York

We decided to take a day trip to York yesterday. It is about an hour south of Durham by train. We arrived close to lunch and didn't have anything specific planned. We headed to York Minster and heard the bells ringing at noon and sat in the park to have our packed lunch. Then we headed through the streets where all the shops are located. We glimpsed a few street performers and there were a ton of people dressed up as Vikings and Saxons. Turns out we showed up the weekend of the Jorvik Viking Festival. We thought about going to the Jorvik Viking Centre, but the line was incredibly long so we wandered about looking at a few of the displays. We watched a woman weaving a long rope, and as we were standing there Elam noticed a Viking helmet behind her. She kindly obliged the boys.

Then we went to Clifford's Tower, a part of a castle that was built by William the Conqueror and has a long tale of interesting stories behind it. We climbed to the top of the tower to walk around the wall. I tried to work against my fear of heights, but it overcame me and I had to go back down while Ben and the boys viewed the city. Once we left the tower we noticed a crown of people gathering...they were waiting for the battle reenactment of the Saxons vs. Vikings. We stayed for that...not that impressive but I think the boys were just happy to see the costumes and weapons!

After walking back along the river, we headed for the National Railway Museum -- free admission! We walked through the Great Hall there, checking out all sorts of trains. There were several hands-on displays for the boys so they enjoyed that, too.

All in all, it was a good family day.