York! Where the ghosts live.
Well we didn't see any but apparently if there are ghosts this is where they hang out.
Any way, back in the day York was one of the largest northern most cities in England. For a brief moment Parliament was here, mainly when they were trying to get that William Wallace character under control in Scotland. Yup! That's right! William Wallace was real! I think he would have dug Mel Gibson playing him in "Braveheart". What happened to WW, you ask??? Well eventually he was captured and taken down to the Tower of London and killed. That seems to be a reoccurring theme in this country. But I guess you have to have some sort of theme.
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Guy Fawkes Inn |
So York... The place where Guy Fawkes was born and did some schooling. Who is Guy Fawkes? I didn't know this either. Well he is the guy that tried to blow up Parliament and the King. The best Hollywood movie to describe his situation is "V for Vendetta". It's funny how some of the good movies are all based off real history. In the movie he succeeds but in real life he didn't. And he like everyone else was killed. Today they have bonfire day where the King celebrated not being blown up.
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Roman Ruins and Coffins |
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Inside York Minster |
So back to York... York was the Northern most outpost for the Romans. There was a great Roman fort built and Constantine came and was proclaimed emperor in York. And then he began to spread Christianity from York. Pretty big deal stuff! After the Romans decided to pull out of York (because they were spread too thin and Rome was toppling) the Vikings came along. They hung out there for a while and called York, Jorvik. Then the Normans invaded and rebuilt the city. In Medieval times York was England's second city and Henry VIII used the York Minster as his Anglican Church's northern capital. In the Industrial age, York was a railway hub and today it thrives on tourism. So from 71AD to now it hasn't done too shabby as a city.
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The Shambles - that guy on the left might be a ghost |
But back to the ghosts... Is York haunted? Well we don't really know. It sure does have a lot of history and I guess there is the potential of left over people that were tragically killed (I mean this is England). But what we do know is that ghost certainly sell! And if your city is thriving from ghost stories then by all means sell away. Cause those tourists will flock to it!
All in all York is a not to be missed tourist destination if your coming to England. Lots of beautiful buildings, great history and really nice people! So go there!