July 16 - York

After another delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel we drove to York, an ancient city enclosed within medieval walls. Because of the age of the city car parks are few and far between, so like in Oxford we parked outside of town and took a bus in. Our first impressions of the city were very favourable - the walls give it a really cool old world feel and many of the streets are pedestrian-only.

Our first stop in York was at the Jorvik Viking Centre (Jorvik being the name of York during Viking times). It is part archaeological museum and part historical re-creation of the village in the ninth and tenth centuries. The museum part was very interesting, but for atmospheric reasons was kept very dark which made it difficult to read the descriptive plaques. The latter part of the site was really cool; we were put in roller coaster-type pods and taken around the village that way, complete with sounds and smells (those were very, very unpleasant). All in all it was a fabulous attraction, and a must-see for anyone interested in the history of the period.

We stopped for a delicious lunch at The Three Tuns Pub before splitting up for the afternoon. Dad and Julia went to see Harry Potter (surprise, surprise) while mom and I toured York Minster. Built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, the cathedral was one of the highlights of our trip so far.












 Our visit started in the Nave (whose name comes from the Latin word 'navis', or 'ship', because of its shape), which is the widest Gothic nave in the country. There weren't as many tourists as we expected, which gave us the chance to marvel at the stained glass and vaulted ceiling up above.

Next came my favourite part of the cathedral - the Organ and Quire. The Quire Screen, on which the organ rests, contains stone statues of 15 Kings of England, one of which is slightly smaller than the others because of a last-minute change in the design plans. And, as you can see, the Minster Organ is pretty spectacular.

My next favourite part of the cathedrals are the Chapter Houses, and York Minster's is especially magnificent. The Chapter House is where meetings are held, and in this octagonal-shaped one Edward I held Parliament in 1297. The huge space is unusual in that the ceiling does not have a central column for support as it is suspended from the roof above.






After walking through the museum in the crypt I left Mom to sit and enjoy the Nave while I climbed the 250+ steps of the Minster Tower. Although it was a long climb up a very narrow spiral staircase the views at the top were completely worth it. You could see all of York, and supposedly on a clear day one can make out Edinburgh on the horizon (with binoculars I would think).

While I was climbing back down the organist started playing, which made the whole building vibrate. It was a pretty special experience, and wow are the acoustics in cathedrals ever amazing. After leaving the Minster my Mom went to a fashion exhibit at a local museum while I went for a walk along the city walls (they total two miles, but I only did about half that). Despite getting soaking wet, it was a fabulous walk and I got some great views of the cathedral.



After meeting up with Julia and Dad we headed out of town to try and find yet another air force base. This one had been turned into an industrial estate, though, so there was nothing to see. After another delicious meal at The Blacksmith's Arms we returned to our bed and breakfast completely exhausted and turned in early.

GWV