My Refreshing Weekend in Yorkshire

(View of York Minster from Roman walls)

A weekend in Yorkshire was exactly what I needed to cure my seasonal depression, which had been brought on by the bleak Scottish summer. As soon as my train left Edinburgh and headed South, the sky started to clear and the sun emerged. It was 70 degrees when I arrived in York, and although I was only a few hours from home, it felt like I was having a proper European vacation. 

I was fortunate to have my friend Megan to act as my tour guide, starting with a hearty lunch at the famous York Roast Co. This establishment serves a traditional roast dinner wrapped up inside a thin yorkshire pudding. It’s a taste of home-cooked British culture in a convenient takeaway meal. It was delicious, although dangerous on a hot day. We had to pick up some cold lemonade to combat the meat sweats.  

My tour of York brought me to the impressive York Minster Cathedral. Its gothic spires loom large against the blue sky, no matter where you are in the city. Near the entrance of the cathedral is a cute little used bookstore with several floors of rare and unique books. I couldn’t help picking up a copy of Sartre’s Nausea for a couple pounds. (I’m reading it now, so forgive me if this post takes an existential turn). 

The bookstore marks the outer edge of ‘the shambles,’ a cramped shopping area of narrow cobblestone streets. Remnants of the medieval storefronts still remain, making you feel as though you’ve suddenly woken up in the 14th century, or in Diagon Alley from Harry Potter, which the shambles are said to have inspired.

One of my favorite discoveries we made in the city center was the Castle Fine Art Gallery. This quirky contemporary art gallery contains a collection of paintings by Bob Dylan, and a series entitled “Tarot” by Johnny Depp. Happening upon a taste of Americauna in the middle of England was an unexpected moment of nostalgia.

Next, we headed to the Jorvik Viking Museum to learn more about the local history. However, we got a little more than we bargained for with the immersive experience that this museum offers. The museum’s ride takes you through a reconstructed viking village that once existed where York is today. We found the lifelike animatronics and reconstructions of historical sounds and scents to be extremely eerie and unsettling. By the end, we concluded that perhaps the past should stay in the past where it belongs. 

We finished our day in York with beer, sitting on the grass along the river and enjoying the warm evening weather.

On our second day, we went on an excursion to Fountains Abbey. These are massive monastery ruins, situated in a lush stretch of emerald woods and golden fields that look like something out of Arthurian legend. You can feel how ancient the land is, in terms of human history. 

We felt like we were immersed in a fairy tale when we encountered a train of figures in red cloaks marching through the abbey ruins. To find out what was happening, we interrogated an interpreter. They were not the ghosts of the monks who used to inhabit this place. They were a group of climate activists known as the Extinction Rebellion, and they were protesting The National Trust for banking with Barclay’s, a major funder of fossil fuel companies. 

The abbey ruins took on a new significance, as I reflected on the nature of time and history. It seemed a fitting place for climate protest, as the remains of a great human establishment which has now crumbled and fallen to rubble. Nature reclaims her territory here, moss conceals the stone masonry. 

But that was enough existentialising for one day. I was on vacation, after all; and we had some very yummy ice cream cones from the cafe. 

On my last day in Yorkshire, Megan had to work and I was left to my own devices. A lonesome traveler once more, with my backpack to haul around with me. I visited the York Art Gallery, which exhibited one of Manet’s water lily paintings.

When I left the gallery and crossed the street, I found that I could climb some stairs to walk along the top of the Roman city walls. The wall is mostly intact, and you can circumnavigate the city centre by walking along the top.

 I spent most of the day enjoying the sun and the peaceful, small-town atmosphere. As the sun began to set, a train carried me back to Edinburgh, with a much improved state of mind. 

(The Extinction Rebellion)