Tropical World and York
Topic: Day Trips
The last three days have been a whirlwind of day trips. Thursday there was a baby sitting co-op meeting at a place called Tropical World. The photo to the right is my only photo of that trip. Unfortunately, between Ryan running around like a crazy person and the camera lense fogging up, I just wasn't able to take pictures. Fortunately, there's a website with plenty of photos. Click here. Virtual Tour of Tropical World
Tropical World is part of Roundhay Park, which is only about half an hour away from my house. I car pooled with two other members of the co-op. Tropical World is sort of a mini zoo/nature park type of place, with various areas you walk through. Each section represents a different environment, such as the jungle, the desert, etc. There are giant koi to feed, huge butterflies, and very docile ducks, among many other creatures. I tried to let Ryan out of his stroller to walk through, but he simply ran off. He was way more interested in running than anything else. I strapped him back into the stroller for the most part. They have a waterfall at Tropical World. Ryan was completely fascinated. He chattered away in his language and seemed quite enthused.
After we walked through, all the co-op members had lunch at Tropical World's outdoor cafe. It was an enclosed area, so we could let our kiddos run around. I think that was Ryan's favorite part!
I would like to come back at some point and explore the other parts of Roundhay Park. It seems like a nice place to just come and relax on a warm, sunny day.
As I write this, it's 10pm and there's still light in the sky. I love it!
There's a faire going on at the Stray right now. I can hear the fireworks going off. Unfortunately we can't see them from our house, even though we're a less than ten minute walk away.
I must interject something I forgot to mention about our trip to Lakenheath. On the way there, Larry and I saw our first honest to goodness scarecrow. Neither of us had ever seen one before.
Yesterday, Larry and Ryan and I went to York. As the crow flies, York isn't very far at all. However, since you have to take back roads to get there, then park and ride to get into town, it takes a while to get your day there going.
We went to the Tourist Information center, and bought a York Pass. You pay for the pass, then use it to get into various attractions rather than paying admission at each site.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe, then went to the York Minster, which is the largest Gothic church in England. Larry pointed out that it seems every cathedral we've been to in Europe has been an "est," of some description: largest, oldest, tallest, smallest, you name it! That made me laugh. I have to say that as awful as it may sound, for a while I'd been to so many cathedrals in so many different countries that I had started to get a bit dulled out. Now, however, the Minster is the first cathedral I've been to in almost two years (the last one being Westminster Abbey), and my full appreciation has returned.
This was Ryan's first time in a cathedral.
I continued my tradition of lighting a prayer candle in every cathedral I visit.
I did take some photos inside the Minster, but here is a site that has some nice 360 degree panoramic views. York Minster Virtual Tour Here is a great overall information site for the Minster.
York Minster Site
We also visited the Undercroft, Treasury and Crypt at the Minster. We listened to the audio guide, which I'd never done anywhere before. It was actually very interesting and informative. Part of that section of the Minster showed where the former Roman and Norman buildings and cathedral were. It was amazing to stand at the confluence of where the Roman, Norman, and present day structures all come together.
Ryan was really well behaved while we were there. At one point though, I looked down to check on him, and he had his hand down the front of his pants! Part of me was a bit mortified, especially because it was inside a church. However, the other part of me figured that as long as he was quiet...! *grin*
The treasury was the next section, followed by the crypt. There were two things in particular in the crypt that caught my attention. The first, Larry pointed out to me. There was a rock depicting demons pushing various bad souls down to hell. There were also frogs cleaning out the nose of a big demon. (Ew!) I didn't know frogs were considered magical creatures. (That explains some things.) It was interesting to listen to the audio guide info. on it. It was also very creepy. The other thing that caught my attention was an art display of dozens of plain white wax bowls. The viewer is supposed to project thoughts or prayers or energy into them. I found it interesting. In my mind's eye, in the bowls were balls of light in various colors. Some of the bowls were empty, but many of them seemed to have some sort of energy in them.
Overall, I was really glad we went to the Minster. Larry and I both very much enjoyed it. It was beautiful and very interesting. It felt good to be inside a cathedral again.
Our next stop was Clifford's Tower. It has a grisly history and is all that remains of York Castle. Click here for more info. and photos. Clifford's Tower Larry stayed with Ryan while I explored the Tower. There was a tight spiral stairway to climb to get to the top. I hadn't been up stairs like that in quite a while. The view from the top of the Tower was impressive. I was glad I got a chance to see it.
Next we went to the York Castle Museum. That was really neat. A lot of it is a recreation of Victorian life, in the form of streets and shops and buildings, all within the museum. There are many other displays from other periods as well. Click here for more info. York Castle Museum As museums go, it was very accessible and friendly. The displays had to do with daily life over various historical periods, and there were a lot of hands-on things to do, buttons to push, people in costume to talk to. It was very three dimensional, down to earth, and easy to relate to.
After visiting the museum, we hit Starbucks, then headed home. Ryan was a trooper the whole day, and was really good and well behaved. Thank goodness he seems to enjoy travel!
Here is an album of photos from our visit: York Enjoy!