York Revisited

Saturday January 12, 2019

We decided to go back to the city of York and discover more of the history in this fabulous town. 

First stop was the Jorvik Viking Center and a tour of the streets of a viking settlement archaeologists found here on this very spot.

To say this was amazing and educational is an understatement. It is a MUST SEE if you are ever in York. You ride on a small amusement car though a recreated village and experience the sights, sounds and even smells (which were quite stinky) of the actual viking.

This is an underground attraction as you actually ride through what was "the dig" where you see hunters, traders, slavers, craftsman and families.

The mannequins are animatronics so they move and talk as humans. Above the picture shows a trading ship that would come down the river from the North Sea, this one carrying slaves, possibly and Irish lass. 

Below is the depiction of an artisan who makes combs and tools from antlers and bones.

Below is a depiction of the Blacksmiths home as he teaches his son some carving.

The found quite a bit of woven "Waddle Fence" around many of the yards of the houses. All of these buildings are on the sites of foundations they found, some with walls still intact..

Above a father plays a game with his children and below a man cleans some fish. 

A very interesting fact about the figure below is that he was created using the facial features and stature of one of the intact skeletons found at the dig site.

They were very real looking and the smell..... oh the smell was very realistic!

I found this skeleton very interesting. It is a woman over 45 yrs. old who was crippled. If you look at her femurs and right hip joint you can see how small and underdeveloped those bones are and almost complete deterioration on the joint. They can tell she had hip dysplasia (it's what the Dr.s check our newborns for today) and couldn't walk without much pain and the use of a crutch. 

Having suffered severe hip pain myself, I cannot imagine the pain she was in. Her left femur is abnormally large due to the overuse her whole life.

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We next trekked up to Clifford's Tower, which was built in the 12th or 13th century.

This tower was built to be 2 stories with a chapel and private rooms for the King and Queen, but since they rarely visited it was mostly used for storage.

Yea, they diverted the river to make a fine moat around the whole Castle, Keep (Tower) and Bailey area.

I am so grateful that my mother instilled in me a love of history.

The carved stairs an amazing feat of stone masonry.

We were able to see the chapel...

and the view of York from the top was a sight to see.

I counted 4 fireplaces on the ground floor of the inside of the tower.

Just to prove we were here. 

Looking across to the Moors.

 The Castle Museum complex containing the museum and on the right the Crown Court.

After a delicious lunch at "The York Roast co." we made our way to 

The Chocolate Story

A museum that tells all about the history of chocolate and the influence the Merchants and chocolate makers of York had in creating the chocolates we love today. Kit Kat bar, Terry's Chocolate Orange, Rollo and many, many more. 

The tour is definitely worth it, and afterward we were able to do a chocolate tasting and also watch them make Bonbons and make our own chocolate sucker. It was a delicious way to spend the an hour and a half.

We went to so many different shops and stores. We crossed the rivers and walked the walls.

We got on the wall at Goodramgate ...

a took a walk enjoying the view on both sides of the wall.

Below you can see the river or moat used to flow. I'm not sure which.

These residents don't have much privacy, but I enjoyed the peek into their backyards.

This section of the gate stands on the site of the Roman Fortress and was rebuilt around 300 A.D.

As Darryl visited some antique shops I went back down the Shambles to buy some souvenirs. It was another wonderful day in York I will treasure for a long, long time.