York, Day 3 - York Maze

On our final day in York we thought that the York Maze would be a nice change.  Lesley was concerned that because we were arriving very early we might be the only ones there.  Not so! With the UK school holidays still on, the car park was already filling up quickly.  York Maze is the place to be for families and children on a warm summer's day.  
Our first stop was the "House of Cornfusion", full of mazes and optical and physical illusions/challenges, like this shrinking corridor:

 And the upside down room:

 How about the gravity distorting room?

 Fun on the jumping pillow...

 Getting ready to enter the large maze, this years theme : Dr Who...

 Emily & Mum ... "Are you kidding me?!"

 We didn't make it to all the clues, so managed to escape the maze early, just in time to see the first pig race of the day...

 The large play area at the York Maze:

 After leaving York Maze, we thought we might head to Castle Howard, but got stuck for half an hour in a motorway traffic jam, so decided better to exit the jam and return to York.  We walked for a while along the York City walls...

 ..where Dad and Emily defended the city with their bows...

 and Mum and Emily enjoyed the views from the city wall...

 We returned to the Shambles for another look around ...

 Mmm...love those marshmallow sandwiches...

 Mmmmm....more York sweets!

Cotswold Falconry Centre, Moreton in Marsh, UK

Hello blog readers,
You'll notice I have skipped a couple of days of blog entries. (I will still include these days soon.)
I really wanted to share with you some photos and video from our visit to the Cotswold Falconry Centre on Friday 30th August.  
We only learned about this centre when we spoke with a falconer at Mary Arden's farm on Thursday; he highly recommended a visit. After checking Trip Advisor, we thought we would go along.  It was fabulous!  I only wish we could have spent the whole day there, to see each of the four main bird shows. We only saw the first show, which lasted almost an hour and included three different birds.  The final bird to fly was Lulu the Chilean eagle.  See below the video of her flight - especially when she rockets back to earth when called. Spectacular!

York, Day 2 - York Minster, Jorvik Viking Centre, York Castle Museum

On our second day in York, we spent some more time at York Minster Cathedral, including taking the Tower Tour.  Only 287 steps, many in a vary confined narrow, spiral staircase - really gives you the sense that the stairs will never end!
A beautiful cross on display:

 Dave and Emily sit in the choir section

 The view on the tower tour at the first landing:

 The view from the top of the York Minster tower:

 York has it's own "York eye" wheel, although not quite as large as the London Eye:

 More of the displays inside York Minster:

 Emily relaxes outside York Minster:

 We returned to the old town of York, including the Shambles:

 This pub, the Golden Fleece, is said to be the most haunted pub in Britain.  Sadly we didn't get the chance to see for ourselves.

 Next we visited the Jorvik Viking Centre to explore the Viking history of the city of York.  We really enjoyed the moving car, like a roller coaster car, which took us through displays of Viking life , although not at roller coaster speed!  Check out the website for more information.

 Emily had a viking style coin struck by this Viking.  He also criticised Dave's clothing - real men never show their legs or wear open collar shirts!

 Two of the "vikings" outside the Jorvik Centre:

 This is Clifford's Tower, the remains of York Castle which was originally built by William the Conqueror. Click here to learn more about Clifford's Tower and York Castle.

 The view from Clifford's Tower, lookign across to the York Castle Museum:

 The royals pose inside Clifford's Tower:

 Inside the Clifford's Tower:

 The carousel outside the York Castle Museum:

 Inside the York Castle Museum, Emily is given a task to track down a missing cat...

 An old music machine, playing tunes as the handle is turned.   Let me know if you know the proper name of such a machine:

 A recreation of an apocathery shop...

 Riding the York carousel...

 We were glad we also stopped in to visit this beautiful home, Fairfax House:

 Horse and carriage rides near York Minster:

 Some of the features of the gothic style of York Minster Cathedral: