Still Standing in Shambles

While traveling with my family in England a couple of summers ago, we spent a significant amount of time wandering the streets of York. On foot is definitely the best way to explore a new city because it gives you a lot more time to explore the more intimate details. We found many cultural gems hiding as we wandered up and down the streets, and one of them made me truly nervous.

To most tourists, this nerve-racking street is known as the Shambles. The street once was occupied by the town butchers. There are descriptions of animal carcasses hanging from all the different shops and an old smell of blood, but that's not what made me nervous. It was the architecture. These buildings that date back to the 14th century seem to have a hunched back that makes them hang over the street. If you are standing underneath them, you can see that they lean over the road almost far enough to touch their neighbor across the way.





Do you remember when you were a little kid and your response to fear was to run past it as fast as you could? I used to run past the haunted house on the corner or run through a dark room to get out of the place that made me uncomfortable as fast as possible. That same feeling I had in my stomach as a child came back while walking through the Shambles. The entire time I was on the street crowded with tourists, I wanted to take off running. It's just too hard for me to believe that they aren't going to fall soon!
lovemaura