York, England

What a non-stop whirl-wind adventure this trip turned out to be. One week later, I’m still tired. I burned myself out on this trip and let myself get sick and run down. But hey, that’s the price to pay when there’s only a short period of time and a lot of activities to accomplish. No time for sleep. Gotta Go! Go! Go!
I flew into Leeds Airport on Sunday evening, March 8th, via Amsterdam. I had a four hour delay in A-dam and spent it drinking cold Heineken, eating a Whopper Royal with cheese, and chatting with Kim. Kim is our speech pathologist at several schools in Stuttgart. She was attending an Autism Conference along with me and a dozen others from around Europe. We were all meeting in York.
Eight of us arrived in Leeds at the airport and piled in a taxi van to York, about a 30 minute drive costing $120. Our Iraqi cab driver talked about how much he disliked England and how much he wished to return back to Basra with his British wife. “Good luck with that, dude”, I thought. I wonder how his wife will like living in the Iraqi desert?
After checking into the hotel, I tossed my backpack on the bed, re-applied the Old Spice, and made a bee-line for Brigante’s Bar & Brasserie. I did some research on pubs in England and found two of the top rated ones were located in York. Brigantes and and another pub called The Maltings were located within a 5 minute walking distance from the hotel! I walked directly from the front door of Brigante’s to the bar where I spied four cask-conditioned ale tap handles. The was a bitter, an ESB, a stout, and an IPA from Acorn Brewing. Salivating all over the bar, I asked the bartender or “landlord” for a pint of the IPA. It was a taste of pure heaven for me. This IPA was my first one in two years. It was creamy, bitter, and bursting with fresh green hop flavor. My eyes brimmed with tears as I set down my glass and nodded my head in approval to the man pouring my beers. This was one nicely made beer - exactly what I needed. He told me that beer was one of their best sellers. I tried the other cask beers, enjoying one in particular called Oyster Stout. Rich, dark, creamy, with a hint of toasted malts. Very nice. I ended up returning the following night, having dreamt about IPA’s, only to find out the IPA was all gone. “Everybody really luved ‘at one”, the landlord told me in his thick British accent. “It went quick as you please”. Seeing my disappointment, he quickly began describing the new ale taking the place of my formerly new favorite beer. It was an ESB from the local brewery, York Brewery. I made a note to be sure to visit the brewery in the next three days. I wish I also would’ve made a note describing its location as being right around the corner of Brigante’s Bar. I wound up getting some unwanted exercise, in my quest for fresh brewery ales. The following night, I returned to Brigante’s and dined on a truly wonderful leek and cheese potato pie, served with beef gravy and a side of boiled vegetables. The crust was thin, flaky and rich. It went perfect with any of the ales being served. The vegetables were English – a medley of boiled turnips, carrots, and cabbage. I enjoyed myself so much; I went back a third and fourth night. I couldn’t help myself. I ate a big plate of fish ‘n chips on another visit and drank a new IPA on the cask. My dining companions ate chips (fries) and grilled steak. (A little side note, Brits call French fries, “chips” and potato chips, “crisps”). Both companions, Chuck and Carol reported the steak as being excellent and perfectly cooked to their liking…which looked to be bloody rare.
I hit The Maltings Pub on two separate occasions; once to sample the beers and ambience and the second to check out the live music. They hired an excellent two man band playing mostly Bob Dylan tunes. I met up with a few teachers at the pub and shared a few pints as well as a few laughs.
The Maltings also pours fabulous beers from local microbreweries, including a Kriek Lambic and Whitbier. I opted again to go initially with the IPAs, and then sample some of the other ales on cask. The landlord was well-versed in the beers being served and was quick to offer me free samples from anything I chose. I found the British to be generous in their offerings of free samples from the kegs. In fact, every single pub I visited in England gave me a sample if I asked or even if I didn’t ask. It never bothered them and they never acted like I was a pain in the ass. Even when the bar was crowded, they didn’t hesitate to pour me a sample and wait to hear my review. I really loved it!
If you are in York, I highly recommend those two pubs.
I mentioned earlier about York Brewery. They have won a few gold medals for a number of years at the British Brewing Industry Awards. Centurion Ghost Ale is their big flagship beer and is excellent. It is no wonder why it has received several gold medals. It is a dark, bitter ale, with a roasted malt taste. Very easy to drink. The brewery is relaxing inside, sort of like being in someone’s living room. Everyone chats to each other while sipping pints of top quality cask ale. The night I went, the brewery was holding a quiz night, the main prize being a free tour of the brewery. The place was filled with locals. The teams were mostly comprised of forty to fifty age something friends, all laughing and joking loudly, obviously enjoying each other’s company. The questions were geared towards Englishmen in this age group – questions like, what was the price of an average home in England in 1970, stuff like that. It was a good place to drink in some British culture.
York is the most haunted city in Europe…or so I saw somewhere on a “ghost” brochure. The city has several “haunted” walking ghost tours and a real haunted house which had been the source of a TV ghost investigation. Unfortunately, most of the tours don’t start until the end of March, when the tourists start arriving. York is a world heritage Unesco site, which means it’s loaded with cool history and architecture. It has castles, cemeteries, museums, Viking stuff, and a huge cathedral.
On one of the nights, before tackling a pub crawl through the city, I joined a group of teachers for some fabulous Indian food at the Viceroy Restaraunt. Travel writer Rick Steves had written a glowing recommendation of the place, enticing us to seek it out. Rick was right. The food and service was excellent. It was a semi-rowdy meal, as loudness is usually the theme when a group of American special education teachers get together. Everyone in the restaurant heard our presence. After dinner, a few friends and I did a slow pub crawl back to the hotel. Young, twenty-somethings staggered through the dark city streets in search of hot love. Most girls wore skimpy club dresses, while the boys sported teased, spiky hair. They all carried beers and cigarettes, laughing, arm-in-arm. The cold did not seem to bother them as none wore jackets in the 35 degree F. weather. I’m guessing they don’t have coat checks at the clubs.
We found several cozy pubs on our crawl. One of them was like being in cave, with low ceilings and mold growing on the ancient brick. All the pubs were filled with “regulars” who welcomed us in every time. I found the British to be exceptionally nice, polite, patient people. A friendly pub across the street from our hotel had an open mic night on Wednesday, attended by several teachers. I decided to join them and wound up jamming a couple of tunes on the guitar to the delight of both the teachers and the British patrons. I borrowed a guitar from the open mic host, and started with Squeezebox, Pete Townsend’s tune, followed by Fogerty’s the Rain and the Kinks, Lola. People kept saying, “One more! One more!” I really had a great time playing on stage. I was followed by an elderly man who recited strange poetry about his garden shed. One of his poems was about WW II and the affect the war had on York and its surroundings. It was an interesting poem to hear. It was pretty magical to listen to this man speak of the war while sitting in a small early 1920’s era pub in England.
I fell in love with York immediately. It is easily one of my most favorite cities. The people really make the city. The food, drink, and hospitality are first class. I’m glad to know a city like York exists.
York, England: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED