So I did a daytrip to York from London, to see a magic exhibit and to scout the place out as a busking site. Let me say again and again, if you come to Europe, get a Eurail pass for your trip, and use trains to get around. Trains are awesome and the US has screwed itself thoroughly by not investing in a solid passenger rail system.

I took the Tube to Kings Cross Station, and trains leave there for Edinburgh by way of York every half hour. So easy. I walked on board, found an available seat in first class, and settled in. Power outlets. Wifi. A glass of wine. Lunch. Tea. Two hours later, I'm in York, already had lunch, and I didn't have to drive. So sweet.

York's an old city, it's basically English Second City, after London, over 1900 years old. Its oldtown is basically still a medieval walled city. They tried to tear the city walls down once, but the Archbishop sued them, showing a law requiring the city to maintain fortifications, and a judge backed that up. Pretty cool. I haven't explored a walled city since 82 in Cartagena. The old town is walkable, and a good thing too, because the cobbled streets are pretty narrow, and are sometimes literally pedestrian tunnels. Another charming law is that once a right of way exists, it can't be removed. Ever.

Barley Hall is where the magic exhibit was, and I may do a piece just on that at some later time. It was cool and fun, and Barley Hall itself is a fine reconstructed 1300s manor house. Highly recommended.

So, let's talk about busking. York is basically a medieval walled city that survived. That makes it a fabulous tourist destination. And the only real way to explore that destination is get out and walk. So there are tourists everywhere, wandering around, gawking at everything they see, unless they are stopping to take pictures of one another, or shopping in the hundreds of shops. The place feels a LITTLE disneyfied, but it's not too bad.

There's one place to do a large circle show, and buskers apparently meet in the mornings and determine the lineup for the day there. There are a couple of other places where you could do a 25-50 person show if you control your crowd well enough to not block the street. And then there are a hundred places to do a 10 person sidewalk show, maybe 10 minutes long. The shops and streets all close down around 6 pm and the streets dry up. But there are still pubs after that. And I haven't done nearly as much pub work as I had planned.

The bystander energy is great. People wandering, looking to see what there is to see. The streets look like Diagon Alley must be just around the corner somewhere. A magic show would fit in nicely, if someone were able to work small niches. So I'm headed back to London to take care of some business, then I will be back.

I'm thinking of hauling the magic table with me. It would be a pain in the ass to take it from city to city, but I did manage to get it from Zurich to Paris to London. And it would let me set up on any street corner I fancy, and offer fortunes. No need to commandeer furniture from sidewalk cafes, especially in a city where the streets are too narrow for such things. There are two Harry Potter themed shops. A divination station out on the street would work, I think. I stopped in a toy store today and bought a set of Rory's Story Cubes, so I can tell kid's fortunes without using the tarot. And maybe I'll buy myself some kind of Ravenclaw paraphernalia as part of my costume. Charming.