, meaning those who work generally got the day off on Monday. To celebrate the day off, I piled in a car with my boyfriend Patrick and his housemates, and we headed to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal - which is a ruined Cistercian abbey set in an 18th-century water garden. It was stunning. The fields on the way were full of blooming, sweet-smelling mustard, and it was overcast but warm - such a nice day. The grounds of the Abbey were crawling in families, people of all ages out enjoying the day - little half-clothed kids rolling down grassy hills, etc. We had a picnic near the abbey then strolled, taking in the daisy-flowered lawns and blooming late-spring plants, and the gorgeous water gardens... Really, we didn't have enough time, we only saw about half the grounds, but it was plenty. And there were bluebells - including a little patch of that extremely British sight, the bluebell wood. Very nice. (Photos will be posted soon.)