York for the day

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So the second "field trip" of the weekend was a day in York. We started a bit earlier today as the drive took about an hour. I sat on the bus next to a lady (also a student) who is from Japan. She is working on her second Masters in Peace Studies. She also studied in the US for journalism. It was fun talking to her; I enjoy learning about the other international students.

The 10 pounds we paid only included our transportation to and from York, the rest of the day was left to us to fill. We started off my walking the 1.9 miles around the old York City Wall. That was nice, we got to see a lot of the city. At each gatehouse there was a sign with information to read, so we learned a little something as we went along. Most of the wall went around residential areas, but the last part we walked was by all the main attractions and had some beautiful views of the Minster. As we walked along we talked about what it would have been like to be a guard up on the wall. We contemplated/debated how long we thought it took to build and what they did when people were killed on the wall. Did they just throw them over? Push them off? Step over them?

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We passed by parts of old castles. We saw Cifford's Tower, which is the remnants of a medieval Motte and Bailey Caslte build by Henry III. By the time we got there we were hungry so Josie and I split a sandwich from a little cafe.

When we got back to the main area we went inside York Minster. The Minster is the largest medieval Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. (FYI: A cathedral is the mother church of a diocese, it is where the bishop resides. A mynster was the Anglo-Saxon name for a missionary church. - York Minster pamphlet) The building itself was astounding. Last year I took an architecture class and we studied churches and cathedrals, but to stand next to one is not something you can understand through slides. Ramsey and I both wanted to climb up the tower, which was a windy long 275 steps. The passage way was so narrow that they only let people up at a certain time and down at a certain time. The view was worth the hike. From the top I could see the whole city area, which was bigger then we thought it would be and also we could find the wall that we walked around. On the way up there was a part where you had to be outside and walk across a catwalk. That was really neat because I got to see the flying buttresses straight on as opposed to looking up from the ground. (Flying buttresses are external wall enforcements that are classic of Gothic architecture and enabled builders to builder higher naves.)

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After climbing up and climbing back down we explored the interior of the church. There is quit a bit of stained glass in this church. They had music playing in the church as we walked around. I was told that listening to the boy's chorus  is beautiful, but unfortunately they weren't there when we were. The chapel house was amazing. Every wall was filled with stained glass windows, the ceiling was painted and there were sculptures all around the sides.

After the Minster the group was starting to get pretty hungry. We told Kyle and Margeaux that they could find some place to eat. It's hard to find places to eat when in your mind you are always doubling the price you see. Really we only want to spend one or two pounds because in dollars that is two or four. We walked around for a while. Finally I saw a sign for sandwiches and we ended up finding a good price. I got a ham and cheese panini for 1.80 and a dessert thing for .95. It was good and cheap.     There is a section of town called the Shambles, this is where all the tourist shops are. It is a very cute section of town, there building a cute and the streets are for pedestrians only. Josie and I found a man selling cut glass and blown glass objects. He had purely glass rings for only one pound. I wanted just a little something to remember York by and this was perfect. It took us a while to pick out rings that fit because they weren't standard sizes.

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We kind of ran out of things to do. Well there were more places we could go, but we didn't want to have to pay admission into anything else. We ended up walking towards the ferris wheel and at the railroad museum. That is a free museum so we went in to use the restroom and I walked around for a bit. After that it was about time to meet the bus again.

Back at the Hall we took a short break and then made dinner. Josie and I were late to the kitchen so we ended up having to wait and hour for the guys to finish their cooking. I have to say that we must have the oldest kitchens ever. In my flat we have a gas stove and oven that has to be at least fifty years old. It took my roommate an hour and a half to defrost her pizza. It's ridiculous honestly. There is a British guy, Ian, who is quite funny and Rusty from Bulgaria is a crack-up. We have a fun time, especially with the language  and cultural differences.