York, Richard III's favorite "fair citie"

I've wanted to visit York ever since I became interested in (well, some might say obsessed with) Richard III, the last Yorkist and Plantagenet king. I've always believed Richard has been treated unfairly by the Tudors and by history. But as they say, "Truth is the daughter of time..." Now more historians have gone "Ricardian" and are revising their opinions of him. But...

York has always been on the right side! After Richard's death at the Battle of Bosworth, when it was extremely dangerous to speak out in Richard's favor, the people of York had this to say: "This day was our good King Richard piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this city."

So I couldn't wait to see the city that, to this day, defends Richard's good name. And I wasn't disappointed! So much of York's medieval past has been preserved, I felt as if I had stepped back into the fifteenth century. Best of all was walking the old city walls (built by the Romans, then expanded by the Danes and English during the Middle Ages). York has the best preserved city walls in all England, as well as several cool gatehouses. Strangely, in York streets are called "gates" and gates are called "bars." Go figure. So, to translate: Micklegate Bar is the Mickle Street gatehouse.


But, first things first. After rolling out on the bus obscenely early, Diep, Lana, and I arrived at York and managed not to get lost once! First we saw York Minster, one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe. It reminded us quite a bit of Notre Dame!



Then we headed over to Monk Bar so that I could see the Richard III Museum. It's in Monk Bar, appropriately enough, because Richard donated money to have extra rooms built there. The museum itself was cute, more entertaining than serious. It presented a "trial" and gave visitors the chance to decide if Richard was guilty or innocent of the murder of his nephews, the Princes in the Tower. I signed the guestbook--not guilty, of course--and was amused to read the comments (one person wrote to never trust the Tudors, and I heartily agree). The museum also contained a portcullis and two small cells where Catholics were imprisoned during Tudor rule.



This picture shows Richard's standard (the white boar) and motto ("Loyalty binds me").


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Next we saw Clifford's Tower, situated atop a steep hill, and got to climb to the top to see great views of the city! The Tower was once connected to a larger York Castle. Crossing the River Ouse, we then walked the city walls until reaching Micklegate Bar, infamously known as "Traitor's Gate" because severed heads used to be displayed there on spikes as warnings to other would-be rebels.



Finally, we finished the day with dinner and tea in one of York's many lovely tea rooms--perfect! I had Yorkshire pudding (what better place for it?) and apple cinnamon tea.

I love the North of England! I love the accents, the friendly people, everything!