UK musings

[johncomic]

I fell hard for York while we were there. The place seemed like such a comfortable fit for me, built on what I see as a more human scale than the vastness of London (its wondrousness notwithstanding). All of us ended up sorta-wishing that, rather than booking two weeks in York and one in London, that we had booked all three in York. I actually had to hold back tears when we were on our way to the railway station to finally leave.



A while later, I realized that my response was very similar to how I feel when I develop a crush on someone. The feeling is very pleasant and very powerful... but it can also be based on only the briefest acquaintance, without necessarily very many hard facts on which to ground this positive evaluation. So I quickly saw that it would not be smart to suddenly pull up stakes and try to move there.... but at the same time, the feeling is, in and of itself, real... not to be denied or dismissed, but to be enjoyed for the pleasures it brings to my life. So it remains a place of fond memories and warm regards. And if I'm very lucky, I will go back someday.

Comments

[ginsu]

You describe the York thing as a reaction to urban scale. I wonder if there's anything to do with the northern location, too.

Virtually all my ancestors came from the southwest of England -- what is now Cornwall and Devon. Quite a few of yours, I think, came from Scotland. Might be we inherit a subtle preference after untold generations, and a few on the wrong continent haven't changed it.

[johncomic]

Well, dad was part Scottish, at least the direct patrilineal part, obviously. Both my mom's parents came over from England, but I'm not sure what part -- quite possibly the north?

Speaking of Scottish, I have a little anecdote from the trip:

On our day trip to Edinburgh, we got out of the railway station on let's call it Street A.. and we wanted to get to Street B which ran on a bridge overhead of us... without several storeys' worth of staircases or many blocks out of our way (cuz Sharon can't do either of those). So: there was this tall hotel which rises from Street A to Street B... the lower floor was being renoed by some reno guys... so she goes in and asks one of them if the hotel has an elevator ("lift") we can use...

and the guy is all "och sure lassie you follow me", and explained to us where to go when we got to the top, etc.... and he goes "they're used to having tourists in here so they won't mind"

then he looks at me and says "so where you from?"

"Canada."

"Ah, Canada, good."

Then Sharon says "But if you go back far enough, he's actually from here."

The guy looks at me again and I say "MacLeod".... and then he goes "You're more Scottish than ME!"

[ginsu]

That's a cool story.

What did you think of York Minster (the cathedral)? I've been curious about that one since reading about it in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

[johncomic]

I really enjoyed York Minster cuz I developed a love of Gothic architecture back in art history class, and it was my first time seeing a genuine piece from the Gothic era. It often made me think of the cleverness of medieval folk, when I realized how few people today would know how to build something like this using the tools of that time.