Cousin Avi was on to something when he complained about the weather and food. But we're making the most of it while visiting York and Manchester.

• [fundamentally wrong]

• EVO: If you had to pick a time to travel northern Europe, you probably wouldn't pick winter. But we're owning the name The Opportunistic Travelers, and this is where the opportunity took us.

• SHE: And it's not like we were at the North Pole or anything. Compared to The northeastern part of The States, it's not that bad here in Europe. It's been manageable. The calendar tells me it's spring now, but I'm not sure I believe it, based on what I'm feeling when I'm outside. However, the buds on the trees tell me that spring is just around the corner.

• EVO: We've been in England for over a month now. So we can say with at least some authority that England's bad rap for its food and its weather is mostly deserved. Or as Cousin Avi said it:

• [england]

• EVO: Well, not just London. North West England and Yorkshire too. 

• SHE: We've had mixed results with the food in England. Some of it has been amazing. And some of it not so much. One of my favorite foods of all time is fish & chips ... and even those have been on the great side and some on the not so much side. E's experience has been roughly the same. 

• EVO: But there's one food they get right every time. Cheese. Here's just one of our experiences with glorious, glorious cheese, this time enjoyed with the marvelous beers from Marble Brewing in Manchester.

• [cheese]

• SHE: Yep, I'll take some more cheese, please! And like cousin Avi referenced,  it rains a lot in England. Like, a lot. The English typically carry an umbrella with them at all times ... ''cuz you never know. Me? I never have an umbrella. As a photographer, the rain can seriously hurt my camera gear, Lucky for me, Evo was Johnny on the spot with an umbrella... and extras.

• [poop bag]

• SHE: The authentic English voice you heard was Matthew Turner, another person Evo met online. He not only offered us a bed for a few nights, he also acted as tour guide for our trip to York. Sorta. I'm not judging, because I don't know everything about history of my home town, Moore Oklahoma. But ... we also don't have an ancient castle in Moore. 

• [castle]

• EVO: It rained on us off and on while we were in York. All that rain, at least along the River Ouse (and yes, it's pronounced "ooze"), leads to a lot of flooding. A lot as in frequency -- the river floods every couple of years. And a lot as in volume --  flood waters of 20 feet or more aren't uncommon. Geography and hydrology make it difficult to control the flooding, and business haven't -- or won't -- move back from river front. So those business flood. A lot. 

• SHE: Just like eager moms and dads marking their child's growth inside door frames or on various cute yardsticks hung on the wall, a bar called The Kings Arms marks the high water marks from floods in a similar fashion. These markings on their walls are featured and displayed like a badge of honor, saying "You can't stop be beer, Mother Nature. You can only delay it a little while."

• [flood Levels]

• SHE: We're not staying along the River Ouse, so we're likely safe from the floods. 

• Maybe. If it ever stops raining. 

• EVO: Cheers from Yorkshire!

• SHE: We travel the world as The Opportunistic Travelers largely because of our generous listeners.
  

• EVO: People all over the world pledge as little as five bucks a month, and in return, they get a hand-written postcard from us sent from wherever opportunity has taken us, every single month. Sign up today at TheOpportunisticTravelers.com/postcards.
  

• SHE: We also stay for free most of our journey. No, we’re not super-stars or anything. We eliminate hotel costs and stay in some great cities by housesitting all over the world. Get our complete list of the actual housesitting sites we use every day at TheOpportunisticTravelers.com/stayforfree, and stop spending money on hotels when you travel, too. Thanks for listening to this episode. I’m Sheila Dee.
  

• EVO: And I am Evo Terra. Our theme music is "On the Ground" by Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com. All other sounds, voices, and odd bits you hear were created by us. And this podcast is just the start of the audio, video, images, and written content we’re producing as we travel the world. Got an idea on how we could work together or a place you like for us to visit? Visit TheOpportunisticTravelers.com to get in touch. Now would be good.
  

New episodes of the The Opportunistic Travelers Podcast are available every Sunday. Of course, Sunday can be a very different thing depending on where we are in the world. Cheers!