Of Vikings and Tea Parlours

And once again it's that time of the year when I have a strange surge of enthusiasm to post something on my blog......However being as lethargic as I am (oh no! there's no beating me at that!) I'm not writing anything new. Instead, it's gonna be a letter I wrote my friend describing my trip to York (not New York, people! this York's pretty old I must say) for the Jorvik Viking Festival...this also helps me maintain my sentiments as an anti-blogger! SO here goes....

Watch out for terms in the divine language of Tanglish and the even more mystical tongue of Regency cant...

Hey!

I know this is coming a tad late..nevertheless...here goes...

Philippa, Julia and I decided to go for the viking festival at York last Saturday...it marked my post-essay submission celebrations...Philippa dropped out last minute coz she wasnt feeling too well...not a great beginning to a day huh?! Was it an indication of impending doom?! But it wasnt to be! Julia and I got the train at 20 past 10 and reached York in abt an hour. The railway station was this ancient building oozing old world charm...

Delving a bit into the history of York...it's on the Scottish border and it was inhabited by these Vikings who're basically Scandinavian...hence the perpetual strife between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons....its strategic position on the Scottish border didnt just mean it had a significant role in history but also that the place is friggin COLD!!! The temperature that day was about 1 (celcius) and felt like about -1 taking wind chill factor into account. (Now I realised why the Scottish spoke with such a heavy accent...their jaws must be frozen!!!) The whole city is walled and u can walk on the wall all the way around town and kinda get a bird's eye view of the whole thing...very pretty.

Contrary to the usual perception that the Vikings were these meanies who went about pillaging and plundering...they apparently started off as a peaceful group of farmers....but this image of theirs is no fun....The Jorvik Viking festival is organised by the Medieval Re-enactment Society. They had this area where there was an exhibtion of sorts of Viking lifestyle...what they wore, what they ate, the kinda music they played (was a flat flute and a lyre kinda thing and I dunno if the vikings played them so well)...got to make viking coins...helped weave a few strands of a robe etc.

Then the Vikings and Saxons started off on a march from the Museum gardens, on the banks of the river Ouse to the Eye of York which is outside the Castle Museum..a huge arena...this castle museum was the castle of the Duke of York...the notorious Prince Regent...known as Prinny.. as u would know from Georgette Heyer...the chap who had Beau Brummel banished! There was this sea of humanity there...most people were smart enough to go there straight and not follow the procession...here we were atleast 2 heads shorter than most of the gigantic 'mamas' standing in front of us! Couldnt see too much but what we did see was impressive....Then we decided not to stand here too long and waste time and started walking around and exploring York...thank god Julia knew the way about, had a map and had a better sense of topography than i can ever lay claim to!! Oh my my! it really felt like walking back a few hundred years...it was beeeeeeautiful! There's this street called The Shambles which dates back to the 1500s and it's been retained just that way...cobblestones...alleyways...andha kaalathu candystores and above all...VICTORIAN TEA ROOMS!!! these were cute beyond belief...served good old tea and scones for a good price! i was the ony weirdo who had coffee in a tea room and Julia disowned me for that..but hey! the sinus was complaining and i needed a generous dose of caffeine in my bloodstream and it was the best BEST coffee ive ever had in the United Kingdom!! There was this kutti photoshop where u could have photos taken in period costumes and they\'d deveop it for u in sepia or black and white and/or give it an ancient finish! but then came the blow and it came real hard! the god damned thing was exhorbitant...and i left the store with a heavy heart...

We then went to the York Minster...didnt go in coz it was 5 and all kukgramams in the UK go to sleep at 5...as in the shops and office buildings and essential things like that...but the pubs? oh they're open all the damn time! The york mister was this abs stunning building...later in the evening there was to be a viking coronation and wedding here..but we couldnt stay that long coz we'd the miss the last train to sheffield...we then walked back to the museum gardens...practically every building has some historical significance and there are these kutti boards outside talking about them..Between Julia (a historian and archaeologist) and these kutti boards i had a constant flurry of interesting info thrown at me all day!) In the Museum gardens we caught hold of a viking and clicked a snap with him...was pretty late and cold by now...walked back to the station now and caught the next train that would take me on a time travel and come crashing back to 2006!


Good god! thats a long email...There's a lot more, but I can't quite write it all...so google talk ki jai!!!!

Love etc.