"Jorvik" the Viking Town

York was definitely an interesting stop on our journey. One that we debated even making, but definitely glad we took the extra day to do so. In the mid 9th Century AD, York changed from Anglo-Saxon to an entirely Danish Viking town, known as "Jorvik". Although the name didn't survive, there are still ample traces of the Viking history and presence everywhere you go in York, and most notably in the street names - Ex. the suffix "gate" is based on the Viking "gata" meaning "street" and most of the York streets are called names such as Mickelgate, Skedlergate, and even Swinegate - where the pigs were kept!

We toured the Jorvik Museum there which was actually built upon a true archeological dig and still had the remains of actual Viking built stone walls erect there. We had headsets to guide us through the Museum and I accidentally hit the CHILDS version so my narrator was a 6 year old boy named "little johnny" who told me about what fabulous games the Vikings kids played during those times. Drake had to fill me in on the adult history once it was over. :) Go figure.

We had a perfect view of the York Minster from our B&B window here, which was a magnificent church, rebuilt in Gothic style over the years 1220-1482.

A gentleman with crazy hair who looked like Doc from "Back to the Future" was kind enough to literally escort our rain-soaked lost asses to the York Brewery, which was *awesome*. Their "Yorkshire Terrier Bitter" was the best beer I had in all of the UK. and of course, every ale was served cask style on tap so the flavor and guts weren't overshadowed with fizzy bubbles. Hello America - the land of borrowed ideas. What's with carbonating the flavor out of all your beers? 30 psi, seriously? If there's any borrowed idea you should run with - take a tip from the Brits on real ales.

And lastly, we strolled our way through an area of town, appropriately known as "The Shambles." Actually - it was just this one incredibly picturesque, medieval street with a narrow road, and all the buildings leaned inward, (almost like they were going in for a peck) nearly touching each other at their peaks! It was once known for the meat butchering area of York, around the year 1000.

Photo Guide: TOP - The Shambles
MIDDLE - Drakey dressed up in tradionally Viking garb at the Jorvik Museum
BOTTOM - The York Minster