One of the places on my bucket list to travel to during my life was England. So when I saw that there was a study abroad to England that would also count for credits toward my major I knew that I had to sign up. The entire trip was an amazing experience but some of the best moments that I experienced were in York. York has a rich history throughout all of England’s history. From the anglo-saxons to the Romans. Because of this history it had an appeal that was unique to it that no other place we traveled to had.
This picture was taken from the wall that surrounds parts of York. These walls are unique because they were built by the Romans to provide them protection from attackers. It is one of the last standing of its kind in England. We are walking along it to get to the York Minster church to receive a guided tour.
The two pictures above are from the York Minster Church. This combined with the surrounding buildings is a beautiful example in the change of architecture over time. We were given a guided tour of the church and it was absolutely beautiful. It is very old and because of that has a very different style of architecture than that of churches in the United States. On top of that the stained glass was one of a kind and all of it we saw in England was very unique.
After the tour we were done for the day and had the rest of the day to ourselves.
The next day we woke up bright and early and got ready for the day ahead, and what a day it was. We started by walking to the Jorvik Viking Centre and it was amazing. They had you get on a ride that guides you through what archaeologists have found and recreated of a viking settlement. The animatronics were all throughout the ride simulating tasks that viking people would have actually done in the past. But watch out the actions are not the only thing that the creators have simulated. They have also recreated the smell of the excavation site when it was discovered. And let me tell you that it does the job, it smells like one would guess it would… really bad. But it did provide us with a more authentic experience in throwing us into the past.
After this we got to visit Barley hall which is a reconstruction of what a medieval town house would look like. Sadly I did not take any pictures of it. After this excursion we had a few hours free until we had our final planned event for the day.
Finally after a day full of fun we had tea at Betty’s Tea Room. It was an amazing experience with especially since I love drinking tea. We had a great time with the various foods, desserts, and teas that we ordered. I especially loved the desert. I also had two pots of tea, one black blend and one mint blend.
Overall the time we spent in York was a blast and I I would definitely go back if given the chance!