2023 England- National Railyway Museum

 Every time I’ve set foot on English soil I’ve found myself in the city of York. It’s not a bad place to find yourself but on this particular day we were there not for the ancient city walls, nor for the glorious Minster, but for trains. Specifically steam trains. My husband’s hobbies almost include the trifecta of planes, trains and automobiles- take out the automobiles and you’ve got him in a nutshell. In another life he was a pilot or a train engineer- or if he had been wealthy enough: both! So it stands to reason that eventually we’d find ourselves at the National Railway Museum in York. 

When it comes to those I love, I’m pretty easygoing. Did I want to go to a train museum? No. But was my husband going to be ridiculously happy if we went? Yes. So there we were. Thankfully as I’ve mentioned at this point I’ve been to York several times, so I’ve been lucky enough to tour around it’s very special places- and even though I would walk those medieval walls every chance I got I knew that missing out on the historic spots wasn’t something to pout about. 

Even as a non train enthusiast I found the museum to be interesting. We were very fortunate that the museum was having a Virtual Reality experience about the Flying Scotsman on. You put your headset on and go back in time 100 years to the introduction of the famous steam engine. We both got lost in the VR world. Fortunately I found the trailer for the experience on YouTube which I’ll link below. It gives you a tiny glimpse into what the experience is like. You start off sitting on a bench in Edinburgh’s Waverley Station (which we were fortunate to roll into in 2016) in 1923, then you carefully get up and walk forward, holding on the rail as you watch the scenes play before you- they even blow hot air in your face as they explain how steam engines work. It was such a fun experience and I would do it again!

So much of the day was lost on me as I didn’t grasp the significance of so many of the trains I was seeing. I could marvel at their size but I wasn’t familiar with their historic significance. Thankfully Daniel was with me to point out what I was looking at and why it was important. Besides the VR experience one of the things I loved the most was walking up the old wooden staircase that takes you “over the tracks”- it was awesome to have a bit a Birds Eye view of the trains below. 

The York Railway Museum

Liverpool to Manchester steam train

After deciding that the cafe in the museum was way overpriced we decided to venture into York and eat lunch at the nearby Wetherspoons. I’ve mentioned the Wetherspoons chain in my blog posts before, it’s not the most highly regarded pub/restaurant chain to the natives (there’s a bit of a Denny’s like reputation) but we like it due to it’s simplicity, low prices and the fact that we can order from the app while we sit at our table- the best thing for introverts like us. 

The Wetherspoons nearest the museum is just steps away from the Mickelgate Bar (southern entrance to York). It was such a picturesque spot to get lunch. The building that houses Wetherspoons goes as far back as 1770. I love the mix of time periods and history. 12th century Mickelgate Bar standing proudly next to an 18th century building. I live for this stuff!

The Punch Bowl Wetherspoons in York city centre 

We had a pleasant lunch where I chatted with several retired ladies as we stood in line for bottomless coffee, tea and hot chocolate. I was in my element and we were so happy, until the afternoon took quite a turn. Shortly after setting off back to our airbnb Daniel developed the mother of all migraines. His world turned upside down and we had an hour drive ahead of us. It was time for me to test my skills as a driver as he was very much down for the count. Lucky for me this portion of the drive was motorway (freeway for my American readers) for the bulk of the drive, which honestly feels no different from driving back in California. So when it came time to get off the motorway and navigate the surface streets of Harworth I was quite comfortable behind the wheel. Did I hit a curb or two? Yes, but it wasn’t my car and I had full insurance on it so I didn’t think twice and moved right along. We made it back to our airbnb unscathed and Daniel slept off the migraine while I tucked into a good book. 

That concluded our day out at the National Railway Musuem and York. This is future me speaking- we’ve just come back from our most recent trip to the UK and unfortunately York did not factor into our itinerary this time but it is a place I love to return to, and will definitely see again. If you get the chance, please put it top of your list. There is nothing like the medieval walled city center.