Road Trip : York, United Kingdom (day 1)

I have always enjoyed going on road trips. It gives you an excuse to drive dangerously fast, sing like a rock star, and pig out like there's no tomorrow. Driving is the ultimate form of independence. With your car, your license, and a tank full of gas, you can drive wherever you want, whenever you want. The minute you turn the ignition, you are in control. It is invigorating and relaxing at the same time. I love driving and I miss having that feeling of control and freedom. Back in college, I used to share a Toyota Vios with my sister, Mady and we called her Britney. She was a bright blue car, reliable, and was very fuel efficient. I loved her with all my heart.

So going back to my original story, my friend, Tanya, and I decided long ago that we are going to go on this road trip to York. Because among our fabulous group of friends, we are the only ones who didn't go on holiday for spring break. We thought we too deserve to go somewhere exciting and so Tanya had this brilliant idea that we will drive ourselves down to York to visit our friend Jeff and go to Fountains Abbey, a place she has always wanted to visit but never found the time to. I told her as long as it's going to be a cheap trip, I am all for it. So, she called the car rental company, booked us a car for the weekend, called Jeff, and we're all set!

When Friday finally came, we were off to a great start! (minus my killer hangover from the night before, but that's another story) We arrived in the car company, signed the necessary papers for insurance, and finally saw our car, a beautiful black Peugeot we named Pierre. We got in, I, the chief navigator ready with my directions and maps on the left, and Tanya, the amazing driver on the right. "Woohoo!", we screamed. I was so excited, I was practically jumping out of my seat.

Pierre, our baby

Now like any other road trip, ours had its share of bloopers. Edinburgh, being the charming little Scottish city that it is, is full of road works, closed streets, and blocked entries. And my favorite, small street signs that changed every 50 metres. And to add to that, the directions Tanya printed off the internet were crap as well so of course, we got a little lost trying to figure out how to get out of the city and onto the highway. After a few frustrated sighs and shrieks of omigod omigod, we found ourselves on the A1 highway and enjoying the scenic route towards York, England.

The second part of that adventure came when we reached our exit on A59 en route to York. We called Jeff, who doesn't know how to drive by the way, for directions. "Just exit on A59, go straight until you reach the city wall, then when you go inside, turn left." Okay, seems easy enough. But after about 10 miles, we didn't see a freakin wall. So I asked, "Jeff, is the city wall a proper wall?". "Yes", he replied. Right. So after long debates of what a city wall looks like, I called Jeff again and told him that we are not hanging up until we see his face. About 5.15pm, we finally reached his doorstep.

York's City Walls

After the "mandatory rest period" of 1 hour, Tanya and I explored the city and went on a ghost tour, which actually ended up being a comedy tour. Oh I loved our guide, I called him, Mr. Fancy Pants. He was fabulous. He took us around several spots in the city while trying to scare us with his ghost stories. But he did it in a sarcastic tone and he made fun of some of the people in the group so we ended up laughing instead of being creeped out and scared. He even convinced us to line up across an Italian restaurant, wave at the customers, and when we got their attention (some of them even waved back!), we all shuffled in front of the restaurant's windows and at the count of three, we made faces with our tongues sticking out at the customers, "Bleeeeeeeh!". It was the silliest thing I have ever done in my entire life and I loved it! After the ghost tour ended, Tanya and I decided to get pizza and ended up eating at the same restaurant we made fools of ourselves. This was proving to be a really fun trip and we are only at day one.

Me and Tanya exploring the city wall

Mr. Fancy Pants