York -2000 Years of History in 3 days

How does one see the sights of a city so steeped in 2000 years of history? You walk and walk and walk. But if you are with the Big Fella, you start with a tour of the York Brewery. Our afternoon arrival by train 15 minute walk to our B&B and all the while feeling lost until a stranger stopped and asked if we needed directions and thank your favorite deity, she was a godsend because it was getting a bit tense. We deserved a reward.  Once settled we tried to orient ourselves by you guessed it...walking. And the funny thing is that walk took us directly to the York Brewery in time for the last tour of the day. Included in the tour? Well that would be a pint of whatever is on tap. Yes, a tall -I'd say cool one here but it was room temp- was enjoyed. Next was the hunt for a meal and we decided on The House of Trembling Madness which we almost missed due to it being in the same building -dates to the middle ages- as a "bottle shop."  The House of Trembling Madness -ya gotta love the name- is on the second floor of the building. The Big Fella enjoyed the sausages, mashed spuds, and mushy peas. I opted for the meat pie with mashed spuds, gravy, and grilled onions. Our first real pub food was accompanied by a couple of pints. A good meal with way too much food, good brew, and a good night.

On day two, after a tasty English Breakfast -eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, and mushrooms- your intrepid travelers decided that a guided tour of the old city was in order. Our tour guide did walk us through the 2000 yrs of the history of York. Some of the stops included Roman ruins, bits about the Vikings, the remains of Norman Abbeys, walking on a portion of what is left of the city wall and of course how Henry VIII sacked the local abbeys.

Access to the historic places in York from our B&B was a shortcut through the York Botanical Gardens and the ruins of St Mary's Abbey. The Abbey must have been formidable. What's left and the foot print allows a visitor to imagine how grand it must have been. Unfortunately for the monks who ran the place, it was destroyed by Henry VIII when he broke with Roman Catholic Church, appointed himself head of the Church of England and well you need to read the history. But in short the monks were driven out, Henry VIII confiscated anything valuable and the once immense church fell to ruins.

Ok so now my reporting is out of order in an historic sense, but this brings me to the Vikings. That band of marauders arrived after the Romans and before the Normans. There was a significant Viking settlement in York -the name York is derived from the Viking name of Jorvik. You might be asking, hmmm is there a museum about the Vikings?. Yes,  and we visited the-ahem- Jorvik Museum. Oddly it bore no resemblance to Ballard.  There are plenty of artifacts to peruse including  a re-creation of what life was like in Jorvik. Real human skulls and bones with war injuries were displayed. Ugh. And the big attraction for the school kids was a petrified piece of human- um oh gosh how to I handle this- well it is human excrement. There I said it. Apparently, scientists were thrilled to find it as it revealed much about the Viking diet. That leads me to...

The National Railway Museum is in York and you know that we spent an entire day there. But folks I need to say that this was the very best railway museum I have visited -ever.  And trust me, the Big Fella has dragged me to plenty of railroad museums.I have the pictures to prove it. This museum was gold for him and more than made up for the erm Tank Museum being left off the itinerary.

The York Minster was today's attraction but that was canceled due to my infirmity. I hope to return to York if for no other reason than to visit the Minster.  What I saw of York I loved...the shambles, the cobbled streets, crooked alleys, buildings that date to medieval times, Cliffords Tower and the City Wall, lovely botanical garden, Roman, Viking, Norman ruins a, good beer and pub food, The Rivers Ouse and Foss and the friendly people. All are now fond fond memories.