johncomic: (Default)
Curmudge ([personal profile] johncomic) wrote2018-12-15 06:19 pm

UK2018 Trip - Dec 15

My final morning in York was gray and with a bitter wind chill -- so cold that it made the news, whereas I just thought it was no worse than home. Still, it was a marked change from the rest of my stay here, almost as if the city felt that it no longer needed to put on its welcoming face. Before dawn I paid a last visit to "my" Caffe Nero:

Caffe Nero

Alas, "my" barista Fran was not there, but cheers to all the staff for putting up with that weird foreign bloke every day.

Once daylight came, I spent awhile taking in a final balcony view:

balcony

As usual, the waterfowl were browsing (you can't really see it here, sorry, but the black ones in the floating leaves have red beaks, very cool):

dux

Today there were even some Canada geese, who came all the way over to beckon us back home:

Canada geese

A final look back at the city from the train station:

train station
south end of train station
Welcome to York

I was expecting tears as we left York -- I held back a few during our trip to York Station last year -- but today all I feel is a muted appreciation.

Tried to snag a glimpse of the green hills of mid-December:

green hills of mid-December

We took a train down to London to stay overnight in a hotel at Gatwick Airport, where our return flight leaves tomorrow morning. Here's me tired in St. Pancras Station during a transfer:

tired in St Pancras

The Gatwick hotel is another Premier Inn -- our room is a bit smaller than the one in Halifax, there is only room for a stuffed chair instead of a couch, but otherwise all the furnishings and decor are exactly the same and in exactly the same place, and the wifi is just as persnickety, so I know my way around.