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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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Ah, still raining I’m afraid. The bad news is that this weather looks like it’s setting in for the remainder of the week, which gives me a bit of a dilemma. Do I go out and about getting soaked in the process, or do I find something nice to do indoors? I eventually plump for a bit of retail therapy at a big out of town designer outlet.
I will spare you the gory details as I know I could do exactly the same thing back home – quite literally as it happens. It’s owned by the same company as the one I visit in Swindon. Only my local one is far more interesting as it’s housed in some wonderful old railway sheds and comes complete with historic artefacts. The York version does boast a Viking long boat but somehow I don’t think it’s real. Perhaps the chairs and tables inside it are the give away.
Although the shopping centre isn’t far from where I’m staying, I cheat horribly. I use my bus ticket to go all the way into York and then catch another straight back out. I’m sure it takes much longer, but at least I’m dry and can sit down in comfort. It also gives me the change to do some more pottering about in York before heading home.
I get off the bus near the castle and wander back into town, trying to avoid looking at my map and just going on instinct. This gets me as far as the Coppergate Shopping Centre and the Jorvic Centre. I remember the fuss when this heritage centre first opened; it managed to attract a lot of press interest. This mainly seemed to focus on the effort taken to recreate the smells, as well as the sights, of Viking York.
When you arrive, you are ushered into a “time machine”. This turns out to be a series of benches in front of a giant telly. As you travel back through time, the two characters on screen change their clothes and appearance to match the current date. The benches also judder with each leap in time. Then we travel back too far and our “scientist” guide tells someone off for pressing the wrong button. To tell the truth, I was seriously having doubts about the whole Viking experience at this point!
Eventually we are herded onto the kind of suspended cars you normally see at a funfair. I’m fervently praying that I won’t have to be in the came car as the squealing teenage girls in front of me. Luckily the woman in charge seems to understand and sends them off by themselves. I end up in the front seat of a car all by myself, with another couple in the back row. And off we go.
Bearing in mind that the whole thing is really aimed at kids and families, it is genuinely an excellent way of showing life in the Viking period. They’ve put a huge amount of effort into recreating the kind of homes they lived in, the trades they earned a living from and other everyday aspects of an average person’s life. Maybe the detail is a little too much. I probably don’t need to have the Viking loo demonstrated so graphically by a straining, farting animatronic figure – but I bet the children just love it! I also feel a little sorry for the poor stuffed dog, destined to spend the rest of eternity with its leg cocked against a wall. I’m particularly impressed when we move seamlessly from the reconstructed buildings to the genuine timbers excavated from the site. It really gives you a clear understanding of what you are looking at.
Once we are out of the cars it is back to finding our way on foot, through the plethora of interactive computer simulations and quizzes. Sadly I’m not the only person trying to keep out of the rain and several school groups are fighting over all the cool stuff. Actually I’m just jealous! There are some really interesting cases displaying finds from the archaeological site. Some are displayed in very imaginative ways, using light and mirrors to first show you an object and then how it was used. It’s the same technique used by Victorian magicians and it really does look good, although I probably spend more time working out how it’s being done than studying the objects.
I do make it to the shop, but don’t hang around as it is jam packed with kids all trying to spend their pennies. Finally back outside the weather has not really improved, but I don’t feel the need to put my umbrella up. I’m vaguely aiming for the Railway station but only in a round about kind of way. What I don’t want to do is spent time following the walls; I’m waiting for better weather (and better shoes) for that. What I eventually discover is the city art gallery and some wonderful buildings in Exhibition Square. Just around the corner I discover the secret world of York Museum and the wonderful Museum Gardens.
Unable to resist, I take a quick stroll around this hidden gem. I recently read a book called Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Mum had given it to me thinking the title was literal. As it happens it was an excellent piece of fiction, but the only reference in the whole book to a museum, is when the narrator was taken to the Museum Gardens as a child to play. It would be an exciting place to play hide and seek as it contains some wonderful ruins as well as the city walls. It’s another place to add to my fine weather list of places to visit.
Eventually I find myself a bus stop and head back to our cottage and another night of watching TV and playing board games. I really hope this weather dries up, or I’m going to have to go to plan D or F (I’m beginning to lose track).
previous travel blog entry
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