Friday August 3rd:
Today was a traveling day bigger then normal. This morning,
I finished packing up my last minute things, said my goodbyes to Juliet, Rufus,
Marylin, Hardy, and Aticus, and then was off to Peterborough. I made it to the
station and met up with Jo Conteh and her son Ben so they could pick up my
luggage before I continued up to York.
The train up to York was PACKED. Probably because it was a
Friday and there were quite a few families going on a weekend holiday. I ended
up having to stand in the little section between the trains with a few people.
There was a elderly lady, a middle-aged guy, and another guy who was about my
age. Both guys and I chatted about where we were going, the weather being so
sunny, what we were studying at university (the middle-aged guy talked about
what he graduated with), and so on. Somewhere towards the end of our chatting,
the guy thought that the young guy and I were traveling together and asked us
if we were. We both said at the time that we were not. The guy also added that
it was a shame too. Sadly we were going to different places, but it still was a
delightful thing to hear :)
Eventually both guys got off the train and about 30 minutes
later I arrived in York. After I got my map (free and it was a fantastic map),
I went to see York Minster. This minster is famous for all the stained-glass
windows, and there defiantly were TONS. All very beautiful. But the best part
of the visit was that they allowed you to take pictures! I was SO grateful for
that! So when I get the pictures posted, you’ll not only see York Minster,
you’ll have an idea what St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey look like inside. I
got so carried away with picture taking, I didn’t see the one sign that said
“No photography in the Crypt” Oops. Well, no one said anything so you guys will
be able to see some of that as well :P
The then made my way to the Jorvick Viking Center. On the
way, there were street performers I saw. Two girls were singing Green Day songs
and a solo performer with incredible violin skills. The center was not so busy
when I entered so I got my ticket real fast and went downstairs for the
exhibition. The floor was made of glass so we could see the replica of what was
found in the site when it was first discovered. There were multiple screens with movies about the Vikings and
windows displaying the different artifacts that were found from the shopping
market ruins we were “standing” on.
Then I went on the ride. I timed it perfectly so I got to
have a whole cart to myself. The beginning part was the whole time-machine feel
of jumping back to the past. They had both still and animated figures of the
vikings and had a commentator that spoke to some of them. The first one we
“spoke” with was someone who made things from bones. He was finishing up with a
comb he made and it looked like a comb today. Just a lot more decorative. The
ride went into the village to see how people would build their homes, going
through the market, and we went inside a house too. We “talked” with a guy who
was making tools to build his house, a lady who was arguing with her husband
about what they were having for dinner, and then lastly a guy who was using the
toilet. When I was coming up to the toilet guy, I thought he was yelling at the
chickens to get out of his field, but nope. I was way off. After the ride, I
continued through the exhibition where they had more artifacts of different
craftsmen with little videos of actors who talked to you about their skill, and
they had some bones with fact sheets explaining what scientists learned from
them. Finally, I talked with one of the staff about Viking money. He said that
their curreny system was nothing like any modern day currency. They only had
silver coins and if there was something cheaper then a silver coin, they’d cut
the coin down to the right price. Then after I gave him 1.5 pounds, he made me
a Viking coin and also gave me a special Olympic coin with a funny Viking guy
on it.
After the center, I went to my last attraction. The Castle
Museum, but it wasn’t really a castle. It was a museum about the Victorian era.
I accidentally went through the one exhibit backwards so I’ll explain what I
saw in the correct order. They had different sections about how different
things evolved into our modern things. They had a section where they displayed
what kitchens looked like, bathrooms, baby clothes, wedding dresses, and
others. At the end, they had a huge section that recreated what a Victorian
street looked like. They had carriages with a wax figured horse and carriage
driver, shops with some you could into, a police station, boarding school,
clock-maker’s workshop, and they had sounds playing dogs barking, cats meowing
when it was “night” and then the lights changed to look like morning was coming
and they played sounds of people walking through the streets. It was super fun and awesome!
The other side of the building had an exhibit about both
World Wars, more fashion, and a section similar to the Victorian streets but in
the 60s. Can you guess what the last thing was for the exhibit? Yes, of course,
York Dungeon. They didn’t have a way to go around, if you wanted out, you had
to go that way. So I just sped-walked through it, trying really hard to not
listen to the screaming girls, the scary sounds and figures. Luckily, it wasn’t
a very long part of the exhibit. When I got closer to the end, I noticed a
group of Italian students (what did I tell you? I’m being stalked by school
groups) who were trying to get a group picture. I offered to take a picture,
one serious and a funny picture. After that, everyone said thanks and the boys
were being super silly with their thanks saying I was an angel sent to them
with their hopeless problem. Though it was ridiculous, it was still
entertaining to hear :P
Before the museum café closed, I bought a chicken roast
sandwich and a cherry coconut pastry for a Linner (lunch/dinner). The pastry
was SO yummy! But the sandwich was only OK. So you see kids, that’s why dessert
comes after dinner. Because even if dinner lets you down, dessert always makes
up for it.
When I got back to Peterborough, Jo picked me up from the
station and we went back to her house. After I got my electronic stuff
charging, got my things out for bed, we all had dinner and I got to see Aly
again and officially met Alice and Ben. After dinner, we all watched the match
that decided who would play in the gold-medal match or bronze-medal match. It
was a fantastic and very intense game. Great Britain’s Andy Murray won and will
play for gold. We all got excited about that (yes even I did).
Till next time!
I am so glad you got to go to York. It sounds that you had fun and learned a lot about Vikings.
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