After 6 months of no outings or nights away from home due to the pandemic, it was strange to venture out and travel to another city. However some items needed to be delivered to my elder daughter who had just moved from one singing job to another, now that choral singing is permitted again (under strict health and safety conditions), so I braved the motorway and took a pair of Kruselings for the journey.
It was a cool, grey Sunday morning in late September when Chloe and Max found York Minster and the heart of the city.
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York Minster and the heart shape in the West window
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Max and Chloe found York Minster on the map
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The real York Minster towered above them as they stood on the bronze map
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On the south side of York Minster, the Christian Roman emperor Constantine the Great (274-337) languished on his seat of power, the sign nearby explained that he had been proclaimed Roman Emperor nearby, in 306.
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Max and Chloe stood at the base of the ancient Roman column which was found inside the south transept of the Minster in 1969 during excavations.
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Max and Chloe were impressed by the ancient Roman column
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The Roman column towered above Max and Chloe
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Inside York Minster the rows of chairs for the congregation had all been spaced well apart and faced the temporary altar at the West end, so the congregation would sit with their backs to the choir.
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The York Minster choristers, songmen (lay clerks) and choral scholars have to sing in a much larger space than they normally take up, 2 metres apart, with their own music stands and currently without the pipe organ which is undergoing restoration. However at least they are allowed to sing again after 6 months of no choral singing in churches and they made a wonderful sound.
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Max and Chloe were impressed with a beautiful illuminated map of York Minster in an ornate carved frame.
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| The illuminated map of York Minster with Max and Chloe |
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| The York city wall provided some wonderful views of the city and York Minster |
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Max and Chloe admired the view of York Minster from the city wall.
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At Monk Bar (a large gate in the wall) was a model shop with some wonderful displays
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The Tour of Porkshire (Yorkshire) featured pigs riding motorcycles!
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York has Christmas all year round because it has a branch of the famous Kathe Wohlfahrt shop, housed in an ancient Tudor building (1434)
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The window display of the Christmas shop was stunning
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Some of the wooden Christmas decorations were truly astonishing
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They could not resist visiting The Shambles, a very old Tudor street in York
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Chloe and Max discovered a miniature Mongolian Ger (Yurt) in the room where they were staying overnight. It was a bit too small for them to creep inside.
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The miniature Mongolian Ger even had the samovar for making tea to welcome guests
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The two Kruselings enjoyed their visit to York and its famous Cathedral to hear live choral singing once more.
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