A Long Weekend in (Old) York

This past Friday and Monday were both Easter holidays in the UK. Aaron and I took advantage of the long weekend and took a two hour train ride up to York.

It may be less famous than it's 'New' counterpart, but York is a city with a lot of history. To give you a quick download: It was founded by the Romans in 71 AD. Constantine the Great was actually proclaimed Emperor in York during AD 306. Later, the Vikings raided and captured it. Some vikings settled there until eventually they were driven from the city by the King of England. It was a major trading hub seen as connecting Scotland to London, and also played a major influence in the Wars of the Roses which led to the Tudor Dynasty.

After arriving on a very packed train (standing room only), we visited the Jorvik Museum also known as the Viking museum. Jorvik was what the Vikings called York and is also where the name York comes from (the J sounds like a Y and the word was shortened). On display inside were viking house remnants and discovered artifacts, as well as a short "ride" that recreates what life was like for the Vikings. It shows you the town markets, houses, work life and even bathrooms. Along the way, it also recreates certain smells that are supposed to make you feel like you live in the Viking days, but the scents are actually pretty awkward and just linger with you for longer than you'd like.

That afternoon, we walked through a chocolate festival that was going on and then had a few beers. But the highlight of the evening was when we did a Ghost walking tour. The tour itself was entertaining but not informative, however the best part was that Aaron was called out the entire time for being tall. The tour guide picked on him A LOT and made him stand in certain places, sound a horn and listened to his heart. Luckily, I got to observe unnoticeably from the back : )

York is a huge college town, so at night it turns into a giant party. Think mini skirts even though it's freezing outside, giant heels on the cobblestone roads, drunk English accents slurring and even fights - we saw one guy get punched as we were walking down the street. Aaron and I felt really old...

The next day we met up for a free city walking tour. It ended up being a private tour because it was just us that showed up! Our guide was a history student at the college, so he took us around to the major sites and we learned about the history of York. We walked the Medieval city walls that surround the town and saw York castle, Shambles street (inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter) and St Mary's Abbey (or what's left of it from the dissolution of the monasteries in the UK).

After our walking tour, we visited York Minster, the second largest Gothic cathedral of Northern Europe. The stained glass is magnificent: there are two million individual pieces of stained glass in the cathedral that make up 128 windows. We toured through the various parts of the Minster and then climbed the 275 stairs up to the top of the tower to get a view over the entire city (...and yes, afterwards, we descended the 275 stairs back down).

Next we headed to York Brewery for a brewery tour. It's the only brewery inside the York city walls and produces cask ales; it was really interesting to learn how a cask ale is made and the beers were delicious! Aaron preferred the Minster Ale while I enjoyed the Guzzler and Centurion's Ghost Ale.

That night, we had a wonderful dinner at Oxo's restaurant and then headed to York's most well known pub, the King's Arms. It is right on the river and has actually flooded quite a few times - there are marks on the wall inside that show the various flood levels throughout the years.

Sunday we went to the National Railway Museum which displays 300 years of railway history. There are huge old carriages (even those from the Royal family), steam engines and even a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train).

Afterwards we headed to our favorite pub, The House of Trembling Madness. We had actually gone here Saturday but it was so packed we only grabbed a quick pint and then headed out. We went back Sunday because it was so eclectic and had such a cool atmosphere. Plus, the food looked delicious (and it definitely was). If you're ever in York, you should definitely check out this cool, quirky and cosy pub.

York was a really neat town with so much to learn about, do and see. We packed a lot in during our weekend away, but it was the perfect amount of time for a visit. After seeing this York, we've also decided that it's pretty much the exact opposite of the New York that we know!