I went to York.

Clifford's Tower, York. This fairly short and squat tower is the remains of a castle built by William the Conquerer, and is smack in the middle of town. The hill is really appealing to me. In true British form however, actually walking up the hill or sitting on the grass is forbidden.

Last week I went to York, England, for a quick work trip. When I set off, my only preconceived notion about York was that the weather would likely be cold and rainy (the north of England, October - it seemed like a safe bet). It turns out: York is kind of awesome! Even better, I managed to be there when they were having an unseasonably warm spell.

My favorite of York's features are all the medieval towers and walls. You can actually walk a 3-km circuit around the city center on top of the (not very tall) walls, which I discovered late and didn't have time to do. The center of town is very walkable, and there is also a humungous cathedral (the Minster) where all the statues of the saints have their heads chopped off, victims of the Reformation.  Also great: the gardens around the York museum. To top it all off, I found a delicious Malaysian restaurant called Ning, right across from Clifford's Tower. I had an extremely delicious curry there when I arrived and tried to go there the next night too, but it was closed for a private function.

Walkable city walls.

Map showing the city wall walking route.

Is York awesome enough that I would recommend it to all my friends? Only if they were somewhere in the neighborhood (say, North England or at least England). Should York be on your life list? Probably not. But York, I dug ya nonetheless.