York-The Original (Part 1)

Growing up in the United States, we learn that places like "New York" and "New Jersey" and "New Haven" and "New Hampshire" were named such because they were named by people coming from the original towns of those names who wanted something, well, new. As a kid of course I thought that meant that somewhere there was an original "Port Beach" but that's a whole other thing.

Well Mark and I did get to visit the original York. York is famous for being the site where Constantine was crowned emperor in 306. That's the year, 306AD. Now that's history. And it's nothing like New York.

We started our trip off Friday night (June 26) and took a train up to the city. After getting a bit lost we finally found our hotel. We got up early Saturday morning and began our adventure, starting with the castle museum. The museum was very cool, and a lot bigger than we thought it would be but I'm glad we went there first because it would pale compared to museums we would see in London the next weekend. In retrospect, it might have been better to skip it and spend our time elsewhere, but since we hadn't seen bigger and better yet we really enjoyed it! How were we to know London held better (and free) museums? Some highlights from the museum included:

This quilt top was hand sewn, and up close it was amazing to see the perfectly measured pieces and identically even stitches. I have seen (and made) quilts today using fancy and expensive tools yet they lack the accuracy of this quilt. I'm not saying I'm ready to toss my rotary cutter into the rubbish bin and swear off my pfaff, but the ladies that came before us put something into their quilts that I don't have. I think it was patience.

I didn't think I would still be in my twenties when I saw a childhood toy in a museum, but there it is... an original Gameboy... I got one when I was eight. To be fair, the museum had a whole toy exhibit that went right up to 2003, but still, it was weird to see.

Tourist trap though it was, we still had fun messing around with the amusement park style picture spots. 

After the castle museum, we walked through the historic shambles, which is one of the oldest streets left in York that still maintains much of its original character. Depending on who you ask, it dates back to the 14th or 15th century. 

We ate lunch at the Concerto Cafe, at the recommendation of the Rick Steves book. We both tried food we couldn't pronounce and in the end while the food was good the atmosphere was much better. The plates and menus even had music notes on them! Very cool. 

After lunch, we headed off to the Museum Gardens and then to the York Minster, to be continued!