Checkmate and Church Bells
Sunday became a busy, routine day for us in York. While we did have exceptions due to various experiences we planned (such as our walking holiday to Northumberland), it was nice to have some activities to rely on each week.
Sundays were our lazier start to the week where we’d let the girls sleep in. We’d aim to leave the house by 10:30 and walk part of the walls en route to York Minster, the cathedral, where the weekly eucharist service would start at 11:00.
While we typically aren’t regular church-going people back home, the York Minster is hard to pass up. Unwittingly, we made ourselves known to the congregation up front on the first-row pew each week. We have always taken the approach of exposing the girls to as many experiences as possible and supporting them when we see there is interest. In this case, Emmeline is VERY interested in Christian life, while Katia is more reluctant. The former child would generally eagerly follow along with the mass book each week while we made sure the latter child had many books with her to read and pass the time.
The Minster is not even close to St. Peter’s downtown back home in London, Ontario. When you first come into this monumental cathedral, the centuries of history just hit you from the sheer size, to the awe-inspiring artwork, and the complete atmosphere of being there. It is hard to describe in words what you need to experience in person.
The service begins and ends with the grand procession of the clergy along with the choir, the sermon is given from a centuries-old pulpit, and the organ pipes resonate through your body and the entire structure. We were even treated to a trumpeter one week who was visiting from (original) London!
After the service, the congregation had tea, coffee, and biscuits for a little bit of social time. This was a good opportunity to mix and mingle with the church community including the clergy and older folks who were curious about us having seen us regularly throughout the fall period.
Usually, if the girls were exceptionally good during service, we would have a treat after along with our lunch, and then would end up at the library for chess club. The local chess club was run by a lovely proper, English gentleman named Peter. The girls quickly took to Peter and he was kind enough to lend us a chess set and strategy book for our time in York. Chess time also meant date time for Micheka and I. It was one of the rare opportunities (we knew this would be a challenge this year) we could sit together each week for some uninterrupted “adult time” over coffee to chat about our plans and other adult conversations.
After, chess club we would sometimes head home or sometimes stay and read at the library with the girls for a while. The library was truly a place they felt completely at home in while we were in York. The library was kind enough to give us a library card and we borrowed 99 books and read well over 100 during our time there. The girls have become avid readers!
If we went home earlier, we would often make a classic English Sunday Roast of some kind – usually road beef or ham. The girls particularly enjoyed making roast beef with me (and insisted on taking turns being my kitchen helper) with all of the trimmings including Yorkshire pudding, gravy, roasted potatoes, and roasted vegetables. We learned the magic of cooking with duck fat and ended up using that for a wide variety of dishes as well.
While often our busiest day of the week in York, these memories are ones I will look back on fondly with our girls in the years to come!