Erin and I got back from York this morning, after a quick and wonderful weekend away. York is the second largest city in England, but it feels like more of a medieval village, as the walled old town is very historic and very impressive.
More importantly, York is home to York Minister, the second largest Gothic Cathedral in Europe (after Milan we believe). Its 150 meters long and 60 meters high. The first religious structure built on the same grounds began in 600 and the present foundations date to 1060, when it was build as an impressive Norman church. The Gothic cathedral began construction in 1230 and was completed in 1472. The dedication in building it is remarkable, there is such amazing attention to detail in the entire structure (it makes the National Cathedral in DC look more plain than the Science building at Saint John's). The Minster also houses 50 percent of all of the stained glass in England. We spent a good 2-3 hours in the church on Saturday and even hiked to the top of the tower. We also attended the Christmas Carol service on Sunday, that was led by the Archbishop complete with medieval staffs...very cool.
There were multiple christmas markets in the town that we walked around, and the buildings within the old town complemented the historical value of the church as well. There was an area called The Shambles in which the buildings on each side of the cobbled lane were about 15 feet apart and the shops were lopsided and each story hung over the other (the distance between the top stories on the buildings below are only 5 feet apart). This was done to shade the meat hanging in the butcheries in the 1500's. We also walked along the city walls until the icy path caused us to evacuate our efforts. 
We went to some great pubs and sipped on various hand crafted English ales that were served through the hand pump taps (i.e. no CO2 to keep the beer carbonated in the kegs, just el naturale). We also took in a play called Sinbad the Sailor, the annual "pantomine" play at the York Royal Theatre. It is the 29th consecutive year the pantomine has been put on, which is basically a comedy that is a christmas tradition in York. We had a great laugh and even did some singing with the audience.
More importantly, York is home to York Minister, the second largest Gothic Cathedral in Europe (after Milan we believe). Its 150 meters long and 60 meters high. The first religious structure built on the same grounds began in 600 and the present foundations date to 1060, when it was build as an impressive Norman church. The Gothic cathedral began construction in 1230 and was completed in 1472. The dedication in building it is remarkable, there is such amazing attention to detail in the entire structure (it makes the National Cathedral in DC look more plain than the Science building at Saint John's). The Minster also houses 50 percent of all of the stained glass in England. We spent a good 2-3 hours in the church on Saturday and even hiked to the top of the tower. We also attended the Christmas Carol service on Sunday, that was led by the Archbishop complete with medieval staffs...very cool. There were multiple christmas markets in the town that we walked around, and the buildings within the old town complemented the historical value of the church as well. There was an area called The Shambles in which the buildings on each side of the cobbled lane were about 15 feet apart and the shops were lopsided and each story hung over the other (the distance between the top stories on the buildings below are only 5 feet apart). This was done to shade the meat hanging in the butcheries in the 1500's. We also walked along the city walls until the icy path caused us to evacuate our efforts. We went to some great pubs and sipped on various hand crafted English ales that were served through the hand pump taps (i.e. no CO2 to keep the beer carbonated in the kegs, just el naturale). We also took in a play called Sinbad the Sailor, the annual "pantomine" play at the York Royal Theatre. It is the 29th consecutive year the pantomine has been put on, which is basically a comedy that is a christmas tradition in York. We had a great laugh and even did some singing with the audience.We also saw a bear come out of a narrow alley who looked very hungry. Yikes!!
Aside of getting locked out of our B&B on Saturday night (one of the guests locked part of the door that didn't allow anyone else to get in) and having to get another hotel, and the York AirCoach representative giving us the wrong times for the shuttle from York to the Airport, causing us to miss the bus, it was a terrific weekend to continue to gear us up for Christmas! Merry Christmas to everyone, we miss all of you!!!
Aside of getting locked out of our B&B on Saturday night (one of the guests locked part of the door that didn't allow anyone else to get in) and having to get another hotel, and the York AirCoach representative giving us the wrong times for the shuttle from York to the Airport, causing us to miss the bus, it was a terrific weekend to continue to gear us up for Christmas! Merry Christmas to everyone, we miss all of you!!!
We just returned from a whirlwind weekend in Riga, Latvia! Lou had been working all week in Dallas and returned Saturday just in time for us to jump on a flight to Eastern Europe. Latvia is one of the most prosperous Baltic countries post-Soviet occupation so we were incredibly excited for the opportunity to visit such a unique place. We were also looking forward to wandering around Riga's historic Christmas market, the site of the first tree used in a Christmas celebration in 1510. 
Walking through the cobblestone streets of Vecriga, the old town in Riga, you hear both Russian (40 percent of population) and Latvian spoken. Lou and I managed to learn and remember only one term, baldais, thought at least it was a critical one. Yet, Riga's culture has been influenced more broadly. Riga's skyline is dominated by the spires of medieval churches of christian, russian orthodox and lutheran descent. 
Dining at Latvian restaurants, the menu highlights the impact that the Germans, Polish and Swedish also had on the region...salmon, vodka, sauerkraut and bratwursts. My mouth waters at the thought of Latvian steak and raganas, a hot drink made with milk, rum, honey and the infamous Riga Black Balsam, that tastes similar to absynthe. We drank to many a glass to stay warm while wandering around the charming market. 
We spent hours walking the city, gazing at the labyrinth of alleys and impressive 18th and 19th century architecture. We went to the top of St. Peter's Church, which looms over the city, but were only able to see a few feet in front of us as the fog was so thick. Saturday night we roamed from local bar to local bar, dancing with the locals and having a good time trying all of the Latvian beer. Sunday was chilly so we stopped in an Orthodox church, toured another, grabbed coffee and cake at a local tea house and browsed the shops and markets. Despite the strong lat, the local currency, things were relatively cheap so we picked up a water color painting of the city, handmade Christmas ornaments and a a few other items to remember Riga. We are now determined to visit more Eastern European cities after such an amazing trip.
