Confession time: I don’t know if I liked York or not.
There I said it. I confess.
I need to also point out that I didn’t hate the city, I just don’t know if I would go back in a hurry.
It was probably my own fault for having such high expectations.. like HUGE ones. I think after all the hype I expected there to be some kind of defining moment from the minute I drove into the city.
That ‘angels singing on high’ moment.
But there wasn’t and I was kind of disappointed.
So to give you some kind of background about why I had these expectations:
If you are a regular reader of my posts, you may know that my dad passed away some years ago. I was very close to the my dad in his latter years but I think I’d always been a kind of ‘daddy’s girl’. When I was little he would bounce me on his knee and sing “The Grand Old Duke of York” to me – he did it to all the grandkids too and we even sung it at his funeral!
Anyhoo, when I found out there was an actual York in England I wanted to go and visit the Grand Old Duke. When I found there was no ‘Grand Old Duke’ I still wanted to go because I had this romantic image of York itself. This didn’t abate as I researched York more and found out about the Minster and The Shambles.
Fast forward to February 2017 and the 9th anniversary of my dad passing away (yes very poignant), I finally got to visit the city for myself…
It’s a nice place. Really it is. The town centre is very compact and easy to get around. The Shambles is cute, though a bit crowded. The Minster has amazing stained glass windows. I had an amazing view from my hotel room. People are really friendly and for my first day in the city, I actually had nice weather.
But there was just something missing and I have yet to put my finger on it.
Maybe it was because it was the end of my journey and I was trying to prepare myself for the long trip back to Australia. Maybe if I had started the trip in York and ended in London, then things might have been different.
Who knows really. But I did take photos…
Hello World. It's Me, Sarah 
I understand you perfectly. Same thing happened to me when I went to Los Angeles for the first time. I kinda expected ‘glitter’ in the air of Hollywood, celebrities everywhere, high fashion, the best parties… and no.
Btw, your photos look great.
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I guess it’s hard not to have expectations of a place in this day & age. Thanks for the comment 🙂
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I just have to say… I had little to no expectation of the city and fell in love with it. Out of all the larger cities I visited, York was by far my favorite (and yes, that’s over London and Paris). I’m sorry it didn’t ‘do it’ for you. Its a strange feeling to be let down but not knowing exactly why…
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Yeah it’s a weird thing.. whereas going to somewhere like Whitby.. I loved immediately. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it was the end of my trip & I was just tired. I had been on the go for about 12 days straight & I just wanted to rest. I think I would go back.. I should have said “I wouldn’t go back in a hurry” instead of saying I wouldn’t.. never say never right? 😊
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You will read about them in my upcoming posts, but out of the cities I visited, Manchester and Luton are two that I wouldn’t want to go back for any reason.
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Yeah Manchester was a weird one for me. I didn’t get it haha. There were just so many different types of buildings it just confused me. Looking forward to reading about your adventures though 😊
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York looks amazing in your photos:) but you loved Yorkshire:)
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Yeah I loved Yorkshire.. its funny, I never really thought of myself as a country/small town gal but I really enjoyed the villages & small towns on this trip a lot more than the cities.. and that actually includes London on this trip!
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Hmm, it looks like a fantastic place. But I can understand if something was missing due to high expectations. Pictures are awesome though!
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Thank you! It’s my own fault for putting those expectations on the city. I try not to do it but it just happens sometimes
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Love your photos!!
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Thank you!
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