Day 8 - York

We awoke to a steady rain that ended up lingering until about 8:00 pm. About 9:00, however, the bells in the minster tower began to peel. A team of probably 20 people were up there pulling ropes in sequence in order to send this bombastic sound throughout the city. It was truly remarkable, almost chilling, how cool this sounded. Sorry if the video is shaky or if inappropriate conversations are picked up...I haven't edited it!

 

Because of the rain and very cool temp (47) we had a slower than normal pace as we went out into York. This city has been around a long time, even Roman Emperor Constantine was crowned here. The Romans were all about fortifications and they built a wall that surrounded their city. This wall still exists and marks the boundary between the new and old cities. York has done a fantastic job keeping the old city intact, but with modern amenities.

We started this morning by walking through the old town doing window shopping for toys, ale, and sweatshirts. We ended up wandering through the "Shambles" which is where the buildings are smaller, more compact, and the poor lived back in the day. Afterwards, we visited the Yorvik Museum which documents the influence the Vikings had on York when they occupied it. Excavations have been done under the city to discover Viking skeletal remains, jewelry, coins, toys, and more. Interestingly there was a sign near the bathroom that indicated just two years ago, they found a nearly intact skeleton 1 meter below the bathroom floor. Nice!

As I said, it rained all day, so my pics are somewhat limited. After Yorvik, we went back to some shoppes for souvenirs then made our way to Cafe Rouge, a French restaurant, for lunch, based on my cousin's recommendation. It was fantastic! Now full on steak sandwiches, soups, and salmon, we made our way to the wall surrounding the old town. You are allowed to climb on it, so we went around a little bit. It offered a great view of the minster. We couldn't stay on the wall long as we needed to see the Yorkshire Museum (a nice museum with lots of great artifacts found in York) before going to Betty's Tea Room at 3:00 to enjoy high tea.

I've always been an iced tea drinker, but because it's just darn cold most times here, they only have hot tea. I have to say that after today, I'm really considering taking up hot tea! We enjoyed tea (including milk and sugar) along with scones, clotted cream (oh my that's good), and strawberry jam. I now understand why my great-grandfather paused every day for tea (he was English, after all). The tea room was quite fancy and the servers were in black suits and dresses; very prim and proper, Mary Poppins-like characters. Paul and Tim even got scolded for not being in the right place, but it was done so politely and friendly, they couldn't help but comply. The main hostess even told them, "bless you" while cocking her head at a 45 degree angle. She was being serious and friendly; little did she know that saying "bless you" in the South while smiling means something totally different!

We didn't daudle much in the tea room because we wanted to make the 4:00 Evensong service at York Minster. For those who aren't Episcopalian, this is a choral service in which communion isn't offered. It's essentially a service at the end of the day in which the choir sings various songs and the congregation joins in for one or two. Today was a special service because the Queen's Diamond Jubilee was celebrated all over the UK today. Evensong was dedicated mainly to her. Upon entering the minster I was agast at its size. The ceiling keeps going and going. The choir area (where the service took place) had amazing detail to woodwork and the acoustics were unbelievable.

I'll admit that even though I'm not British, the most moving part of the service was at the end when the York Minster choir and all of us in the congregation sang the national anthem: God Save the Queen (the tune of My Country 'Tis of Thee in America). The organ was belting out the notes while all in the room sang with all their might. There were even some tears on the faces of the Brits around me.

Following this, we returned to our B&B's pub for some cider and ale, passing through the minster's gardens. A dad and his daughter were standing in an open area near a flock of pigeons. I was shocked (I hate big birds) when he allowed the pigeons to overtake his daughter, even standing on her head! Yikes! Fortunately she stood there long enough for me to snap a pic before dad shooed the birds away. Later, we ventured back out for dinner (I had a wonderful steak and ale pie...my second, but it was superior to the last). A stop for dessert at the French restaurant, then back to the B&B to pack (our clothes got washed today) and prepare for our journey to the Peak District tomorrow. Before we leave York, however, we'll tour the minster, climb up the tower, then descend into the crypt!

Cheers!