York

Easter marks the center point of the spring two week term break for the schools, and since Good Friday and Easter Monday are government holidays here, it's a popular travel time. We joined in the mass migration by taking a trip north to York.

York has a lively history, for much of its existence functioning as the primary city in the northern half of England. Like London, York was settled by the Romans in the 1st century. Remnants of the wall which enclosed the Roman fortress still exist. (Side note: This is still so exciting for me to see and touch. We just don't have the same ability to touch our history in the US. Learning more about the Romans also helped Mike and me to understand the vastness of the Roman Empire and the astonishing civilization that flourished at that time.) In fact, Constantine himself was in York at the time that he ascended to the throne as Emperor.

This photo shows an original column from the Roman building that was previously on the site of the York Minster, which can be seen in the background.

Some centuries later, York was the site of a thriving Viking community called Jorvik. The remains of the settlement have revealed information about what the people looked like, what they wore, the houses, the trades, the food, and the animals. The Jorvik Viking Centre allowed us to go underground to visit a recreated Viking neighborhood. Here's Timmy trying on some Viking style headwear.

The medieval age brought the building of the great York Minster and the still existing city walls (above). The following photo is of the interior of the Chapter House, a stunning circular meeting room that is part of the York Minster.

Archeologists have uncovered copious amounts of artifacts from all periods of York's history, and the highlights of our trip involved exploring these findings. Barley Hall is a reconstruction of a medieval home which was excavated in the city centre. DIG is an interactive attraction in which visitors become archeologists and dig up artifacts. It speaks to the volume of material available that they are willing to let us handle recovered bone, pottery, leather, glass, and metal objects.

Clifford's Tower, pictured below, is the remaining section of a castle built in the 13th century by King Henry III. Like many of the castle towers we have seen, it was built on a large mound of earth and was preceded by a wooden castle built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century.

Also notable in York is the National Rail Museum, which includes restored trains and preserved Royal Coaches dating back to Queen Victoria (who reigned 1837-1901). It was a jam packed trip including some good Italian food and a comfortable traditional pub.

A great trip.  What more could we ask for?