Warwick and York, England
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We again had a pre booked tour at Warwick Castle, thanks to our guide, Trish. Arriving at 8.30am we were surprised to find we
were the only toursits at the castle. The castle itself was awesome... in excellent condition and on arrival we could see the jousting tents and other
activities set up in the courtyard areas. The castle was purchased by Madame Tussaud's in 1978, and had lots of wax statues depicting many
famous people from History. Our local guide was amazing and through her we felt like we were back in time and our tour through
the castle showed how people lived in times gone by. After an amazing visit we then walked through Princess Diana's Rose garden that was dedicated to her memory.
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After a wonderful visit it was time to board our coach and head off to York, England's most complete mediaeval city. After booking into our hotel a walk
through The Shambles was first on our list. This historic street was named this as it was "The Street of Butchers" and is the best preserved street of this time in the world.
The shops were quaint, small and had ledges that held the meat for sale on them. The ground floors were quite narrow as the "Ground Tax" was calculated on the
space that the shop sat on and so therefore the first floors were much bigger. In the middle of the street was a dipped path
that allowed the blood etc from the butcher shope to run down the center of the road and keep the cobblestone path either side just for shoppers to walk on.
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From here we walked along the colourful and busy streets towards "York Minster", The Cathedral and Metropolitan Church
of Saint Peter of York. The tall spires came into view first and once we walked around the corner we could see the magnificence of this building ahead.
The Cathedral itself is one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals in the world and has a window constructed in 1338. The Rose Window, The Five Sisters Window and the
Great East Window are features and some of the oldest stained glass in the world. The word "Minster", means "Training Church for Ministers". The whole
building is shaped like a cross and has many areas of worship that have lots of links to history and religion within. The outside is complete with tall spires
and the surrounds have grassed areas for people to relax and admire this incredible Church. After a great visit we left here and passed the house where Guy Fawkes
once lived, then noticed the overhead sign, "Ye Olde Starre Inne", across the road which is the only one in existance. HOuses along here appeared to have their floors bowed, but Trish
explained that some of them were built from the wood of the hulls of old sailing ships and so were just a little curved. We then passed a statue of the cat among the pigeons on
the rooftop before returning to our hotel. York is famous for the many cat staues found on buildings and give children in particular much joy spotting them.
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