OK the real reason why I went to York in middle of autumn was that I wanted to try a restaurant there. Yeah. I can hear you: how can you travel more than 2000 kilometers to try a restaurant, in England all of places? Well, about the first question it's quite easy: I read six months ago a great review about that awesome restaurant called SKOSH by Jay Rayner and decided that it was time to give it a go. And about the legend that you eat bad in England... that's simply not right. Ok the culinary tradition is not as good as in other countries but they make up for it by having a staggering array of cuisines from all around the world, meaning you can never be bored going out to eat.
And you know what? I loved every piece of my meal over there, it was just as good as Jay Rayner said it would: sophisticated, without pretentions; delicate, with a lot of taste; ingenious, without falling into the ridiculous. Here are a few snapshots of it all:
Quite happy after that, and relieved of 40 pounds... I had all afternoon left to wander through York and enjoy a quite nice air (I didn't see a drop of rain during all my stay in England!). First of all, I went to the York Museum Gardens where I was charmed to discover a show of big birds...
Then, I went to the York Museum which had - I was told - a great exhibition of Vikings stuff (this area was basically Viking for a couple of centuries) and it was indeed amazing. The main exhibition of course was the CopperGate Helmet.
Technically, it's more anglo-saxon than viking, but let's not fight other a few centuries: such a piece of equipment so perfect is really worth a good look and a few more photos... Admire the detail of the craftmanship on the nose guard!
The exhibition also showcased a lot of weapons:
And there were also hoards of silver ingots and silver jewels discovered in the area along the year:
But also, more mundane stuff like brooches, hoods, shoes and the indispensable piece of hygienic equipment for long-haired vikings: combs!
And after a last glance at the remains of the Saint Mary's abbey which still litter the gardens of the museum, it was time for me to head back to Leeds - about which I will tell you more in a next post.
To be continued