Hello from Across the Pond

I decided to spent my final May Term abroad, this time doing a literary tour of England. On Monday morning, we landed in Manchester. We validated our British Rail Passes and got on a plan headed towards Newcastle and we got off in York. We walked along the River Ouse to the YHA hostel. We dropped off our luggage walked to the city center we could go to the ATMs, eat a late lunch, and go to a grocery store to get food for meals later. While walking back to the hostel, we strolled through the Museum Gardens and saw the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. We also went in to the Yorkshire Museum to see Shaekspeare's First Folio, a collection of his works. After settling in at the hostel, a group of us went on a walking ghost tour of York. The tour was by no means serious. The guide was in period costume and quite theatrical. However, it was entertaining and allowed us to learn a little bit about York. After the tour, we found a pub to get a snack.

Tuesday started with a walking literary tour of York. Our first stop was W. H. Auden's birthplace. While walking there we walked by St. Peter's School. Guy Fawkes attended the school's predecessor.  Then we went into St. Olave's Church, whose founder, Siward is mentioned in Macbeth. At the St. Mary's Abbey, discussed the plays that were performed on wagons. We went to King's Manor, which is now part of the University of York (specifically their Department of Archaeology).  We walked by the Theatre Royal. At York Minster, we touched on Bede and Caedmon, Aleuin, and Richard. Sterne. Egils wrote about Erik Bloodax last Viking king of Jorvik. We visited the location of where an inn that Lord Byron, Dickens, and the Brontë sisters visited. For lunch, I tried fish and chips with others in the group.  In the afternoon, we had a tour of Minster followed by a tour of the Jorvik Museum. The Jorvik Museum is about Viking York. The employees of the museum are even dressed in costume.

On Wednesday, we walked along the old city wall to Mickelgate Bar and learned about Richard Duke of York, Henry VII, and the War of the Roses. In the afternoon, we went to Barley Hall. The Hall is a rebuilt model of a wealthy house at the time of the Tudors. Despite the sense of both being geared more for younger children, we still had fun. We particularly ipenjoyed acting out some of the scenes of life at Barley Hall.

Thursday, we headed to the coast, to Whitby. Caedmon, of Caedmon's Hymn as shared by Bede, was from there.  Whitby also inspired some of the scenes of Bram Stoker's Dracula.  As we approached the town, one can see the ruins of Whitby Abbey on the cliff overlooking the town and the harbor.  We started at the Abbey where I gave my presentation on The Abbey, Bede, and Caedmon's Hymn, and led discussion over the poem. It was interesting to see how wind and erosion continue to weather the ruins. The presentation over Dracula began at the Abbey and then we walked down to St. Mary's Church to finish the presentation and discussion. At the Abbey, one can see the mystery, ominous feel, and Gothic architecture that inspired Stoker while he was writing Dracula. The graveyard of St. Mary's was so much larger than I imagined, sitting in the edge of the cliff. The graveyard in particular allowed me to more clearly imagine the scenes from Dracula, making to story seem so much more real. After that we walked down the 199 steps to the town and spent a little bit of time getting lunch and exploring. When we got back to York, a small group of us went to Evensong at York Minster. Evensong is a "shorter" (It lasted almost 45 minutes) church service in the evening. Hearing the organ in the Minster was absolutely amazing! 

Friday morning, we walked across town to Clifford's Tower. In 1190, Jews being pursued by a mob sought protection at the Royal Castle there. Rather than renounce their faith, they committed mass suicide by setting the tower on fire. This made me think of visiting Masada last year, where in 73 CE, the Jews being sieged by the Romans set fire to the village's building when the walls of the fortress were breached, committing mass suicide. One can guess that the Jews of York were inspired by the Jews of Masada. The tower we saw was built by Henry III. Afterwards, we were supposed to go to the Treasurer's House, but unfortunately it is closed on Fridays, so we ended up with an extra hour to our free afternoon. A small group of us went to Betty's Tea Room, one of the most famous tea rooms in England. I enjoyed several cups of their house blend tea and a couple of sultana scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream. After a couple hours of eating and conversing, we wandered the streets exploring the street markets and checking out shops.