York was the city I was least excited about prior to this trip. However, it happened to be one of my favorites (despite the fact that a bird pooped on my head while being there.) York was absolutely beautiful and unlike any city, I have been to before. There were people singing in the streets, everyone was walking their dog, and overall the city radiated positive energy that was unmatched.

On the first day of York invited us to tour York Minster, which had the most beautiful stained glass windows, each of which told a story of its own. There was a lot of scaffolding being done on the cathedral, but it did not take away from its beauty. Although we saw a lot of cathedrals throughout our trip, York Minster is the one I remember the most.

On the second day in York, we went to the Jorvik Viking exhibit, which was definitely an experience to remember. To learn about the Vikings and their way of life is one thing, but to move around and see (and unfortunately smell) models of what life was actually like provided an entirely new perception for me. The experience of seeing the history behind the Vikings brought to light new ideas and also helped me reflect on my prior knowledge.

After our time at the Jorvik Viking exhibit, we headed over to Barley Hall, a reconstructed medieval townhouse. This, like the Viking exhibit, created the same type of scene where we got to see the history rather than read about it, inviting a new type of learning. I am starting to realize this as a theme for the entire trip: how one’s understanding of history and literary events change when you are standing in the setting yourself.  Barley Hall was such a hidden gem, as we got to embrace ourselves in a small portion of the culture from this time period in our history. My favorite part of Barley Hall was dressing up in clothes inspired by the medieval period. I am always in for a game of dress-up, especially when it includes a long and flowy dress.      

Later that same evening we went to Betty’s Tea Room, where I again got to dress up. There, we were able to choose from a selection of English evening teas and were served a selection of scones, mini sandwiches, and desserts. Although some of my classmates may disagree with me, I found everything to be absolutely delicious. I love trying different foods from other countries, and going to a tea room felt like I was living my princess dream. This was probably my favorite meal we did as an entire group throughout the whole trip.

 

Overall, York was definitely a city I will always remember. After our excellent academic tours, we were given time to ourselves to explore and enjoy this wonderful city. As this part of the trip was in the very beginning, this is where my friendships blossomed, and because of that, I will always hold a special place in my heart for York.

When I had first read about this study abroad trip, my first thought was, “Why can’t we just spend every day in London?” I am so glad we didn’t. York was the city that we were in on the 2nd and 3rd day, allowing the other students that were on this trip and I to become better friends. York was nothing I had expected, but became everything I wished for. As someone who has grown up spending days in New York City and living in a town that is anything but small, visiting the city of York was the perfect speed. Although it is called a city, York felt like a small town that I could spend the rest of my life in and be content.

One of the first things that we had done in York was visit the York Minster and never in my life have I felt so taken aback by the architecture of a building. When standing at the entrance and looking to the back wall, stained glass and perfectly sculptured stone is all that you can focus on. I found myself entranced by the stained glass windows, and didn’t think that I would ever be able to walk away from the sight. The outside of the building made me feel like I was standing outside of a priceless castle. I have never found myself to be a person that is captivated by cathedrals, but this one allowed my eyes to open to the fact that a building can be as breathtaking as anything else. The York Minster was nothing less than grand.

We got to experience something that you can only get the full effect of when you are in England, which was having high tea at Betty’s Tea Room. This meal was one that we all got to share together and allowed us to pretend we were posh for an evening. The choices of tea were lovely, and the tea that I had could make a tea-hater like myself turn to the dark side. No really, I drink it everyday now and my Mom is starting to question what happened over there. We enjoyed delicious sandwiches that would laugh at my peanut butter & jelly ones, and scones that made Caroline ask if they had more (They did an we somehow got an entire plate of them). The desserts were very interesting but delicious in their own ways. I had never thought I would be trying a macaroon for the first time at a high tea.

Besides for the things that we did as a class, we were so busy finding things to do in York, the only time we were in our hotel rooms were to sleep and bathe. While walking the streets of York, we found one big open area that had a girl singing on the sidewalk for hours. I did stop when I heard her singing “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey and noticed that she created a sort of crowd at times. Other than her singing, there was even a DJ on the side of the road and other people playing different instruments. As a Harry Potter nerd, being in York made me feel like I was walking the streets of Hogsmeade and even Diagon Alley at some points, giving this city extra points in my book.

York was absolutely one of my favorite parts of this trip. I did not expect myself to be comparing every city I visited after this to York, but I did. York brought such a comforting feeling and had such charm that I did not think that a city could have. Hats off to the original version of New York. While it is a city and not actually a small town, old York is a place that will blow your expectations out of the water if you find yourself partial to the vibe that small towns give off.

– Shannan Raynor <3

When a naive American is asked to picture what they believe England looks like I can bet you that nine out of ten times they will picture the little side streets and shops that make up York. I’m a major romance novel nerd and these authors love to have England as their setting; when I was allowed to venture into the actual city it felt as though I was the main character in one of these books. The universe brought us to York at probably the best time: race weekend. While our little group walked around in our jeans and tried to stay as silent as possible to hear our guide, hundreds of natives walked the streets in cocktail dresses with feathery headbands. I felt out of place but in the best way possible; I could not stop smiling at the excitement that surrounded me. 

