I wanna be a part of it! York, United Kingdom

11/10/09 09:30 Sitting in the stall of the York Minster. Yesterday was our first day in York. Nick and I made our way from London to the Gateway of the North with the help of a train and bus ride from MegaBus, an old friend of mine. We arrived at 1:30 to find Christina, a new friend of mine from Guam who studies archeology at the University of York. I know her from a mutual friend of ours, Ben Jacobson, a reader of this blog, and former student of York, when he studied there for a trimester last spring. I cannot believe how inexpensive this place is! a single pound for a sandwich at a shop in the shambles, there must be some scheming to get to that price! Tina took us around her 'Snickerway tour' of York, going in and out of the small alleys and tiny streets of this medieval city. It truly is a marvelous city. So far we have walked about half of the tour which we plan on finishing this afternoon. We had tea this afternoon at Little Betty's Tea Room with some scones smeared with clotted cheese and strawberry jam. For dinner, at the pub, the three of us had fish and chips with a glass of mulled cider. When ordering this from the bar, a man swiftly turned around, after hearing my order, and said, "a strong English accent if I ever heard one!" The pub was called "the Punch Bowl"and was all that you think of and more for a pub in England. Later in the evening, Tina took us to multiple pubs, bars, and clubs around town, I believe it tallied up to 6 by the end. A fun, bizarre night. Almost surreal in a way.  A guy from the states going up to York for the weekend to hang out with a gang of Archeological students in a medieval city.
Sitting presently in the Minster, I can see all the glory of this building. Families are here, old couples. Men and women who have probably sat in the same seat for many years and decades. Sadly, the East window is being refurbished for the next ten years, so a large life-size image is hung in front of the scaffolds to show what the window will look like. I am here for two services this morning, starting with Eucharist and then Matins. At the Matins, the choir is singing Stanford's Te Deum as well as Parry's "I was Glad when they said unto me."

14:45 On the bus back to London. So todays Matins was kinda amazing. It was

"Matins and North Eastern Circuit Annual Service:

Attended by Her majesty's Lord Lieutenant High Sheriffs

Her Majesty's Judges, Magistrates and

Members of the Legal Profession"

There were alot of wigs, both the small ones for the Lawyers as well as the large below the shoulder wigs for the Judges. There were many different types of robes; purple, green, blue, and red. Some of them looked very similar to St. Nicholas. Along side were old men in tights carrying swords (which I saw throughout the day on the streets of York) looking very similar to Robin Hood. The Mace as well as an Epic sword were carried in. And all of this was done with a fanfare of Police Trumpeters that had banners hanging from their horns. At the end of the service, we sang "God save the Queen" and it was truly spectacular!

I found my way across town to find Nick and Tina at Clifford Tower where we walked to Evil Eye Lounge to have a Sunday roast. And, as always, It was delicious and filling. we continued a condensed Snickerway tour toward Clifford's Tower stopping at a hardware store, that has a badass gothic entrance, as well as a fudge shop for a free sample. At the top of Clifford's Tower, the Castle of York, We saw an amazing view of the City and of the Minster. It really was a great trip and I hope to get back there if time permits sometime before I leave to the states, but the weekends are already running out!