Europe - Trip 1

Day 14 - January 21, 2002

Inside the complex Yorkminster

We had a teary farewell with Sarah on this morning and set off for the drive to York from Darlington. We wanted to make it there in a reasonable time so got on the M and headed straight there. Didn’t seem like much different than most other places on the outskirts but once we were at the old city wall the significance of this place became apparent.

Todd hadn’t been to York before but Sue had when she was 12 – she still wasn’t willing to be the tour guide though. We cut through town and ended up at the minster and went inside. Was a bit strange as there were 5 different entrance fees to see 5 different things and another for taking pictures above any of the other fees. The minster itself was amazing inside and didn’t seem to be used for mass at any regular interval. The most interesting part of the whole place though was the basement where the excavations, done to help shore up the central tower, discovered ruins of two former structures on the same site - one, Norman from 1000 years ago, the other Roman from 2000 years ago. The levels were apparent and there were some grand artefacts and structures found – all dug up less than 30 years ago.

York Viking church guardians

We headed from there to the old Viking church. Didn’t know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised at it – the structure wasn’t totally unusual but the figures and gargoyles on the façade were definitely not English or Norman. Got some good pix of ‘em as well.

Took a short walk past Clifford’s hill – fairly impressive structure on top of a man made hill. Didn’t stop long enough to any info – mostly because we didn’t want to get stuck in traffic.

Todd and Sue at The Coppins

We flew down the motorway to Sue’s Uncle and Aunt’s place (Robert and Jean) outside Rotherham in a little town called Thrybeck. Spent a lovely evening there having a fab dinner that Jean just seemed to whip together – roast lamb, roast potatoes, lentils, green beans and lots of wine. We then forced them to play crib for a couple of hours - they won 2 games to none.

windy without rain then rain without wind then cloudy with rain or wind then a spot of sun and then rainy bits with and without wind.