old, older, and oldest...York, you get the prize!
Arrived in York around the same time as a group of bus tourists. That was interesting as they all seem (groups of bus tourists, that is) to do a fantastic job of filling up the sidewalk and walking slowly whilst also milling about vaguely. I, on the other hand was trying to find the info center and shortly thereafter the youth hostel so as to drop off Superduffle and then enjoy the town. Thus, I was fighting significant feelings of impatience regarding the bus tourists. Haha. At any rate, I did manage to get to the youth hostel in a fairly timely manner (it was a small trek, really.), leave Superduffle, and carry on with my visit. My first stop was a sandwich shop for a really nice (and two-meal sized) club sandwich. After this nice little lunch, I proceeded to the York Minster. This is an incredible bit of architecture. The largest minster in England, it dominates the town. Inside, one can wander for hours enjoying the incredible craftsmanship and detailed beauty. Even better (you get two awesomes for the price of one, there), underneathe the Minster is a history of the site with bits of the original Roman basillica visible.I found it all to be quite well done and very interesting. Then, I meandered down to Clifford's Tower, but wasn't really interested in paying the fee to see the interior. I did take a picture of it, though. I had a lovely stroll down the river and then found my way to Jorvik. Now, Jorvik was the Viking settlement in York after the Romans. In fact, though I don't remember reading it anywhere, etymologically, I'm fairly certain that York derives its name from Jorvik, rather than the Roman name which was Eboracum. It was slightly pricey to get in (£8,95...and this after I paid about that much to get inti the Minster...not as much as I would eventually pay to get into Edinburgh Castle, though.), but it was a really neat experience. The trip begins with a small waiting room that's plexiglass floor is suspended over a mock archaelogical dig. It can be a little disconcerting to walk on it, but it's really well thought out. The walls contain short videos and digital "posters" that explain the history of the dig as well as the history and setting of the site that has been extrapolated from the artifacts unearthed. Now came the part that I wasn't expecting at all (yes, I did read up on Jorvik before going, but nothing really mentioned this part): a ride in moving carriage deallies through a model portion of the village. It was quite well executed with background sounds, narration the interacted with several of the animatronic Vikings, and well designed models that captured well the sights, sounds, and even smells of a Viking town. After the ride potion ended, there were sever areas to walk through filled with not only artifacts from the dig, but also contextual settings for them and sometimes explainations of the archeologists' work. I was really drawn in to the history involved added to the history I had gleaned at the Minster. York is reall a fascinating place. I almost went on a ghost tour, but decided I had probably spent enough money in one town already. Haha. York was more tourist-filled than any town I'd yet been to, even more than either Kendal or Nottingham, but it was quite lovely, nevertheless, and I could see spending several days there, especially considering the thing in the surrounding areas of Yorkshire that I was unable to see.