For the past few days, we've been spending time in Sheffield, England- a relatively large city a few hours north of London by train. We're staying with a lovely lady named Vicky, who is the cousin of Sean's uncle, Chris, and who has been kind enough to put us up and show us around. Today, Vicky drove us a bit further north from Sheffield to explore the city of York. It is a charming city with a fantastic cathedral called York Minster. It's surrounded by a wall that was built to protect the city from raids and the inner city is full of windy streets with a variety of shops and cafes. It was while we were wandering these streets that we came across a flyer for the "York Cat Trail".
The flyer explained that cats have, for many years, played a part in York's history and that luck has been linked to them since records began. Statues of cats have been placed on buildings in York for roughly two centuries, and even some that have since rotted or been removed are thought to date all the way back to medieval times. The original cat statues were apparently placed on buildings to frighten away rats and mice which carried plague and illness. They were also thought to ward off wandering evil spirits and to generally bestow good luck and good health on York's citizens. Luckily for us, the flyer also contained a map, and very detailed directions about where to find no less than 17 of the city's such statues. The hunt was on...
The map led us all around inner York, and to many of the city's historical sights and buildings. We managed to find a grand total of 8 of the cat statues before we decided to call it an afternoon and sit down to a traditional English cup of tea :)
Jenna
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