a peak at the Minster

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day at home and we decided to trek into York to have dinner. On the way, we stopped in at the Minster to declare ourselves residents so we can get free access inside.

The Minster is a big gothic church that is (I don't know how many times I've heard it and I don't get out much) "the crowning glory of York." It's claim to fame is that it's the "largest Gothic church north of the Alps." It is fully intact and has services. According to Rick Steves, it survived Henry the VIII because it wasn't attached to a monastery. You can see some of the same features of the surrounding abbeys which are now in ruins.

We made a quick stop in and took a tour of the crypt. I personally think it's a far more interesting crypt than St. Peter's in Rome, but it also has more history. There have been a lot of people traipsing around in York over the years and you can see most of them in the crypt. There were the natives of course, but nobody seems to know anything about them so they're not represented. The Romans founded their provincial capital, Eboracum, here in 71AD. You can see some of the walls and columns from the Roman basilica (army headquarters) in the crypt since the church was built on top. There are even old Roman drains down there with water still flowing. When the Romans moved out in the 5th century, the Anglo Saxons moved in, named it Eoforwic, and made it their capital. I'm a little fuzzy if they're in the crypt. Then came the Vikings who named the city Jorvik. Some of their graves are in the church basement. There's a fancy horn in the crypt/treasury that was given to the religious folk of the time to represent a land deal. Norman's invaded and built a church on the old Roman site. You can see some of the columns and foundations from this church in the crypt as well as some of the graves from its parishioners. The Minster is based on the same plan, but bigger and better--you know how it goes. So then you have the medieval period which is when I think they started the current church, Norman 2.0 They started building in 1220 and finished 252 years later. Now they're in a constant state of conservation and are replicating parts that have deteriorated. I heard someone say that soon there won't be any original parts left because they will have all been replaced. That's definitely evident on some parts of the building.

Ok, so that's the quick synopsis of the history of the Minster. For us tourists, all that really matters is that you can see the inside, go down into the crypt, and climb the central tower. I'll post pictures after we've made it up the tower.

So, dinner. We had a fine meal in a weird place recommended by Rick Steves. It looks very traditional English, has black and white photos of lots of American (and other) famous people on the walls, and sports Tex Mex food. Well, we both ended up with hamburgers. It was the first "American" hamburger I've had here. I know, sounds stupid. Like there was such a thing. Most of the hamburgers I've had over here have stuff in them. Some kind of onion something mixture that gives them a different texture. Good, but different.

The most important thing of the day was that we discovered the British answer to tiramisu (Italian heaven on a plate). It is Sticky Toffee Pudding. Mmmm. It's like a warm slice of bread pudding with caramel sauce and ice cream. There's got to be something else to it because that description doesn't do it justice. Heavenly.