York (The Old One)

So, Tuesday we picked up our rental car, which had been upgraded for us :) to a Ford Mondeo Ghia, which was awesome. Big and roomy trunk space, Chris had more leg and head room than he knew what to do with, and it drove very smoothly. Hmmmmm, next car perhaps? Anyways, he proved once again what a fabulous driver he was by getting us to York alive and well, and without a scratch on the car! What a guy! I was sick by this point, so we didn't want to schedule TOO much, but there were a few must-see things on our list.

The first thing I wanted to do was visit the Jorvik Center, which is all about the Viking settlement in York. (You know me and my barbarian fascination!) Lucky for him, Chris was interested too! Also, Yvonne had told us that it was really awesome (my words, not hers, she only uses awesome to mock us) and a must-do. It is split into two parts: the first is a moving ride in which a narrator explains the scenes before you, and life-like statues move, talk, and work, showing what the village was like. You also get the smells: food cooking, wood smoke in the forge, and yup, the cesspool as well. I was a little nervous, since by then I was sick and not sure how my stomach would do, but I must say, after Izmir on hot days, this was nothing! The ride was my favorite part, mostly because it got us away from the Great Heathen Army (i.e. the kids). The second part was a bit more like an interactive museum with a few people in period piece explaining their roles, as well as computer animation, more statues, as well as some artifacts. We didn't stay there long, mostly because the Army had already invaded and overrun the place, and were pushing, shoving, and generally being disruptive. I am still a little disappointed we couldn't poke around for a bit longer, but ah well. And sorry, there's no pictures- not allowed.

Next we went for lunch at a lovely Chinese place. Because of my throat, I ordered hot sour soup (as well as a bunch of other food, of course). When it came, it was much different than I was used to, but really delicious! Then we had fried chicken with a spicy sauce and an order of Beijing dumplings. The sauce on the chicken was sooo divine, we actually liked that better with the dumplings than the vinegar they provided!

Feeling full, we waddled to York Minster, one of the most important cathedrals in England, or at least one of the most well-known. That is also divided into two parts: the basement, which has the history of the cathedral (going back to Roman times) and the modern cathedral. We both really liked the basement, they'd done excavations and therefore could tell us where we were in relation to the Roman basilica, then the Saxon church, then the Norman cathedral as you walked through. They also had a lot of the artifacts that had been recovered during excavations that were hurriedly done before the church was reinforced due to weakness and severe cracking as it slowly collapsed. There were things like the stone that fell and hit some guy while he was sleeping during church, but didn't kill him, so it was considered a miracle. There were also the faces on the decorative pieces that hide the joining of the roof beams. There was also a room filled with chalices and gifts to the cathedral throughout the years (nice and glittery, that room!), as well as other artifacts and 3-D models of the cathedral as it changed over the years. It was really cool, but sorry, we couldn't take pictures there either.

We COULD take pictures in the modern York Minster, however. And wow. It seemed that everywhere we turned there were things to take pictures of. Pictures don't quite capture how massive this building is though. And the acoustics! When we came in, there were services being held, and the choir was singing. Although the service was in a different part of the cathedral, it sounded as though you were standing in the middle of it. Really lovely, and set a nice atmosphere for taking pictures and thinking about the history. By this point in the day I was about done for, having wandered around in a medicine stupor. However, Chris told me I needed to see one last thing, and took me to the Chapter House, a room separated by the cathedral by a hallway. Inside, the octagonal room was like nothing I'd seen yet! The floor reminded me of tiles I'd seen in Izmir, the ceiling was gorgeous, and there were beautiful stained glass windows on seven of the eight sides. Between were pointed arches, and on each side were all unique faces (you'll see some in our pictures) and intricate wood carving. The administration of the cathedral still meets in that room, and inside each archway was a seat. A very unique room, and I'm glad Chris saw it!

I was completely knackered by this point, so we got back to the car and drove fifteen minutes to our B&B for the night, the White Rose Villa. Can we say GORGEOUS?! We stayed in the Lavender Room, and it was huge! The shower was great, tons of hot water at high pressure, just what you needed after a day of walking! The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever encountered in a hotel, and our hosts were absolutely wonderful. We ordered pizza that night (I told Chris it felt like an anniversary- traveling in the car most of the day, feeling tired, eating pizza...) full of bacon, ham, salami, and pepperoni, and apparently butter. Divine! Slept like babies, and woke up the next day to a full English breakfast and the drive north to look forward to.

(Btw, in case you couldn't tell by the length of the post, I'm feeling better and am back to my normal long-winded self. Sorry to those of you who were enjoying the succinct posts!)