York

Long before it grew into the largest urban area in North America, New York City was a Dutch colony called "New Netherland."  After defeating the Dutch in 1664, however, the English renamed the city "New York" to honor the Duke of York.  BUT, (you might ask), WHY did the Duke of York need honoring??  And what about the original York -- why was that place so important?!  And why do a bunch of people in the United Kingdom wear New York Yankees hats?!?

All of these questions were part of my decision to go on a solo adventure to York this past weekend (well, all except that last one -- that's a question for another blog post).  Aaaaaannnyyways, my story begins at 6 a.m. last Saturday morning.........

It was cold outside, and I was tired.  I hadn't slept very much on the overnight bus ride from London.  It was time for some coffee!

After drinking a large cappuccino, I hit the road, er, the wall.  York is surrounded by a series of stone walls and gates -- most of which date to the Norman period of the 12th -- 14th centuries.  However, the original walls were MUCH older -- constructed by the Romans around 71 A.D.

In fact, York was a very important part of the Roman Empire.  "Eboracum," as it was called back then, was founded by the Ninth legion around AD 71 as a northern military center.  It was in York that Constantine the Great, the emperor that would convert to Christianity on his deathbed -- changing the course of western history -- was crowned.

One of the many cool street signs in town!  Many of the streets end in "gate" -- a remnant of viking nomenclature.

Statue of Emperor Constantine outside of York Minster Cathedral.

One of the first things I noticed as I was circumnavigating the town via the walls was the ever-present smell of hot chocolate.  I learned later in the day that a Nestle factory on the outskirts of town was the culprit.  I think we need one of those factories in Fayetteville!

View from the top of the city walls.  The towers of York Minster are visible in the distance.

After spending about an hour on the walls, I walked into town (which was very quiet at that time in the morning) and visited York Minster Cathedral -- the town's imposing Gothic centerpiece.  The current structure was completed in 1472, though various churches had been built and rebuilt on the site ever since 627.

The west side of the Cathedral.

Side view of the Cathedral from the gardens.

Interior of the nave.

After exploring the interior of the Minster, I climbed the 275 spiral staircase steps to get to the top of the central tower.  The views from the top were amazing.  The Yorkshire country that I was able to see is characterized by "heather moorland" -- gently sloping hills and heaths with a sparing amount of vegetation growing on them.

View from the top of the Minster

After visiting York Minster and making a quick stop for Yorkshire pudding, I pushed on to the Yorkshire museum.  It was there that I learned a lot more about York's medieval history.

In a nutshell: After the decline of the Roman empire, German immigrants (Anglo-Saxons) settled in York and renamed it Eoforwic.  The city became the Christian center of Northumbria in 627, when King Edwin built the town's first Christian Church.  In the mid 9th century, Eoforwic was invaded by the Vikings and renamed Jorvik.  Jorvik quickly became one of the richest cities and cultural centers of the Viking empire.  (deep breath here)  After the Vikings came William the Conqueror and the Normans in 1068, who violently subjugated the north country over a number of years.  It was at this time that the city was renamed "Yorke."  In the coming centuries, the city fell on hard times after backing the wrong "king" in a power struggle known as The War of the Roses (the war that "Game of Thrones" is loosely based on).  In the 16th century, thanks to Henry VIII, the city's religious houses, including the massive St. Mary's monastery, were destroyed.  (whew!)

In the nineteenth century, York became the U.K.'s major northern railway hub.  This is perhaps why the city houses one of the largest railway museums in the world -- The National Railway Museum (and, naturally, my next stop after the Yorkshire museum).

At the railway museum, I got to see a plethora of historic and just really cool trains -- perhaps the coolest of which was Queen Victoria's elegant "saloon" train that dates from the 1840s.

Queen Victoria's train.

I also got to see King George VI's (The King's Speech guy and Queen Elizabeth II's father) armored WWII train, which he rode all over the country to boost morale during the war.  He would sleep in the train at night, always parked near a tunnel in case of German bombing raids. 

George VI's train (which later belonged to the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II).

Other trains in the museum included a Japanese "Shinkansen" bullet train (the only one outside of Japan), a massive Chinese steamer, and a series of WWI hospital trains.  The hospital trains were of particular interest to me.  Apparently these trains included just three (very brave) nurses for every 500 wounded soldiers.  Hospital trains transported soldiers from the fighting in France to hospitals all over the United Kingdom.

A massive British-made engine that operated in China.

My final stop of the day was at a street in town known as "The Shambles."  This street, which was originally an alley filled with slaughterhouses, is known for being the "real life" example of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.   Three different Harry Potter shops were operating in the street!

The Shambles -- notice the "Boy Wizard" shop in the first picture!

And with that, I better get back to working on my homework.  York was beautiful -- it smelled like chocolate, it was loaded with medieval historical sites, and it's got Harry Potter connections!  Gotta love it!

I will quickly mention that the current Duke of York is Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son.  As the title IS traditionally granted to the monarch's second son, the newborn Prince Louis Andrew Charles, second son of William and Kate, could eventually become the next Duke of York.  Pretty cool!

Until next time,

--BD