"Should we push our luck?"

July 20, 2011

So, we are heading to Neil's Mum's home today. After nine days of travel, this is the final push for a while. But first, we had to get there.

We stopped at York University, where Neil went to school. Alex was interested, but Eleni was far more impressed with the wildlife.

Next, the city of York. I was looking forward to visiting York Minster which was built between 1220 and 1470. It was built on the foundations of Roman buildings, near where Constantine was proclaimed Emperor in 306.

But, visiting it properly was not to be. The mutiny was building despite the quiet moment below.

This looks in too good condition to be the authentic artwork, but perhaps it is at least based on the original. As you already know, I did not take the tour of the Cathedral. But, with Neil's help, I stole away and spent some time with this arch of stories from Genesis to Abraham and Issac that borders the western doorway.

Keep moving. We walked through the wonderfully medieval cobblestoned narrow paths of York. We ducked in the St. Michael St-Belfry Church for a few moments. Guy Fawkes was baptized there. Across the street, Neil checked out the prices of York houses at this real estate agent office next to the birthplace, execution, and quartering location of Guy Fawkes.

It's probably a cue when you tell the exciting story of Guy Fawkes to a ten and six-year-old and you are met with shrugs. "So what?" "Can't we just go see Gran's house? Why do we have to keep looking at Churches?" Good point, but...while we are here...

So, Neil and I saw a sign heading down a narrow street for the Holy Trinity Church and it looked so inviting. Neil asked, "Should we push our luck?" Ignoring all cues, we set down the path. Well worth the look. It's a 15th century church built on top of another dating back to the 12th century and mentioned in the Domesday book. Here is some original stained glass from the 15th century.

The kids were not amused. I won't go into the strategies of misbehavior and language of discontent, but it got ugly. After nine days of putting up with our schedule, Alex and Eleni finally joined forces and rebelled.

And still, the adults stubbornly pressed on. Neil tried to engage them in a teachable moment with this old gravestone.

Failure. We walked on through the city. Maybe walking on the medieval walls will do it? Maybe we could even pretend to defend the city (I'm not including the photo of Neil re-enacting that here to protect his dignity). I think you can see how well that worked anyway in their faces. Sense of humor breakdown.

So, we left York behind and headed towards the sight they wanted to see most of all: Gran's house. Eleni greets the cows here.

And, finally, all is well.