To bell and back near the Minster
DRAMATIC, beautiful, proud, majestic…
It is all too easy to enthuse over the ancient elegance that is York Minster. But this hallowed building holds a noisy secret – bells.
They're not that secretive, of course, you expect it to have them. But catching this glorious building bathed in halogen at night as you shift between one of York's well preserved pubs to one of its fine eateries you forget the Minster bursts into life on Sunday morning with anything but restraint.
Then there are worse things to wake up to. And certainly worse places to wake up in than the small, but perfectly built Dean Court Hotel.
Not least because this tastefully designed four-star hotel, part of the Best Western group, offers the closest beds to one of the north's best-loved landmarks.
From the four-poster bed, voile curtains billowing with a spring breeze, the bells filter through slumber to remind you are in a very special city; one where history matches style, and reverence balances wealth. And a place with surely more tourists per square mile than anywhere outside of London.
From the stylish dining room of the Dean Court you can see the early risers among them heading to catch a morning service. Feeling a little guilty you can always head in later as worshipper or visitor, but why hurry when home is only around an hour away. That's perhaps one reason many of us take York for granted; knowing it is so close we don't visit enough.
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When you’re not taking in the cobbled Englishness of the Shambles or the smart shops of Swinegate there are ample restaurants, independent and chain, to nourish tired souls.
If you need a reality check as to how life was way before the ring road or La Tasca then the Jorvik Viking Centre remains a must; even better with kids in tow who will revel in the smells, sounds and skulls of ancient York.
Funnily enough, boffins at the famous interactive attraction in Coppergate Square have just revealed one reason Vikings came to England was aspiring better food because poor Scandinavian weather meant failing agriculture.
With diet and obesity hot topics in today’s society, archaeologists examining faeces say the five-a-day fad was around in some form 1000 years ago - your average Viking tucked into vegetables including leeks, cabbage and beans in their natural state.
You and the family can discover more about your ancestry via the centre’s current Are you a Viking? exhibition, which brings together bio-scientific technology and artefactual evidence, and DIG, a nearby real archaeological site where you can search for artefacts.
These days many of York’s ancient streets are modest on width but a feast for the eyes and wallet with the city boasting intimate shops selling antiquities, art and souvenirs with that Minster featuring in sight or sound pretty much wherever you are.
It doesn’t cost anything to simply walk around and on a good day the streets are a pleasure to take in between meal or drink stops, though there is a charge to enter the Minister.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
