May 16: York in a day (Gasp!)

Our pace has certainly increased!  Today we saw York Minster and climbed the tower; viewed the exteriors of The King's House and Saint Mary's Ruins; saw the York Museum, the Jorvik Viking Centre, Fairfax House, Clifford's Tower (aka York Castle) and the York Museum.  We also managed to fax a signature back to Canada, buy another battery, buy a suitcase at Marks and Spencer, and have a lovely tea at a Pattiserie in the Shambles.  We did this all on foot, and survived!

This is Alanna's picture of Corgi Cookies at  Betty's tea Shop.  We are still trying to figure out some way to get them home!  Perhaps on our hips?

We started our day with a traditional English breakfast.  Alanna is a pleasure to travel with.  She's bright, she's accommodating, and willing to try anything once.  Yesterday she ate black pudding with relish -- and it is pretty good, I must admit, having tasted hers (I was too chicken to order it).  Today she went into raptures about beans on toast.  There is a Bend it Like Beckham  reference that I don't quite get.  Well fortified, we headed off to the York Tourist Information Centre, where I was able to print and sign a document to send back to Canada -- only took an hour! -- and where we each spent £34 on a one day York Pass which lets you into the museums for no additional charge.  We were a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to get to enough places to make it worthwhile, but we were determined to try.

Our first stop was York Minster, which is beautiful.  We decided to spend the extra £6 to take the Tower Tour, but the next tour wasn't until 11:00.  We spent the forty minutes exploring the nave and the quire, and were fascinated by the beauty of the architecture, the changing tastes in memorial monuments, and, as Alanna says, just how much art and detail they have packed into the Minster.  As huge as the cathedral is, it is full of art!  We enjoyed a cup of tea put on by the Ladies Society for Christian Aid, heard a visiting choir, and even got to bow our heads for a few minutes of prayer.

 

The exterior, showing the "Heart of York" window.	Interior view of the "Heart of York" Window
The nave.  This section is the original Norman cathedral..	The stained glass is lovely.  It was all taken down in WWII and put back up later.  Hitler did bomb this church in revenge for the bombing of German cathedrals.  Reportedly, he selected York from a guide book.
Two English kings on the Quire Screen.	Looking straight up, past the organ, at the transept.
The quire	A section of the East End stained glass.  The East end is undergoing renovation.

   Many archbishops, aristocrats, and other notable figures are buried or commemorated in the ambulatory, and it was interesting to see the changing styles of monument.

Prince William of Hatfield, died 1337.  Younger brother of the Black Prince, son of King Edward III.	Renaissance Tomb of a couple, made of carved and painted wood.  Their children are praying below them.
	A tomb of an Archbishop .  He looks really relaxed.
Tomb of Archbishop Thomas Savage, died 1507.	Memorial of Pelsant Reeves, who died in battle at Toulon in 1793.  The last line says:  "His brother George Dawson inscribes this."  It reminds me of a Roman memorial.

A weeping cupid from the Archbishop's tomb above. 

 

One of several Eighteenth Century Tombs.  They look like Wedgewood vases, with the lineage and major accomplishments spelled out for all eternity,

The Archbishop is much less relaxed!

After a moment of prayer and an amazing American choir recital, we climbed the 277 stairs to the tower.  The views over York were spectacular, and worth the chilly wind.  The young docent who worked at the top not only climbs up and down at least twice every day, but walks from his village two miles away every day!

 

Alanna on the breezeway between the two staircases.  We had great weather for the Tower Tour.	View from the breezeway -- one of about 20 pictures we took while catching our breath!

 We climbed down all 277 steps -- and what narrow, twisting, uneven and well used steps they were -- and saw the Chapter House.  This was my favourite part of the cathedral.  The carvings around each monk's station was amazing, and the entire space was very personal and beautiful.  

	The chapter room doors

We next viewed King's Manor, now part of York University, where both King James I and King  Charles  I stayed.  I was a bit jealous to see the Medieval Studies office of York University in a Medieval Building, as when I took Medieval Studies in Victoria, Canada, we did not get any field trips!

