York 2-17-07

York is a very busy place during the Viking Festival and on a Saturday in general. The first thing we tried to get into was the Jorvic, but the line was way too long. So, we went to see the York Minster. It is a huge church that is called a minster or a cathedral simply because it's so big. But on our way we stopped into an armor store and took pictures of us with swords and axes, and Riley put on a helmet. When we got to the minster, we found out that we had to pay to go in, so we decided to come back when there weren't so many people so we could enjoy it. After that we went to a little church across the street called St. Marys. Then we ate lunch. After that we walked the old Roman wall that used to contain the city. Then we walked down a street called the Shambles. The Shambles is a strange place where the buildings were built by drunk contractors, at least that's what it looks like. Before we took the bus back home we took pictures at Clifford's Tower where 150 Jews were chased by a mob in 1190. They had permission to be there for safety, but in the end the mob lit the tower on fire and the Jews committed mass suicide instead of giving themselves up to the mob or renouncing their religion. The castle that Clifford's Tower used to be a part of has since been taken down, but the tower still stands. We also took a walk by the river as the sun set, which was beautiful. Our friends Andrew and Marilyn joined us for the adventure.