Rosslyn Chapel and York....

The next day we awoke and decided to head just outside of Edinburgh to check out the Rosslyn chapel of "The Da Vinci Code" fame. It is a quaint countryside chapel (especially compared to the many large cathedrals we've been visiting) with a lot of hidden symbolism in the carvings throughout the church. I don't have any pictures as the outside is covered in scaffolding right now and no photos were allowed inside, but go here for some pictures of the detailed carvings inside the church. After a short tour, we were unsuccessful in locating a nearby glass factory so decided to head on our way down to York. The drive took us along the eastern coast of the country with some beautiful views out across the water. We made a short detour to drive by Sir Lancelot's castle on the way down.

We arrived in York in the pouring rain and head to the B&B we thought we had reserved for the night. Well they hadn't received our email with necessary information and we hadn't been able to access our email to check for the confirmation and they had just rented the room to someone else before we showed up. However they were able to direct us to another place just up the street that had a room. Not the best night sleep with no black out curtains, an old metal spring mattress, and no crib but it worked for the night. Once we were finally settled and the rain let up we walked into York. Most of the tourist stuff was getting ready to close but we were able to tour the town and walk the walls that surround the city with a stop at a pub for a cheap dinner. Some of the streets remind me of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

The next morning we had breakfast and then enjoyed the beautiful riverside walk into town. First stop was the York Minster, the largest Gothic church north of the Alps. We took turns touring the crypt and nave of the church while the other enjoyed the climb to the top of the tower for the panoramic view of the city. In the crypt we were able to see the excavations of the Roman city that once stood on the site including the spot where Constantine was crowned emperor. Later a Norman church was built on top of the Roman settlement and then the larger present day minster was built on the foundations of the Norman church. This large Gothic church has many beautiful stained glass windows throughout including the largest medieval glass one in existence, unfortunately that one is currently being restored so it was covered.

Next we headed to the National Railway museum to check out the exhibits. Whitney' favorite part of the day was playing on the playground there and the miniature train ride we went on. We then had to head home for Jim to make his night shift at work.