easter break #2
One reason we decided to go for this one-day-trip was because we got tickets-fare refund due to train delay from our Edinburgh trip! We decided to use the money to buy day trip ticket to nearby city, and York was our choice. It was a wise choice, though, York is only an hour away and the city is charming. In my words, York is a mini Edinburgh, if I want to compare.
Edinburgh was all about grande feeling, while York is humble. The buildings might have the same elements - historical, old, heritage - but the scale is smaller and feel closer to human-being. I love it right away. The city area is surrounded by old walls - Roman walls, and you can find the wall not faraway from the train station. We were walking around the city the whole day, although we didn't cover all the area. We only went to some interesting points, and preferred to feel the city vibes.
There is one attraction that I would like to go in if I had a chance to come back to York: JORVIK Viking Centre! When we were there, the queue was ridiculously long! So, I bet it's very interesting inside. From what I browsed, this Viking Centre was built on the site which revealed some discoveries in modern archaeology (of the Vikings). Doesn't it sounds really interesting??? You know.. it's the Vikings! :D
Basically, these are the places we went to on that day:
Clifford's Tower
This is where you go if you want a panoramic view over York. This tower is part of York castle, which is the largest that remains nowadays. Beside that, the tower has seen a lot of painful history that took place inside it. One of them is when it was used by Jews refugees to hide from the riot, and many of them committed suicide inside the tower. The rest of them were burned and slaughtered by the mob.
The architecture of the tower is pretty simple, it's circle on plan and we can climb to the top to see 360 degree view of the city. There are a lot of stairs, for sure, but I think it's worth a visit when you are in town. The entrance fee is minimum and the view is fantastic!
York Minster
It's one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. York Minster is the famous name of York Cathedral. It's gigantic and beautiful, the gothic arhitecture matches its scale. When I was there, it was during Easter, so several masses were happening on the day. We didn't get a chance to go up to its tower on that day (ah, too bad!) so we just walked around inside the ground level building.
Museum Gardens
It's the city's botanic gardens, which covers an area of 4ha of the former of St. Mary's Abbey. We still can see the ruin of St. Mary's Abbey inside the garden, it's a long huge wall with beautiful openings along the wall. We spent our late afternoon in the garden before we went to National Railway Museum. Since the area is quite large, we let Iola to run around the park, touch the flowers gently, and explore as much as she wants. Many people were enjoying the spring weather in the park (#parklyfe), spread their picnic mat and had their sandwiches and coffee. It was so nice that people were enjoying the day outdoor :)
National Railway Museum
One of the must visit museum if you are a fan of train (like Sheldon!). The collection is magnificent - it is a home for 300 locomotives and rolling stock, 628 coins and medals, 4899 pieces of railway uniform and costume, railway equipment, documents, records, artwork and railway related photographs! I am not a train-fan, but I enjoyed my visit there. Varies of train were displayed, and my favorites were the vintage.. they were just so elegant and the color were lovely (like dark red or dark blue). Some of the vintage trains were able to be entered so that we could see the interior. The museum building itself was the huge former steam locomotive depot, which make it the best location for a "train" museum.
And the rest of the day..
We were just strolling around the town..
I was thankful to have a chance to see this beauty. Hope to see you again, York.
Edinburgh was all about grande feeling, while York is humble. The buildings might have the same elements - historical, old, heritage - but the scale is smaller and feel closer to human-being. I love it right away. The city area is surrounded by old walls - Roman walls, and you can find the wall not faraway from the train station. We were walking around the city the whole day, although we didn't cover all the area. We only went to some interesting points, and preferred to feel the city vibes.
There is one attraction that I would like to go in if I had a chance to come back to York: JORVIK Viking Centre! When we were there, the queue was ridiculously long! So, I bet it's very interesting inside. From what I browsed, this Viking Centre was built on the site which revealed some discoveries in modern archaeology (of the Vikings). Doesn't it sounds really interesting??? You know.. it's the Vikings! :D
Basically, these are the places we went to on that day:
Clifford's Tower
This is where you go if you want a panoramic view over York. This tower is part of York castle, which is the largest that remains nowadays. Beside that, the tower has seen a lot of painful history that took place inside it. One of them is when it was used by Jews refugees to hide from the riot, and many of them committed suicide inside the tower. The rest of them were burned and slaughtered by the mob.
The architecture of the tower is pretty simple, it's circle on plan and we can climb to the top to see 360 degree view of the city. There are a lot of stairs, for sure, but I think it's worth a visit when you are in town. The entrance fee is minimum and the view is fantastic!
York Minster
It's one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. York Minster is the famous name of York Cathedral. It's gigantic and beautiful, the gothic arhitecture matches its scale. When I was there, it was during Easter, so several masses were happening on the day. We didn't get a chance to go up to its tower on that day (ah, too bad!) so we just walked around inside the ground level building.
Museum Gardens
It's the city's botanic gardens, which covers an area of 4ha of the former of St. Mary's Abbey. We still can see the ruin of St. Mary's Abbey inside the garden, it's a long huge wall with beautiful openings along the wall. We spent our late afternoon in the garden before we went to National Railway Museum. Since the area is quite large, we let Iola to run around the park, touch the flowers gently, and explore as much as she wants. Many people were enjoying the spring weather in the park (#parklyfe), spread their picnic mat and had their sandwiches and coffee. It was so nice that people were enjoying the day outdoor :)
National Railway Museum
One of the must visit museum if you are a fan of train (like Sheldon!). The collection is magnificent - it is a home for 300 locomotives and rolling stock, 628 coins and medals, 4899 pieces of railway uniform and costume, railway equipment, documents, records, artwork and railway related photographs! I am not a train-fan, but I enjoyed my visit there. Varies of train were displayed, and my favorites were the vintage.. they were just so elegant and the color were lovely (like dark red or dark blue). Some of the vintage trains were able to be entered so that we could see the interior. The museum building itself was the huge former steam locomotive depot, which make it the best location for a "train" museum.
And the rest of the day..
We were just strolling around the town..
I was thankful to have a chance to see this beauty. Hope to see you again, York.
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