Another full day


Here you can see the stone coffins from the Romans dotted around the edge of the wall. The bottom 2/3 of the wall is Roman, while the top 1/3 (the part with the windows) was added by the Normans.
This is the freestanding Saxon tower. It was built in a gap that occurred in the Roman wall.

Emily trying on a helmet in the museum - it was REALLY heavy.

In front of the York Castle Museum...part of it was an old prison - very creepy down in the cells.

This is Holy Trinity Goodramgate...notice the "straight" nave.

Yesterday was definitely a full day. We started off our day with breakfast again, cooked by the awesome Ruth (Amy's mom), except this time we had scrambled eggs and toast (and Cary also had bacon). Muuuuuch better for us than the full English breakfast. We also had orange juice and tea again - I had two cups to wake myself up after Wednesday's exhausting Minster tower climb. We had some sore legs for sure! After breakfast we headed toward the city wall to take a free tour of the city. There are three every day and they are led by volunteers. Our guide (whose name I can't remember) was originally from London, but has lived in York for 40 years. He was really good, and knew a lot about the history of the city, and of England in general. He showed us the Roman city wall, which the medieval wall is built around or on top of, as well as some Roman coffins that had been unearthed around town and moved to the park where we were so as not to be disturbed. He said that happens a lot - people will be building something (in this case the "new" train station, built in the 19th century) and find a Roman cemetery, so they just move the coffins to a churchyard or some other quiet place. I thought that was pretty cool - if that happened at home, all building would cease, a museum would go up, and you would only be able to see the coffins through a glass case. Here, you could sit on one and eat your lunch!

We also saw the only free-standing Saxon tower in England, which was built into a gap in the Roman wall. It was underground until the 19th century, when it was found by a farmer who lived on one side of the medieval wall and had stables on the other side. He was digging a tunnel under the wall so as not to have to go around, and hit the tower dead-on. Unfortunately, rather than say, "Hmm, this looks really old. Maybe I should get someone to look at this," he just kept digging and bored a hole right through the tower, which has since been bricked in. Ah, Victorians.

We ran into the Australian couple we saw on our ghost walk on yesterday's tour. Their names are Ben and Anne, and it was very nice to see them again. We meant to get a picture of them, but they took off halfway through the tour so we didn't get a chance. It was good to get to talk to them again though.

After the tour we ate sandwiches on Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate, and then headed to the York Castle Museum, which is a museum of everyday life in Yorkshire since the Victorian era. It was really interesting, and HUGE! We got to see how people took a bath, washed their clothes, etc. 150 years ago. I really enjoyed the display of major life events - births, christenings, weddings, and deaths. I especially liked the display of wedding dresses, and would definitely have tried one on if I could have :)

After the museum we were pretty tired, had sore feet and backs, were still getting culturally adjusted, and were fairly cranky, so we headed back to Number 34 for a nap. We stopped at Holy Trinity Goodramgate, which had been closed the other two times we stopped by. It is the only church in York with box pews, which lean in toward the middle of the church since the floor is kind of sagging. It was built in the 13th century, and isn't used as a church much anymore since they never installed electricity. I'm including a picture.

We had a good rest at the B&B and then went to dinner. We ate at Caesar's, a very yummy Italian restaurant near the Minster. I think we might have been a little underdressed though, because they sat us in a corner behind a big column! Oh well - these are the only clothes we have! Everyone was very nice though, and we really enjoyed our meal. We were going to try to go to a pub after dinner, but it was pretty late when we finished and since we were still tired we decided to call it a night.

Today we're going to the Yorkshire Museum and then we're going to try to walk all the way around the city wall - about three miles, I think. We'll let you know how it goes!

-Emily

Comments

SK said…
Poor acolytes that had to light the candles! SK :)
June 14, 2008 at 1:03 PM
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