DAY 320 Friday 25th JULY 2008

York, Yorkshire (Miles to Date: 33820)

Having collected Laura from Eastbourne on the South Coast we travel North again up to the ancient city of York up in the North East of England. This walled city is has a long and colourful history, and there is plenty here to keep us occupied for quite a number of days. We have bought a City Pass that gets us into many of the City attractions. Once we have registered at the Youth Hostel where we are staying we take a walk into the City and find ourselves by the stunning York Minster. York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is the second largest of its kind in Northern Europe (largest is the Cologne Cathedral). It is the seat of the Archbishop of York. The building work started in 1220 and was completed in the 1470s. The inside of the Minster is as stunning the outside, and the stain glass windows are a sight to behold especially the famous Rose Window which sits in the South transept commemorating the union of the houses of York and Lancaster around 1500 and the five sisters of the North transept. When we arrive the Minster is being prepared for an evening service so we quickly tour the galleries and choir stalls before taking the self guided tour of the central tower. Climbing the 275 steps to the top of the central tower is an exhilarating experience and on the way we pass the Minster's medieval pinnacles and gargoyles and see over its rooftops. At the top there are the most amazing view of the city's ancient streets. This is the highest point in the city and you can see far over the surrounding countryside, from the White Horse at Kilburn to the Yorkshire Wolds.

For our second day we head back into town. After walking around a bit we head down the Jorvik Viking Centre. Jorvik is the name the Vikings gave to York, who ruled the city and its environs some 1000 years ago. The centre is built actually below a shopping mall and is built around ruins of a Viking village that was uncovered during an excavation prior to building the shops. Mark and Karen had visited the Jorvik Viking Centre many moons ago but it has been significantly refurbished since then. The tour starts in a little theatre set up as a time machine that flies you back in time 1000 years. When reaching our time period destination we leave our time machine and climb into our personal carriages which carry amongst the reconstructed Viking village. We are taken through the various houses and are treated to sights and smells of Viking life – including the outhouse… phew!! At the end of the ride we climb out of carriage and enter the museum area where there are displays of the artefacts found at the dig site and some Centre staff who run demonstrations of some of the craft skills of the Vikings. This is one of the best places to visit in York.

From the Jorvik it is only a short walk to the Castle Hill area. Dominating this area is a keep known as Clifford’s Tower which is high-up on a hill overlooking the river and town below. As one of the most important cities in England, and an important base for holding and administering the north, York was the site for two of the castles William the Conqueror built in the years immediately following his conquest. The principal castle was begun in 1068, and was constructed of wood. This were destroyed during a local rebellion the following year, but was rebuilt by the Normans. In 1190 the wooden keep was again burned down, during a siege by citizens of the Jewish community which had taken refuge there. This was one instance of a continent-wide persecution stimulated in part by the emotionally-charged and propagandised environment of the Crusades. In the latter half of the thirteenth century, the keep was rebuilt in stone and later became known as Clifford's Tower after Roger de Clifford, who was hanged there in 1322. We climbed the stairs up to the battlements which gives fine views back across the city towards the Minster.

Across the street from Clifford’s Tower is the Castle Museum. We stop briefly to have an ice cream – for the first time on our trip back to the UK we are actually warm!! Anyway we are pestered by some Canadian geese. We get concerned when we see an opaque line hanging from the beak of one of the geese, and think it might be fishing line. Emily runs into the museum to get them to call the local RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Whilst away we actually determine what we thought was a nylon strand was actually saliva – the goose was probably drooling over our ice creams. Anyway Emily was embarrassed over our mistake and took a little coaxing to get her back into the museum.

York Castle Museum is one of Britain's leading museums of everyday life. It shows how people used to live by displaying thousands of household objects and by recreating rooms, shops, streets - and even prison cells. It is best known for its recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, which combines real shop fittings and stock with modern sound and light effects, to evoke an atmosphere of Victorian Britain. The museum has also recreated some room settings including a Victorian parlour, an 1850s Moorland cottage, Jacobean and Georgian dining rooms, a 1940s kitchen and a 1950s front room. There are also displays of household goods, like washing machines, wringers and stoves from generations ago, which sent Karen and Mark back down memory lane. Jack and Emily were left wondering what was going on! The Sixties gallery is a new exhibit The Sixties, which opened in Spring 2008, explores the music, fashion and everyday life of this exciting decade. The museum's had originally been used as a prison buildings, and this time in it history has been recreated so we can see what conditions were like back in the 18th century The prison’s most famous former prisoner - highwayman Dick Turpin, who was hanged in 1739 for horse stealing.

To finish the day we head for a less cultural experience the York Dungeon. This is not really a dungeon, but is a tourist attraction that looks to scare the pants off you. The tour is a 90 minute passage through the less pleasant sagas (the historical accuracy is questionable) in York’s past. Jack and Emily went in with trepidation and were on tenterhooks for the first 15 or 20 minutes – it was quite scary. The Great Plague show is set in 1551 with a recreation of medieval York streets and culminates with a performance from an actor playing a plague doctor. There is also a recreation of a York pub the Golden Fleece Inn where visitors are told ghost stories. Other shows include the Judgement of Sinners where visitors are accused of various crimes and the Torture Chamber where visitors are shown demonstrations of torture devices. During the tour actors playing plague doctors, innkeepers, viking cohorts of Eric Bloodaxe, judges, torturers and Dick Turpin's executioner tell visitors gruesome stories. We had low expectations of the York Dungeon, and whilst it was a surreal experience we enjoyed it greatly.