Half term in York
I was originally going to be singing in the Minster this last week, but that got cancelled, so I went to York just as a tourist instead.
As I was on my own, I decided to eat out at lunchtime so I would only need a snack at night. This worked out well as I was battling a cold and was so tired in the evenings I don't think I could have gone out again anyway. I walked so much, I have muscle ache in the sides of my calves. Never had that before.
Monday, I checked in to the hotel that was kindly found by gaspodia . It was The Cavalier, and was just outside the city centre. It's small and basic by some standards, but it was enough for me. I had my own little room with a kettle and a TV. Just up the stairs I discovered a sauna, but never had time to figure out how it worked. A full cooked breakfast set me up for the day.
Monday afternoon I wandered a bit around the shops (getting gloriously lost in the process), but my main shopping day was the Tuesday. I had decided to go the The Jorvik Viking Centre in the morning, but the length of the queue a good half an hour before it opened, and the fact that is was beginning to tip it down, made me give it a miss. Everytime I went back after that, the queue was even longer, so I still haven't been. Probably best to pre-book tickets if you want to get in, although one of the shop assistants in the town said she wasn't overly impressed herself with it.
So I did the shops; when they finally opened. Most of the shops didn't open until 9.30 or 10.00, but even some of the ones that were supposed to open at 9.00 weren't. The center was pretty quiet first thing. I love the centre of York, it is just a maze of little wooden beamed shops right ot of Tudor times, or earlier.
I did a bit of Christmas shopping and wandered a bit out of the centre, as that's where the most interesting shops are found. I located the material shop, a lovely craft shop and a chocolate shop. Also visited Rainbow Ceramics, which is one of these places where you paint a blank pottery piece and it gets fired for you. I was looking forward to a nice sit down out of the rain, but the staff forgot about their posting option when I said wouldn't be around in a week to pick up the piece, so I left again. I have emailed them about this and got a very nice email in return.
Wednesday was the museum day. I first went to the Quilt museum, which has only been open two years. They had some lovely pieces on show.
Then I went to the Treasurers House, which is National Trust. Well worth having the audio tour as it tells you loads about the man that gave the house to the National Trust. He had this plan to avoid inheritance tax by giving away most of his possesions and spending his money. He suceeded! I went on the attic tour as well, which involved wearing a hard hat and climbing out onto the roof.
In the afternoon, I did the Minster. I've sung there twice before, but haven't done the proper tour. There were some really nice banners on show.
I went into the undercroft, which took you down to the remins of older churches and a Roman basillica. They had some lifesized weathered statues that freaked me out because they looked just too much like the angels from the maze of the dead.
In the evening, I did venture out for a while because it was the start of Illuminating York. I watched the display on the side of the Minster and wandered around the park for a bit.
I din't take many pictures, but they can be seen at photobucket. Just a couple of amusing ones below. One is obviously an old advert; the other, I wonder how many people get the reference on the pub sign?
