"Aadil's York - The Viking City Page!!!" a York Travel Page by aadil

YORK - A most beautiful city as far as architecture, churches, museums, rivers and people are concerned!! (Not necessarily in that order!!).

I was there in York for 4 days and enjoyed every bit of it there even though it rained a little bit (at the right times!!) when I was photographing monuments and had a difficult time getting the right amount of light for taking good pictures!!

I stayed at the York Backpacker's Hostel in the city centre and it was a very friendly place with a pretty decent crowd from all over the world (well almost all over!!).

The York Minster is the most beautiful building in York or so I thought atleast!! I spent the whole day inside it, taking in the beautiful views of the architecture, the stained glass windows and other sculptures & art work including a memorial clock for the soldiers of the wars with astronomical constellations and the Sun & Moon positions accurately depicted on the moving dials. There are guided tours for free, lasting about an hour or more (if you ask more questions!!). The 275 steps to the top of the tower are just about a foot and a half wide, so take care whilst going up or down. Only one way traffic on these steps!! CCTV cameras cover you all the time, so no mischief!! You have half an hour to enjoy the view from the top of the Minster terrace. The view from inbetween at half way to the top is also picturesque since you can see a lot of detail on the building better from there!! Not for the faint hearted or those with climbing problems!! You even get a certificate stating you've gone up the 275 steps if you pay for one!! Another rip off in the name of God!!

Clifford's Tower is open only if it is not raining!! I was not lucky enough to go to the top on the days I went there!! Maybe next time around!!

The National Railway Museum is the biggest in the world and the best in England and is a must see place!! The famous record breaking Mallard steam locomotive engine and the Shinkansen "Bullet" train from Japan are both there for visitors to climb in and experience. A cut-away lifesize model of the Eurostar and it's tunnel (Chunnel!!) is also on view!! So are the royal carriages used by the kings, queens and princes in Britain!! George Stephenson's "Rocket" is also on display. There are scale modelling kits available in the shop but they are a rip off!! There are train rides for free too but only when it doesn't rain!! Unlucky again!!

The York City Art Gallery offers a lot to see and appreciate especially if you attend one of the free guided tours. There is a joint ticket (9 Pounds) for seeing the York Castle Museum, York City Art Gallery and Yorkshire Museum & Gardens for five days and you can go as many times as you like. The York Observatory in the Yorkshire museum gardens houses one of the first and oldest working telescopes (A Cooke & Sons brass refractor telescope) well preserved by the curator Martin Lunn MBE. He will take you on a guided tour if you are interested!! Also in the gardens are the ruins of the York Abbey and a lot of the artifacts are in the Yorkshire Museum and a part of the museum is also a preserved portion from the Abbey building. A lot of old manuscripts are on display in the museum and also include the famous Middleham jewel!!

The City Library has a nice internet facility for free. There are some lovely B&W prints available of York city sketches for a pound each!! Buy them from the Librarian. I bought all of them!! Very neat artwork!!

Take a walk along the city walls of York and see the splendid views over the rivers Ouse and Foss on a riverboat!!

Visit the "Shambles" - take a walk along York's famous medieval thoroughfares for a range of fascinating shops.

There's a famous pub - The King's Arms, that floods in the rains almost every year when it pours and the river floods, there's a mark for the levels reached every year!!

All in all a very good place to see and visit all over again too, if you get the chance!! Hope to be there again sometime!!!

My dream's come true!!! I was in York once again, to attend an astronomy workshop organised jointly by the British Astronomical Association and the York Astronomical Society from the 5th to the 7th of September 2003. It was a memorable event with a lot of old and new friends whom I made on my last visit here as well as to the UK as they came from all over the country!!! Lots of things to learn and refresh my memory about my hobby of Astronomy!!! So it was a good enough reason to travel here again!!!