Day 141, 22 November 2012. York - Jorvik Viking Centre, York Lucky Cats "Cat Trail", Curry night with fire at The Exhibition Hotel.
Officially had proper British weather today. Cold, raining, windy. "Keep Calm and Put Your Umbrella Up" was the order of the day. Everyone has said when you're in York you must go to the Jorvik Viking Centre (www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk) - and that includes people who actually live in York. We arrived just prior to opening time and just ahead of two massive school groups and got stuck in to this amazing archeological site. Discovered in the 1970s, it is the remains of the Viking settlement in York - "Jorvik" dating from 800 odd AD. No one knows what was going on in these parts between the departure of the Romans in 400 AD and the arrival of the Vikings. Jorvik however has provided a wealth of knowledge about building materials, clothing, tools, jewellery - even the food the Vikings ate and their general state of health (woeful). We were fascinated with the distances the Vikings travelled and saw many items that were traded in Jorvik - from as far afield as Constantinople (today Istanbul). The complex is built over the site of the excavations called Coppergate. There was even a ride through a recreation of the village - complete with (hopefully) synthetic smells of roasting meat, molten iron, farmyard smells, burning peat and general grime. Whilst very good and obviously we both now know much more about Vikings than we once did, probably not the highlight of our stay (Castle Museum? Walking Tour? maybe even the Ghost Hunt). Still worth a look, it just didn't keep us amused for hours so we decided to make a concerted effort to find all the cat statues/carvings scattered around York by following the Cat Trail (Gillygate cat pictured above). This took us to several unexplored streets and along another section of the city walls. After a fabulous lunch at Relish on Goodramgate (best jacket potatoes so far) we saw a final couple of cats and decided the weather had gotten the better of us and it was time to repair to the lodgings for a warming drink. And a wee rest before dinner. In the evening we headed down Marygate (remember Gate means Street and comes from the Norwegian language) and made our way to The Exhibition Hotel. Since Thursday is apparently the Great British Curry Night, we chose curry for dinner (for no other reason than they throw in a free drink on Thursdays). Sitting by the fire was lovely. Leaving the hotel was not. We suspect they fill most of their B&B accommodations at that pub with people who've had one too many and fallen asleep in front of the fire. Not a bad business model really. Off to London again tomorrow and as sure as night follows day, that means packing in the morning. Such is life & good night.