York

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Visited the city of York for a day-trip yesterday. The semester is done-and-dusted so this is the first of a handful of trips I plan to take before heading home.

York is quite a historic city particularly because of its rich medieval heritage. While the city is quite large part of it is enclosed by a couple-story medieval stone wall. People can take stairs up to the wall at multiple points around the city and walk around while seeing some great views of the city and beyond.

Among a few places we caught was Clifford's Tower, a round-shaped stone fortification built atop a large mound. While part of York Castle, the tower was supposedly constructed as long ago as the 1060s by William the Conqueror after his conquest of Britain in 1066. Virtually everything in the city is within walking distance so after seeing the tower we checked out 'The Shambles' a medieval shopping street with over-hanging buildings. It's quite a narrow cobblestone street with several handmade crafts shops and restaurants.

Within the proximity of 'The Shambles' is the more recent centre of the city with dozens of busy streets with more modern stores. This area was well-decorated for the holidays with lights, Christmas trees and a lively Christmas market with carnival rides.

Right close to the centre of town is the Museum Gardens which dominate the area next to the Yorkshire Museum. Among the well-known relics within this area is St Mary's Abbey that was established in the 1080s. As you can see from the pictures there's not much left structurally of the abbey. During the dissolution campaign under Henry VIII churches such as this one were destroyed.

Later we toured the National Rail Museum, truly one of its kind and offering visitors the opportunity to explore once-active steam engines. This was really neat because I had seen pictures of a lot of these trains in a picture book of train's of my dad's which were right here on display.

Finally, considered to be one of the most popular attractions in York is the York Minster, another medieval cathedral and one of the largest of its kind. It is especially popular for its beautiful stained-glass windows which i assume must still be original to the construction of the cathedral. The first structure to be built on the site was in the 620s, and the church as we now know it grew throughout the next several centuries. It has experienced multiple renovations and rebuilding after suffering damage from armed struggles throughout Britain's history. We took a tour to the top of the cathedral's central tower which overlooks the city and its surroundings for miles. They had the bells within the church playing Christmas tunes as we were up top. We were also fortunate to be around for a Friday evening service. The Minster has one of the most well-known choirs in the country; this was quite fascinating to experience because, as you can imagine, the voices of the choir echo throughout the entire interior of the cathedral.

I will be visiting a few other places before returning home for Christmas so I'll be sure to write about my other visits. See everybody soon!

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