So the weekend after York, Cameron and I went to Canterbury, where the Archbishop is and where Chaucer based his play on, although it doesn't happen so much in Canterbury as on the way TO Canterbury, haha.
It's a nice little town, although compared to how beautiful York is, it's not as amazing. But it's still a pretty town. It has it's wall, much smaller overall. I wouldn't spend more than a day there, you run out of things to do. We saw the wall, and of course the Cathedral. So far, it's my favorite in England. SOOOO imposing. I liked it a lot. We also visited two other churches: one were the rmains of an old abbey, although it was closed (the access to the field) so we snuck in through an entrance to the university and pretended to be students so we could se the ruins. The other church happens to be the oldest in England, tiny little thing, but still cool to see the early foundations and different additions to it throughout time.
We walked around town, looked for Chaucer but of course couldn't find him. Had tea at a cute tea house that inspired Dicken's writtings, and saw the remains of a Noramn Castle. That I liked a lot, different and massive.
Sunday was spend in Cambridge enjoying the town. Having seen by now many English towns I still like Cambridge best. It's just so cozy and yet active and still soo beautiful and not run down at all. Canterbury was not looking so good, the people there didn't seem to care. A lot like italy, a lot of grafiti and carelessness for the history and architecture.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
In York with the Vikings
OK ok ok, I know it's been awhile. I can't keep up. Clearly I'm doing more things than I have to write about haha.
So lets see, after that weekend of Chinese New Year and Shakespeare's birth place, we went to York for the weekend. It was the viking festival there. it was awesome.
First of all, York is so so so beautiful and I want to go back when it's summer because you can tell it would just be wonderful to sit outside by the river in the tables along there. It's totally a medieval city with its wall and all. It has a rich Viking heritage, thus the festival.
Hour hotel was perfectly located and we could walk around the city. It had all these little markets with lots of yummy food being sold. Half the time we didn't even eat at restaurants we just grabbed food from the markets. There were German sausages and Dutch mini pancakes and Crepes and Oriental noodles and Spanish Paella, i mean sooo much food, sold cheaply at the market, ready to eat, it was like a daily festival. There was also the candy kiosk. They had every kind of gummy candy you could imagine, and then some, Cameron bought himself a ginormous (gigantic and enormous) bag of candy, which added so much weight to our luggage, haha.
We took the train up there, and did I mention I love trains? They're just so amazing, it feels so classy in an old-fashion style. Plus you get to see the coutnryside. The weather was nice, very sunny but freezing cold. Since it's further north it was soooo cold, I had to stop in a store and buy gloves and earmuffs.
As far as the viking festival there were some specific events, like the parade and the battle re-enactment. Tthe battle was fun. Although it's exactly what happens when you allow testosterone to flow freely and uncontrolled. Basically: a bunch of men, dressedin funny costumes, (cloaks, tights, rags, hats) running at each other with their wooden shields and swords hahahahahahaha.
It was a lot of fun to watch. We went to the one at night becasue it had special effects and all, like the soundtrack of the Mummy (the movie) playing as the Saxons and Vikings battled, and a narrator telling us the story, and sounds of swords clashings and women with fire torches all and then of course there were fireworks and a big structure in the shape of a viking ship lit on fire. The men liked that one a lot, Cameron certainly did hahaha. I liked it too, until I realized I couldn't move my legs and feet due to the cold.
Then there was of course York Minster, the cathedral. As with all cathedrals and churches in Europe, you can image what it looked like. And yet, it was still beautiful and so open and detailed. It's the largest Gothic cathedral in the UK. We climbed 273 steps to the top, and the view was stunning. York is so beautfil. I absolutely loved it. It's the typical English town you see in movies and read about in books. The buildings were so old that many of them were crooked and leaning, some of them still kept their foundations from the middle ages. We saw remains of an old abbey from the 11th century. And we walked around the city wall. Like Cameron said, it's a "miniature Great Wall of China", although not really. anyone is interested in seeing pictures let me know, give me ur email and I'll send u a link to see them.
So lets see, after that weekend of Chinese New Year and Shakespeare's birth place, we went to York for the weekend. It was the viking festival there. it was awesome.
First of all, York is so so so beautiful and I want to go back when it's summer because you can tell it would just be wonderful to sit outside by the river in the tables along there. It's totally a medieval city with its wall and all. It has a rich Viking heritage, thus the festival.
Hour hotel was perfectly located and we could walk around the city. It had all these little markets with lots of yummy food being sold. Half the time we didn't even eat at restaurants we just grabbed food from the markets. There were German sausages and Dutch mini pancakes and Crepes and Oriental noodles and Spanish Paella, i mean sooo much food, sold cheaply at the market, ready to eat, it was like a daily festival. There was also the candy kiosk. They had every kind of gummy candy you could imagine, and then some, Cameron bought himself a ginormous (gigantic and enormous) bag of candy, which added so much weight to our luggage, haha.
We took the train up there, and did I mention I love trains? They're just so amazing, it feels so classy in an old-fashion style. Plus you get to see the coutnryside. The weather was nice, very sunny but freezing cold. Since it's further north it was soooo cold, I had to stop in a store and buy gloves and earmuffs.
As far as the viking festival there were some specific events, like the parade and the battle re-enactment. Tthe battle was fun. Although it's exactly what happens when you allow testosterone to flow freely and uncontrolled. Basically: a bunch of men, dressedin funny costumes, (cloaks, tights, rags, hats) running at each other with their wooden shields and swords hahahahahahaha.
It was a lot of fun to watch. We went to the one at night becasue it had special effects and all, like the soundtrack of the Mummy (the movie) playing as the Saxons and Vikings battled, and a narrator telling us the story, and sounds of swords clashings and women with fire torches all and then of course there were fireworks and a big structure in the shape of a viking ship lit on fire. The men liked that one a lot, Cameron certainly did hahaha. I liked it too, until I realized I couldn't move my legs and feet due to the cold.
Then there was of course York Minster, the cathedral. As with all cathedrals and churches in Europe, you can image what it looked like. And yet, it was still beautiful and so open and detailed. It's the largest Gothic cathedral in the UK. We climbed 273 steps to the top, and the view was stunning. York is so beautfil. I absolutely loved it. It's the typical English town you see in movies and read about in books. The buildings were so old that many of them were crooked and leaning, some of them still kept their foundations from the middle ages. We saw remains of an old abbey from the 11th century. And we walked around the city wall. Like Cameron said, it's a "miniature Great Wall of China", although not really. anyone is interested in seeing pictures let me know, give me ur email and I'll send u a link to see them.
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