Next we went into Museum Park and saw the Ruin of St. Mary's. where Saint William was buried.  Apparently, pilgrimages were an important part of Medieval religion, and York really promoted themselves as a pilgrimage site for Saint William.  He became a saint because once, when he was returning to York, everyone rushed onto the Ouse Bridge because they were so happy to see him, and the bridge collapsed.  Nobody was killed, and this was his official miracle needed for canonization.  The church is a ruin now, but very picturesque.

Alanna says to say she took this excellent picture, and that she is "Queen of Everything!"

We went into the York Museum.  As we went in the guide said, natural history to the right, Romans to the left, and Medieval York downstairs.  All three of Ian's first interests in one building, and him back in Canada.  I realize I have put in a ridiculous number of pictures, so will limit myself to two pictures from each section.  

Great Auk skeleton	Stuffed kiwi.  Alanna couldn't believe how big they were, about the size of a chicken.  She claims she had a stuffed toy when she was young that was small, but I think she had them confused with the fruit. . .
Grave stele of a Roman woman, embraced by her husband.	Mosaic floor and wall painting from a Roman home.

When we went down into the Medieval section, we were surprised to find that we were in the monastery of St. Mary's.  many of the Medieval sculptures had been taken down and used as fill, and so were in remarkably good shape. 

There were also displays on the Lord Mayor, the role of guilds in the town, and its brief but glorious period as the capital of England.  Alanna took this exceptional picture of a jewel.  It has something to do with Richard II, but she forgets what.  (Don't tell her, but the jewel is actually in the famous picture of King Richard.)

We left the museum and walked down to the Jorvik Viking Centre.  I had been there in 1990, and while some of the exhibits are very similar to those I saw then, the science of archeology and the knowledge of the people of the time is much improved.  We rode around on carts suspended from the ceiling, and saw a recreation of a Viking village.  Work with DNA has revealed a great deal of the life, origins, and diet of the people, while archeology has revealed more about the dwellings, size of the city, and commerce of the era.  There is a fascinating human copralite (fossilized poo) on display, revealing a staggering number of parasites, tools and other artefacts recovered from digs in the area, and even human remains showing the wounds that killed the poor gentlemen in battle.

After a brief stop at Marks and Spencers (Alanna won't believe we used to call it Marks and Sparks), we went to Fairfax House.  This is an amazing piece of conservation and reconstruction, since it is a Georgian House that had been used for many years as a dance hall.  The viscount's bedroom was once the gents' loo!  Through painstaking research, and the gift of the Georgian furniture collection of  Noel Terry, the chocolate manufacturer, the house is a testament to the tastes of Georgian upper-class society.  Since this is "my era" from university, and since I missed the Georgian museum in Bath, I was in heaven!  In each room there was a very knowledgeable docent, and Alanna marveled over elvers (eels) in aspic in the kitchen, while I was fascinated to see the games table laid out for a hand of whist.  Georgian furniture is, I think, the loveliest there is, and the plasterwork on the ceiling and the silk on the walls is just the setting for it.

I'll bet you're relieved that they didn't allow pictures in either Jorvik Centre or Fairfax House!  The weather was once again heavily overcast.  We carried on to Clifford's Tower, which looks just like this:

Fortunately,  there were lots and lots of stairs to climb up to the entrance, followed by lots and lots of winding stairs to the gallery, which was very high and had uneven paving.  I am nervous of heights, if you hadn't guessed, but the views fro the top were spectacular.

Our last stop was the Castle Museum, where the life of the ordinary citizens of York for the past few hundred years is chronicled.  there were lots of rooms with objects and furnishings that looked like they were just waiting for their owners to walk back in though the door, including a Victorian parlour, a cottage on the moors, and an Elizabethan dining room.  There were displays of cleaning through the ages, bathrooms and the development of tubs and toilets, and the ways that people marked the important occasions of life, from birth to death.  We enjoyed the costume displays, and the Victorian street, as well as the section on weapons and warfare.  The civil war section was topical, with close ties to Bolsover Castle.  There was a section on World War II that really showed its effect on the ordinary family.  By this time we were getting a bit numb to information, but Alanna perked up at the childhood toys display when she saw the Dr. Who action figure.

I perked up when I saw the Marley Horses, which are very typical of this area, and identical to the ones at home.

Alanna made a new friend.  She calls him "Marjorie".

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bath, and are looking forward to our trip to Scotland tomorrow!