VIKINGS!
Got back from York this morning and feel a bit less stressed. We are going to have our photographer and our florist picked by the end of the month. We decided what kind of mattress to get now we are looking for the best deal. We also decided against a fancy rehearsal dinner because a) we can't afford it and b) the wedding is fancy enough. So we are going to have a casual laid back rehearsal dinner after we rehearse in the town hall. My dad called it a sort of pre-wedding "kegger" before the big "do." At least it'll be good beer!
Now, on to VIKINGS! Jools and I got went into York early Saturday morning. The first thing we did was go into a mattress shop to try some out (mattresses, not Vikings). There was very old man working and when we walked in he said, "Oh! I thought you were more Vikings! I have seen more Vikings this morning than anything, running by with their spears screaming." Jools and I looked at each other a bit surprised wondering if the old guy had a screw loose or if he just referred to all York folk as Vikings. Which wouldn't be FAR off considering York was first Jorvik, one of the earliest viking settlements in England so technically anyone raised in York/Yorkshire is part Viking. Then he looked at Julian and said, "They don't burn the boat anymore, they used to burn it but it isn't allowed now." And Julian suddenly makes some sense of the man and starts having a very confusing (to me) conversation about the burning boat and all of this nonsense and about flaming arrows being shot, etc. I am sitting there like WTF MATE?
Then after explaining random bits to me between sentences as he so often does, still making no sense, Julian said "It is Yorkshire Viking Heritage weekend" or something to that effect and then it all made sense though I still hadn't seen any vikings. Turns out there were hundreds of people storming through York dressed in full on Viking gear, with spears and shields and shouting, re-enacting battles with proper weapons, etc. As a finale they used to have a viking ship out on the river and some of the actors would shoot burning arrows into in and let it burn until it sank, then they would all go drink and eat big pieces of meat together. AWESOME! But the burning thing is not allowed anymore because of fire risks, etc. blah blah blah. they still drink and eat big pieces of meat though.
So we lay around on a few mattresses and chatted with the old man for a bit longer. Then we wandered out into the streets towards the center of town. Finally I see a huge mass of half naked young men in helmets with shields and spears fighting, yelling and pillaging. It was also York Market day so there were tons of stalls with delicious food smells coming from them. Italians, Spanish, French, sausages, paella, cheese...it was great, except for all the NON Viking people. Two of my greatest dislikes, BEES and lots of people. There were no bees, but far too many people.
As we wandered I started to notice a kid walking around with a gaping wound on his head, with bruising and blood and everything. The first one I thought fell off a bike, then I saw more. I realized it was freakin' FACE PAINT! The face paint at the Viking Festival runs along the same lines as Britain's "Haunted Houses". Let me explain. Britain's haunted houses at carnivals and parks don't have spiders and skeletons and ghosts, dracula and wolfman in them like in America. NO, they are full of bodies ripped on the rack, rats eating people's insides, people decaying from thumbscrews, plague victims and heads on pikes. Things that REALLY happened. And their face painting is the same. in America we have butterflies and ponies and unicorns, superheroes or something like, no matter what the festival is. That is face painting, right? Well, in York, for the Viking Festival, they have gaping head wounds, bruises and scrapes, black eyes, broken bones. REALLY well done I might add, this was like theatrical style. It absolutely ruled.
We stepped over some vomit in the street which Julian mumbled something about Vikings at. I asked what he said and he just went to explain that these actor guys go do a battle, then go and have a pint, then another battle and so on during the day, and a lot of them are young kids (14-16) who don't normally drink that much in one day and have all the excitement so some get too drunk and puke. But they continue on their crusade until the day is over.
Vikings Rule.
Now, on to VIKINGS! Jools and I got went into York early Saturday morning. The first thing we did was go into a mattress shop to try some out (mattresses, not Vikings). There was very old man working and when we walked in he said, "Oh! I thought you were more Vikings! I have seen more Vikings this morning than anything, running by with their spears screaming." Jools and I looked at each other a bit surprised wondering if the old guy had a screw loose or if he just referred to all York folk as Vikings. Which wouldn't be FAR off considering York was first Jorvik, one of the earliest viking settlements in England so technically anyone raised in York/Yorkshire is part Viking. Then he looked at Julian and said, "They don't burn the boat anymore, they used to burn it but it isn't allowed now." And Julian suddenly makes some sense of the man and starts having a very confusing (to me) conversation about the burning boat and all of this nonsense and about flaming arrows being shot, etc. I am sitting there like WTF MATE?
Then after explaining random bits to me between sentences as he so often does, still making no sense, Julian said "It is Yorkshire Viking Heritage weekend" or something to that effect and then it all made sense though I still hadn't seen any vikings. Turns out there were hundreds of people storming through York dressed in full on Viking gear, with spears and shields and shouting, re-enacting battles with proper weapons, etc. As a finale they used to have a viking ship out on the river and some of the actors would shoot burning arrows into in and let it burn until it sank, then they would all go drink and eat big pieces of meat together. AWESOME! But the burning thing is not allowed anymore because of fire risks, etc. blah blah blah. they still drink and eat big pieces of meat though.
So we lay around on a few mattresses and chatted with the old man for a bit longer. Then we wandered out into the streets towards the center of town. Finally I see a huge mass of half naked young men in helmets with shields and spears fighting, yelling and pillaging. It was also York Market day so there were tons of stalls with delicious food smells coming from them. Italians, Spanish, French, sausages, paella, cheese...it was great, except for all the NON Viking people. Two of my greatest dislikes, BEES and lots of people. There were no bees, but far too many people.
As we wandered I started to notice a kid walking around with a gaping wound on his head, with bruising and blood and everything. The first one I thought fell off a bike, then I saw more. I realized it was freakin' FACE PAINT! The face paint at the Viking Festival runs along the same lines as Britain's "Haunted Houses". Let me explain. Britain's haunted houses at carnivals and parks don't have spiders and skeletons and ghosts, dracula and wolfman in them like in America. NO, they are full of bodies ripped on the rack, rats eating people's insides, people decaying from thumbscrews, plague victims and heads on pikes. Things that REALLY happened. And their face painting is the same. in America we have butterflies and ponies and unicorns, superheroes or something like, no matter what the festival is. That is face painting, right? Well, in York, for the Viking Festival, they have gaping head wounds, bruises and scrapes, black eyes, broken bones. REALLY well done I might add, this was like theatrical style. It absolutely ruled.
We stepped over some vomit in the street which Julian mumbled something about Vikings at. I asked what he said and he just went to explain that these actor guys go do a battle, then go and have a pint, then another battle and so on during the day, and a lot of them are young kids (14-16) who don't normally drink that much in one day and have all the excitement so some get too drunk and puke. But they continue on their crusade until the day is over.
Vikings Rule.