3Feb2009: Day 253: York

Not much snow in this area which made getting around the city of York easy. We did hear that Scotland got hit pretty hard with snow and that a lot of schools were closed around England. Not to mention that over 6 million people in England (London alone I believe,) did not go into work on Monday because of the weather. They had shut down the transit system in London – the airport, busses, and underground. So London pretty much came to a stand still. In Kent alone, on Monday they closed 50 schools, which wasn’t very many really, but on Tuesday I think I heard 500 were closed. We were a bit nervous about what we’d be coming home to as we heard that they got from 6-8 inches and it was the worse snow they’d seen in 18 years. They’re not equipped to handle that type of snow here at all!

We headed out to see as much as we could here. We started at Clifford’s Tower which is what’s left of the York Castle. The castle had first been built by William the Conqueror. A century later, in 1190, the Jews of York took refuge from a murderous mob in the tower that now remains. Unfortunately, in the fear of being killed, they decided to commit suicide. Not sure if some killed themselves in some form of manner or if they all died by the fire that was set. They wanted to destroy the tower and cremate their bodies so that they wouldn’t be dismembered. Pretty gruesome I’d say. The tower happened to be made of timber at that time. Richard I ordered the damage to be repaired and it was rebuilt in timber again. It wasn’t until Henry III that the castle was rebuilt in stone. Like I said, the tower is all that really remains of the castle, and that is basically a shell.

We then headed over to the castle museum which was across the street. Surprisingly, it was not about castles. It was about everyday life in Britain. It shows how people used to live by recreating rooms from different time periods such as a Victorian parlor, an 1850s Moorland cottage, Jacobean and Georgian dining rooms, a 1940s kitchen and a 1950s front room. I have to include this one picture as Chris says it reminds him of our kitchen back in the states and that it just proves that we need to update our kitchen since it’s back from the 1980’s and in a museum. The museum also is known for it’s recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, which combines real shop fittings and stock with modern sound and light effects, to evoke an atmosphere of Victorian Britain.

It’s here that I told Chris I was stopping off for a bathroom break and left Makenna in his care. When I returned, she was gone and he said that he thought she was with me. He didn’t “register” that I said I was going to the bathroom. So we then had a frantic five minute search (probably less but it felt long,) for Makenna. I started to ask some of the people who had seen her with us if they had seen where she’d gone. Chris finally back-tracked and as he was yelling her name, heard a giggle coming from the stairs. I think I mentioned in a previous blog how she has an affinity for stairs. She constantly wants to go up or down stairs, or ramps, wherever we go. He got her and we tried in our best calm voices to tell her how that was very naughty (not tee as she says it,) and that she needs to stay with us.

After touring some more of the museum, we headed to lunch and then on to another museum of sorts. It was called “Jorvik Viking Centre.” It gives the history of the Vikings in England. The Viking age was from around 800 AD to 1050 AD. As it happened, in 1976, archaeologists were beginning to excavate prior to a proposed redevelopment in the area. While doing so, they found Viking-age buildings, some even at shoulder height. These were surrounded by moist, spongy layers which meant that things had been preserved in these conditions.

They also found over 40,000 objects, of which some came from their rubbish (garbage,) pits—garbage that was over 1000 years old. One thing that I had a good laugh at was a piece of poop that they found and some how knew that 1) it was poop and 2) that it was from a Viking. When I asked one of the “Vikings” standing around, how they knew it was poop, as it looked like a piece of drift wood to me, he admitted that at first they didn’t know it was poop but since they found it in a bathroom type area they had an idea that it might be. It was much later that they decided to take a piece of it and examine it closer. What fun! They found different thing in it like worms and seeds, etc. that let them know that it was poop and because of the things in it, that it was from a Vikings diet.

They also had a ride that took you through different areas of a Viking town which included the “smells” that one would experience. It was kind of funny. It definitely had smells. It was kind of hokey but It kept Makenna entertained.

From there we drove to York Minster which is a gothic cathedral. On our walk over from the parking lot, Makenna fell asleep in the pushcart making our experience at the cathedral, one of peace. Unfortunately, we thought too late about getting a guide to take us around the cathedral and tell us of the different aspects so we just looked around on our own. The site that the cathedral is on has been occupied for almost 2000 years. The building that’s currently there was started in 1220 and took over 250 years to complete.

I thought that the chapter house was the most interesting part to see. It had a lot of neat stone carvings in the canopies of which around 80% are original carvings from 1270-1280. They were mostly of faces but of all types – some laughing, some being attacked by animals, and more. A lot of them have specific stories that go with them but sadly, I don’t know the stories. Although, I did hear one tour guide tell some people about a dog near a decapitated head was that of his master’s head that had been cut off and he was guarding it.

What was also very interesting here was in the undercroft below the church. While they were trying to shore up the present minster from falling apart and crumbling to the ground, as they started to see cracks in the masonry, they went underneath the present church and found a Roman fortress. They found that it was army headquarters founded in 71 AD and it was here that Constantine was hailed as Caesar. They also discovered foundations of a Norman Cathedral of Thomas Bayeux. The undercroft was a tour taking you through time from the Roman finds to the present day minster. It amazes me to see how people find and know how these things used to be. I mean, how would they know about Constantine becoming Caesar here at this spot? I can understand they can figure out how the building used to be laid out with what remains and some things about their life from excavated materials but more specifics is beyond me.

Just as we were finishing up, Makenna started to wake and we decided it was time to head home. It was a long trip back home, (about 5 hours including an hour stop for dinner) but we certainly enjoyed Chris taking time off of work to travel a bit. We didn’t know what type of weather we would be getting into as we headed home, as I stated in the beginning, but there was barely any snow at the house when we got there – maybe an inch. We were shocked! I was like there’s no way this is all there was for them to make such a big fuss and close everything down. I guess I’ll have to check with other people as to how much snow was really here.