YORK
I'm afraid I have to admit here that we left more out than included in our planning or what is generally recommended.
We did not go into the cathedral as we balked against the UKL 80 per person. We walked in the wrong direction and
hence did not go to the York Art gallery, neither did we visit the park and The Blue House Bookshop. I have to mention
my wife's painful ankle here which for the past years have restricted her walkabout range... So we did not admire
any medieval walls, basically just went up on Spurriergate and down on
Blake Street.
We did do a satisfying
stroll, admire historic structures - but did not explore the Viking history (Jorvik Viking Centre).
Other places about which I read later I should visit next time: the area where river Foss and Foss meet. The
area round The Shambles for the historic houses The Bootham Bar (not a bar but a gate) was mentioned as a
starting point for the medieval
wall.
St. Mary's Abbey & garden. Brew & Brownie came recommended. The Punch
Bowl on Stonegate, which is a shopping area allegedly, came recommended too.
I like how the typical British phonebooths are often converted to small libraries and for housing defibilllators.
I was moved how this young girl tok the trouble to get up out of her wheelchair to connect to this statue.
Constantine The Great
Modern bronze statue of Constantine I in York, near the spot where he was proclaimed Augustus in 306.
Constantine I (b.27Feb c. 272 – d.22May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.
He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, decriminalizing Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution in a period referred to as the Constantinian shift.
This initiated the cessation of the established ancient Roman religion.
Constantine joined his father in Gaul, at Bononia (Boulogne) before the summer of 305.
From Bononia, they crossed the English Channel to Britain and made their way to Eboracum (York), capital of the province of Britannia Secunda and home to a large military base.
Constantine was able to spend a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn.
[¬ Wikipedia]
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I always notice the schooluniforms, such a quaint British custom. These students seem of the affluent sort.
Guy Fawkes Inn. Would have liked to enjoy a beverage here but it was solid with people.
Would that 'Parental Advisory Explicit Content'
have sparked her interest..?
Excellent scones here, but I could barely understand the shopkeeper for the accent she adressed me in!
Across the shop we enjoyed this young lady busking
Minster Gate Book Shop. I had planned four bookshops here, this one was a big disappointment because I was
aprticulalry looking for photobooks but none were present. Criminally Good Books was closed, it was a monday.
This is a 360 view in a small room, I felt claustrofobic and lost my interest in browsing all these titles.
I always enjoy Ian Hislop's performance in HIGNFY and can't get
'Private Eye' in my country, so quickly picked up a copy here at a bookstand.
Perhaps not surprising but the best (and only) bookshopping
I managed to do was here at Waterstones.
I bought an excellent photobook of the fascinating Burning Man Festival, a photobook of streetphotography in
New York. Also a paperback Abroad in Japan (by Chris Broad, see my Blog_2024Q#3) for my in interest in Japan.
Castle Fine Art I had come across in Glasgow a few years ago and only here
realized it has a chain of stores!
I still can't afford to buy anything here, but one day... www.castlefineart.com
I am a fan of Billy Connolly's art: www.castlefineart.com/uk/artists/billy-connolly
#OnReading
With the cyclist and the cathedral I though this typical for Britain.
Don't forget to explore below links.
Photos © Ruud Leeuw
