The amazing sights and sounds of York.

Last weekend I returned to York. It was a much better trip than my first one. The first time I went to York it was December. The Christmas markets had just opened and every street was just packed with shoppers. It was absolute insanity. You couldn’t move on the street but to walk forward, following the crowd. If I was claustrophobic it would have been the worst possible situation.

Last weekend was perfect. The weather was really nice: sunny and mostly warm. The streets were not terribly crowded and there was lots to see and do. So much infact that I didn’t get to do half of what I wanted.

When we got there (dragged my friend Luke along since he wanted to sit in the Minster and write) we walked the old Baille wall. The wall is from the 11^th century and circles the old city. 

The view from the wall is gorgeous when facing the river. You can see down the river quite a ways. Also you can see the different guard towers that were built along the river as an early alert system to protect against invasions along the river.

Luke and I didn’t walk the whole wall, but we walked a fair portion, I’d say about a quarter. A little bit of exercise always lifts the spirits. Cheerfully, we headed into the town centre where Luke headed to Minster and I wandered a bit. While in the centre, there was quite a bit of live entertainment on the streets. Early, there was a youth choir. Later on in the day I saw a few different groups that were performing some popular songs. My favourite was the group that was singing 'Walk 1000 miles.' It is such a good song.

Wanderings and Discoveries!

On my wanderings I went down a street called Stonegate. On Stonegate I found some neat little shops. The one most noteworthy is the teddy bear shop. I was over the moon when I saw this shop. The first thing I thought was ‘Oh my god! I have to call mom.’ That is exactly what I did. Out front of the shop is a giant bear that is holding a sign informing passer-bys that they can ‘build a bear’ upstairs.

 When you enter the shop you see a very large bear named Gertrude (£150) that can stand alone.

Inside it is a slightly small shop, but it is magical. There are different types of bears everywhere.

They had Steiff bears. REAL Seiff bears. I was impressed and incredibly charmed by this shop. I just couldn’t help myself. I bought myself a Steiff bear. I told the lady in the shop “that’s it, I can die now. My life is complete now that I have a Steiff.” She agreed with me, well except for maybe the dying bit, although she did chuckle. Honestly, finding that shop just made my day. I was so happy after that.

Three hours later I still couldn't stop grinning...

York Minster

Following the teddy bear shop, I headed to the Minster. It is a must-see if you are ever in York. The history of it is amazing. The architecture is a wonder when you think of all the technology that they didn’t have when it was made. It was all done through manual labour. Visiting it is a very humbling experience. There are graves everywhere within the Minster. There are many different carvings and sculptures as well, that show who was buried in some of them.

There are also different areas of the minster which are dedicated as memorials to servicemen and women from the wars.

I think that my favourite part of the Minster was the Chapter House. It is still used today for the meetings of those incharge of the church in York and the district. There are alcoves in which the different member sit during their meetings. This room also has the most amazing ceiling. I don’t know what it is that captured my attention, but something about lines in the stone and the colours that were pained on it just held my attention.

The floor of Chapter House is an intricate design created by colourful tiles. 

The Minister is a place where hours could be spent exploring it. I spent an hour there since I was meeting up with a colleague. When I go back I’m going to have to visit the tower, both to see the view and to see the gargoyles which are apparently really cool. I also want to have a closer look at some of the windows and I think that I missed an entire area of the Minster altogether. Also, I wouldn’t mind taking one of the guided tours. That way I can hear some stories of some of the different areas, as I am sure that there is lots of information that you can’t get  on a self-guided tour.

Here's the sign that ends your visit in the Minster:

While in York, I also saw Fairfax House. No pictures of that I’m afraid since they do not allow photography. They have had thefts so to prevent that they do not all anyone to take photos. There is suppose to be a very good selection of photos on their website, so I will take a look to see if I can find some that are of the parts of the house that I found particularly interesting.

I learned a great deal while visiting that house. I had no idea of some of the things I learned. For example, in Georgian times (when the house was originally built and used by the Fairfax family) glasses where kept tipped upside down, in dishes of ice during the meal. When you wanted to have a drink of wine, you could pick your glass and hold it out for a portion of wine to be poured into it by a servant. The servant would pour in only enough for a mouthful. That way when you’ve had your drink of wine you would replace your glass into its dish until you wanted more wine. If you are thinking the same thing I was when first told this: “that’s crazy, why be so inefficient?” then I’ll explain why. In Georgian times, glassware was still fairly new and definitely only for the rich. Glassware was all blown glass, which can lead to irregularities. The bottoms of glasses were not perfectly level and flat like they are now. The glasses were kept in these dishes then, to prevent them from falling and breaking, but also to prevent them from falling and spilling wine on table clothes. The table clothes during this time where all damask, imported from Damascus. It was common for wealthy families to spend more on table clothes than on their dinner services. Thus, keeping them in good condition was extremely important. I could go on and on, but I won’t. I will say though, ceiling = awesome. All plaster/stucco. The ones in the main dayrooms and sitting rooms, as well as the entrance hall and grand staircase have intricate sculptures that are rich with symbolic meanings. In each area of the house there is a docent to tell you about the area. They will continue to tell you stories and facts until you get bored of listening to them, and then you simply thank them and continue on your way.

One more thing: The Shambles. This is an ancient street in York. It's rather narrow and has some really cool shops. There are also some good restaurants there as well. It's worth checking out, even if you're just going for a look. 

Here's a good little Italian place at which I had lunch with a friend.

Anyway, enough rambling on about York. My last point is the random cupcake shop that I found on my way back to the train station. It makes a lovely Victoria cupcake. A Victoria cupcake is a vanilla cake with some strawberry preserves just in the hollowed out top, with vanilla buttercream and a small dollop of strawberry preserves on the top. It is just lovely. I enjoyed it immensely when I ate it at home later that night.