I still had time between the two pet sitting and the second home owner suggested York. What a great city. It has Roman and Viking roots with many intact medieval streets.
I first went to Clifford tower which was first built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century and in 1190 was the site of a Jewish massacre by mobs (many killed themselves rather than convert). Many who were not Jewish were also massacred. It was destroyed and rebuilt in the 13th century. Many people were hanged here as well and is close to the prisons.
The red stones are where there was a fire and changed color after being scorched.
This was the kings latrine.
I also walked the city walls twice, once with a new friend that I met in Hexham and agreed to meet again here. The city walls were erected on top of part of the Roman walls. In the 1800’s it was almost torn down but public pressure changed that. It still is a popular place to walk.
i also looked at doing some different things from what I have been doing as I traveled. I learned there was a Cold War Bunker nearby that was used between 1961 and 1991. It’s purpose was to monito any explosions using information gathered to determine radioactivity levels, etc. There were 20 stations around England that relayed information between the others. It was pretty cool. When they left in 1991, it w as sealed as is.
I also went on a ghost walk tour. There were some incredible stories of ghosts and poltergeists including one of a 7 year old who was the sole survivor of the plague in her house. They thought she was a witch and locked her in to die. It is said she can be seen in this window.
I also walked through the Shambles, the area that is still authentically medieval.
I also visited the Castle museum which was more about life in medieval time including a full Victorian street created from actual artifacts. You could walk down the street and take alleys to see inside some of the buildings. They even had sounds as if you were actually there, leaving you feel a little uncomfortable in the poorest back alleys.
Many of the artifacts came from a local physician who acquired them when residents could not pay for services.
The visit through the prisons was crazy learning about how they were cared for and finding out through walking along what happened to 5 prisoners. Images and sounds made it interactive.
There was a section on World War I which was incredible and was followed by a walk through the 60’s.
The last place I toured was the train museum. The trains were impressive and showed all the changes from the 1800’s to today including the Japanese bullet train.
They even had a train that was cut in half to see all the parts down the length of the train!
There are many other incredible things to see in York!