The Historic City of York, 3.10.05

York is delightful. We had a delicious lunch at Café 8, and then strolled along the parapet of the old city walls and pretended to be archers guarding the ramparts before going down into The Shambles – full of gorgeous little Tudoresque shops in the narrow laneways!

We had a quick look inside York Minster – but didn’t want to pay five pounds for the privilege of a closer look and then more to go down into the crypt and then more again to go up into the tower. I wonder how many tourists they lose by charging so exhorbitantly ? Never mind, plenty else to see, including remnants of Roman Britain, especially the statue of Constantine the Great – who was proclaimed Roman Emperor in 306, and by subsequently recognising the civil liberties of Christians, established the religious foundations of Western Christendom. Was that a good thing? Those that were on the menu for the lions in the Roman Colosseum thought so…

We loved the Jorvik Viking Centre! We travelled by ‘time machine’ down below the surface to 875AD and ‘visited’ a reconstructed Jorvik town with scenes of life at that time – all life size and with sound effects and very authentic smells (phew!). Upstairs, there was an impressive museum of old bones and assorted artefacts to explain the archaeological process and some dress-ups which Tim couldn’t resist!

By then we had reconnoitred the city so we knew that the best place to go to for dinner was Four High Petergate where there is a very nice bistro with a relaxed atmosphere, an excellent menu and friendly staff. For starters I had a partridge roll with melon in a scrumptious jus with beetroot leaves and greens, and Tim had Shetland Island mussels in a lemongrass sauce. For main course we both had the pheasant which was served with celeriac mash with a fig! They have a fine selection of Aussie and NZ wines, but we can have those at home any time, so I tried the L’Enclos de Chateua Lexongars 2001 Premieres Cote de Bordeaux, and Tim had the Chateauneuf du Pape 2003 from Domain Roger Perrin, Rhone. For dessert I had the bitter chocolate torte and a late harvest riesling, and he had the treacle orange tart with muscat. Bliss!

En route: London to York, Monday 3.10.05

On Monday morning, we set off for York. At Kings Cross Station, a very nice railway gentleman, who seemed to have nothing else to do but guide bewildered travellers to the right train, took us to have our BritRail passes stamped, and then escorted us to our carriage! First class is very nice – the seats are plush blue, with little white antimacassars and there are cups and saucers all ready for a cup of tea and some shortbread – no nasty snack bar – it’s table service.
The two-hour journey was very pleasant, with lovely scenery rolling by at 200kmh. There was a partial eclipse from 8.30 till eleven, but it wasn’t at all noticeable except that the day just seemed slightly overcast.
Our new ‘home’ in York was the Hazelwood Inn – very central and we had a lovely comfortable room, with more space than the Montague, which was nice. Once we stashed the luggage, we set off to find some lunch and to see the sights…