Beautiful Things in York

So I had been wanting to visit York for ages - to be inspired by Viking and Medieval things...
It is a beautiful city, full of history, and luckily for me - very quiet in March.
I was sure there would be a museum full of Viking artifacts - but instead I found the Jorvik Centre.
Don't get me wrong - it's a good fun place to visit, and I did the ride twice - however not nearly as many artifacts as I had imagined!

Here are the few pieces of metalwork I found there:

Viking metalwork - Jorvik Centre

Viking metalwork - Jorvik Centre

Viking metalwork - Jorvik Centre

Here are some jewellery pieces (Anglo Saxon and Roman) from the Yorkshire Museum:

Anglo Saxon gold pendant

Roman Brooches

Anglo Saxon gold pendant

Rooster brooch

The best thing about York though is the Minster - I was there every day - a guided tour the first day, back on the second to take proper pictures, and on the third - to climb the 275 very steep spiral steps up onto the roof... It nearly killed me but was worth it.

The stained glass is incredible, and one of the windows is currently in the process of being restored. There is an exhibition inside the Minster showing some of the panels before and after restoration. I spent quite a lot of time there too...

Here is a medieval face that is part of that large window, after restoration:

Other highlights for me were three great automata donation boxes made by Fourteen Balls Toy Company. They work on 50p pieces, all donations go to the stonework and glass restoration. 

It's dark in there so the pictures are not great, but you get the idea... I did try and take videos but was not very successful - the company Facebook page has some good ones though.

This one has a monkey that works the bellows, and the stained glass worker and the stained glass figure move.

In this one - the gargoyles start to pull faces at the cleaner (who is sweeping the floor), but stop when the masons look back at them

In this one the worker at the bottom slowly elevates the glass panel into place...

And last but not least - a beautiful dragon chandelier that hangs in one of the attractions - The Merchant Adventurer's Hall - I would have it in my dream home... (picture opens very large)