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smallhobbitWe had an excellent couple of days in York. There is a very good park and ride system, so we didn't have the hassle of driving into the centre of the city, coping with the one way system and finding anywhere to park.
The first morning we took a boat cruise on the River Ouse. It was good to see something of the city from the river and also to learn something of its history. Although once a prosperous city, its population now is about 200,000, so still a city, but much less important. The historical parts are all within the city walls, of which a good amount is still standing, which means its easy to walk from one side to the other. The pictures make the Ouse look dirty, but the brown colour is due to the local soil rather than pollution, and I gather there are plenty of fish to be found.
We visited the Yorkshire Museum, which has major exhibitions on Roman York and on the Vikings. The Viking exhibition is new and will be touring in late autumn, and includes virtual reality headsets, which allow the viewer to imagine themselves in a Viking camp - very effective. The intricacy of some of the jewellery etc was incredible.
We walked along about half the walls in total, during our two days. It was hot, so we weren't inclined to walk as far as we might have done had it been cloudy. There are a number of gates along the walls, and this is Micklegate Bar.
The Yorkshire Museum has some lovely gardens - ideal for sitting in on a hot day. Every afternoon there's a birds of prey demonstration. At one point the guy in charge asked for lots of volunteers to help, so I volunteered. We had to lie down in a long row (side by side) while Eva the owl flew low over us. It was an incredible feeling, we hardly felt her fly just a few inches above us, almost uncanny. It proves why owls are good hunters. Another one of those things I'm really pleased to have done. Here's Eva:
The first morning we took a boat cruise on the River Ouse. It was good to see something of the city from the river and also to learn something of its history. Although once a prosperous city, its population now is about 200,000, so still a city, but much less important. The historical parts are all within the city walls, of which a good amount is still standing, which means its easy to walk from one side to the other. The pictures make the Ouse look dirty, but the brown colour is due to the local soil rather than pollution, and I gather there are plenty of fish to be found.
We visited the Yorkshire Museum, which has major exhibitions on Roman York and on the Vikings. The Viking exhibition is new and will be touring in late autumn, and includes virtual reality headsets, which allow the viewer to imagine themselves in a Viking camp - very effective. The intricacy of some of the jewellery etc was incredible.
We walked along about half the walls in total, during our two days. It was hot, so we weren't inclined to walk as far as we might have done had it been cloudy. There are a number of gates along the walls, and this is Micklegate Bar.
The Yorkshire Museum has some lovely gardens - ideal for sitting in on a hot day. Every afternoon there's a birds of prey demonstration. At one point the guy in charge asked for lots of volunteers to help, so I volunteered. We had to lie down in a long row (side by side) while Eva the owl flew low over us. It was an incredible feeling, we hardly felt her fly just a few inches above us, almost uncanny. It proves why owls are good hunters. Another one of those things I'm really pleased to have done. Here's Eva:
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