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Published: November 10th 2008
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One of the Bars of York
Bar means Gate in Yorkshire language This weekend our program organized an expedition to York. I had missed the first program-organized trip to Inverness (but I'd already been there, so it's ok) due to a field trip, so I was really looking forward to this one. Luckily, It didn't disappoint. We took a train down, following the coast. Rowan and I had pre-booked seats together, at a table, and met some interesting people on the way down, namely, a harried mom with two adorable blonde girls, a fashion buyer from york, who told us where to go while we were there, and a bio-chem graduate student from Alabama who should have been Norwegian. He looked like it, at least.
Once we arrived we had little to no idea how to get to dinner, and only about 15 minutes before it started. Luckily cell phones have been invented, so we got directions, and Scott, who has NO problem talking to strangers, asked a cabbie how to get to the starting point of our directions. We had dinner at this lovely restaurant overlooking the river called The Living Room. The best thing about traveling on the group tours is that most meals are paid for, and they tend
Time Machine!!
at the viking center to be really really good. The restaurant was slightly upscale, and for the second part of dinner there was a guy playing live piano and singing some of our favorite songs, which we had to sing along with of course. Apparently it's not the custom in England to clap for musicians in bars, but we told him how much we enjoyed it afterwards.
Because it was being paid for by the program, we stayed in a hotel which was great because we got a full english breakfast, en-suite showers, and quiet rooms. After Dublin, it felt like we were in the lap of luxury. I mean, going from a travel squeegee for a towel, to a fluffy one as big as me? Yes please! This was an un-organized organized tour, but in a good way. They had signed us up for York Passes- cards that get you free entry to most of the cities attractions. Which was great, because there were just so many of them. Everyone split up into groups of similar minded people. I went with the group that wanted to see some specific things, but wanted to get a feel for the city more. I'm so
glad we did! For some reason we kept comparing York to Disney World, probably because we were just having so much fun. The weather was great on Saturday, and we started our day at the supremely cheesy, but fun Jorvik Viking center, which re-created York in the 9th century, based on archaeology. After that we were headed towards another attraction, but were easily distracted by a "green" open market that had sprung up in one of the squares. In addition to delicious foods , we looked at Jewelry, scarves, hand carved baubles, and fairly traded clothes, stopping to talk to the vendors, who were all to willing to tell us about their stall or goods.
We had lunch at the Roman Bath Tavern. It differentiates itself from the other taverns in town in that it was actually built over a Roman bath, that is still preserved in the cellar for anyone who would like to see it. Of course being a tourist town, it is made complete with guys dressed in Centurion outfits. After Lunch Jaime, Rowan Eliza and I ran (literally) through the crowded streets to the dock, wanting to get on the boat tour of the City.
We were laughing and cursing as we ran along cobblestones for the last 100 yards. A note to future York Travelers: those cobblestones be dangerous. We made the tour, which we termed "romantical" just like everything else in this gorgeous city. Not having our significant other there, Eliza and I decided to make do by saying we were on our Honeymoon, while Rowan and Jaime handled it by simply having a torrid affair.... You had to be there I guess, but it made us laugh. At dusk we went to see the Abbey, a grand ruin in a public garden, marred only by a bunch of 13 year old degenerates who were blasting heavy metal music and smoking in it's shadows. We also found a pillar that had been re-erected (as it was one of the original Roman columns) in 1971 to commemorate the 1,900'th anniversary of the founding of York. That means that in 63 years they'll be celebrating 2000 years. Can you even imagine?
By this time , most of the attractions had closed and we only had a short time before we met again for dinner. We wandered through the lamplit city, stopping to gaze in
wonder at the splendor that was York Minster. I firmly believe in not seeing more than one gothic cathedral a month I've decided. If only because I want to be able to appreciate it as much as we did then. for better or for worse, it really shows you where people's priorities were 1000 years ago. When faced with the choice of improving the people's lot or building something absolutely magnificent towards God, they chose splendor. We sat for a while in the bitter cold just staring at it, trying to imagine, if it's this awe-inspiring now, what must it have been like when all there was were thatched roofs and a few stone houses?
After our philosophical moment, we headed to dinner at Ask. As soon as we walked in the doors we were intimidated. Here we were, in our jeans and sweaters, facing a long pillared room of chandeliers, candlelit tables, and some people dressed to the nines. Ask, now a contemporary italian restaurant, used to be the Assembly Rooms at York. For those of you that have not read Pride and Prejudice, this means that this is the building where Balls were held for the gentry
during the 17 and 1800's. As we sat at the tables, one could just see Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy dancing in the proper lines thorugh the hall, while the chaperones whispered behind corners. The girls spent part of dinner trying to figure out where everything would have been: the card room for the men by the bar, a sitting room for the ladies over by
that table, etc. Afterwards a lot of the group ended up going out at one time or another to try some of the famous micro-brews made in the city. But by this point Rowan and I were so exhausted that we elected to take advantage of the whole hotel situation to get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, it being Remembrance Sunday, we went to morning eucharist at the Minster. We tend to go to services with the ulterior motive that we're poor college students and it means we can see the inside for free, but it also gives a wonderful feel for how the church actually exists. Christ Church cathedral in Dublin had the feel of a loose knit, weak parish, but it was evident that the Minster was still incredibly
important to the people of York. We enjoyed the sermon, mostly because the preacher opened with "The readings today discuss the second coming, but anyone watching the news last week may be forgiven for thinking that it came in America last Tuesday night" Afterwards we went and talked to a group of the parishioners all of whom were eager to share their own stories about traveling in our country. We met a man who had biked from Brunswick to Massachusetts, and a couple who had travelled all over the states and were packers fans, and many more besides. The priest told us about how there was still a working drain beneath the church that was built in Roman times "and it still works".
After the service we went into the shambles, the tudor built section of the city where we explored small shops with odds and ends, a used bookstore that seemed to go up forever, and had a full afternoon tea at a famous tea shop called Betty's. Our final touristy thing was to walk the old walls of York, which still stand, and encircle most of the city. They give the most spectacular views, but we had
to be careful because they lock the gates to them at Dusk. Yesterday as we waited for the train, most of us agreed that it was one of the most fun cities we'd ever been to. I can't wait to go back!
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Now is the Winter of our...content?
Wow! This place looks fabulous! I really knew nothing about it except the Richard III references, but it looks right up my Viking alley, and the Roman stuff looks fascinating. Granny used to say that you could find better heating in Roman Britain than in the 20th century... And a TIME MACHINE???What's with that...? I'm glad you had a wonderful time!