Now to get into the actual reason we went on this trip and were walking around the city of York: academics. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of churches and all of that religion stuff but the York Minster was the definition of beautiful. When walking into the building I immediately felt as if I was intruding. Being under five foot I understand that I am small, but this building made me feel small on another level. I am happy that I expressed this feeling to our wonderful professor, Dr. Gathagan, because she was able to explain to me that this was the intention of the creators of the York Minster. When looking up to the gigantic stained glass church goers are supposed to feel miniscule but in the way that these holy figures will always be above and what one wants to reach. 

Moving into our second day in York, this day of learning about the Vikings and Barley Hall was far more interactive. As someone who thrives in learning environments when they can get active and move around during the learning process, this day was so much fun for me. My high school is the Valley Central Vikings, so it is obvious that I have learned about the Vikings quite a bit in my day, but I have never been more interested than while in York. Being able to take a silly little ride that really emersed me in the living situations of the Vikings made me understand what was being taught to me. Also, having someone like Dr. Huntington who is so passionate and goofy with her students made my peers and I actually want to stand at the front of the group to hear what she is saying. 

I also have to give many thanks to York because it seems to be the place where our study abroad group really created a strong bond. Having the opportunity to sit in The Punch Bowl around a table and just talk and hear about each other’s lives really brought us all together. For the rest of the trip we wanted to stick together and planned events for the entire group to embark on. I am so incredibly thankful for this trip for bringing me some amazing friends and making my friendship with already established friends even stronger. Also if you go on this trip I highly recommend going to The Punch Bowl with your classmates and who knows, maybe you’ll meet some interesting characters like we did.

Over the course of my 10-day experience in England, each place we explored gave me a new take on the world we live in. It was crazy to take in that I was across an ocean from the only place I’ve ever known, and that there is so much of this world to take in. I look back on this trip and the pictures I took and I think, did I really do that? Yes, I did do that, and I am a new person because of it! So much history taken in, in just 10 days. One of my favorite experiences to look back on from the trip was the two days we spent in the magical city of York. When I think about York I literally feel at home, it was so beautiful and some of the best memories of our trip came from there. From walking the ancient walls, to drinking tea at Betty’s, to walking down Shambles, and to the downright awful realistic smell of the Viking Center, it was all around memorable. We also got to meet and learn from Dr. Joanna Huntington who was a blast to listen to and take in her knowledge from her home. I do not think I could pick a favorite thing we did in York, I just loved being there. York also made me realize how much I enjoyed taking in and touring the gothic cathedrals we saw in every city. The York Minster was breath taking and I realized how much we learn from those ancient buildings. I would post pictures of everything we did in York, and a lot of my friends and family made a point of saying York is now on their bucket list to visit and that’s when I knew how special it really was. The rich history, and the beauty of England was memorizing and this trip gave me a whole new take on experiential learning. As a future teacher, I can look back on this trip as a whole to remind myself how much more special learning can be by physically seeing the things we talk about and how much more you can learn that way. I know not everyone is as fortunate as I was to be able to take on this journey and learn in a whole new way, but I definitely will be encouraging my friends, family, and even future students that there is a big world out there that we need to explore.

-Lauren Peters

https://wpclassroom.cortland.edu/medieval-england/337-2/

Maybe I was still jetlagged when we arrived in York (it was only our second day in England, after all), but our arrival in the beautiful walled city left me speechless and dumbstruck. Despite the point of the trip being to think critically and engage in history I couldn’t help but get swept away by the breathtaking medieval architecture, the city’s general charm, and the beauty of Rivers Ouse and Foss. The Jórvik Viking Centre was on our docket for the evening, which was a fascinating look at everyday life during the city’s viking days. The idea of vikings followed me around for the rest of the night, while we surveyed the city’s night life and even wound up at a viking-themed pub.

Luckily, the next day the fabulous Dr. Joanna Huntington picked my jaw up off the ground long enough for me to be productive. Before she toured us around the rainy cobblestone streets in a jet black evening gown and heels, we went to York Minster, possibly the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever seen. Here she gave an enthralling speech on the nature of history and how we shouldn’t think about it solely in terms of its results. History is not a beautiful medieval cathedral that’s all planned out and meticulously executed, and people in history are “walking into the future looking backwards,” the same as we are. That thinking stuck with me for the rest of the trip, since it was always very easy to slide into an ahistorical mentality about the sites we saw.

The last thing we did in York was get lunch before shoving off to London, me and two others choosing to eat in an old medieval tower that is now a sandwich shop overlooking the River Ouse. That restaurant isn’t any less historically valuable or beautiful than the medieval walls or streets just because it has sandwiches in it instead of knights. London of course was next-level in terms of urban beauty and historical engagement, but the most profound moment was definitely a rainy day in York all thanks to the most fabulous woman in England.

 

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-Daniel Menendez