14th June 2013
Whitby, England
I let the buses decide my destination again today, whichever one came first is where I was going – Whitby won and I had another lovely day out. Whitby seems a very quaint place with a great little area below the Whitby Abbey full of twisty little lanes with shops galore. Then there’s the main town area where the harbour is, full of fishing and tourist boats with a huge long stone pier curving out to the sea. And all around are the big wonderful old houses mostly made of gorgeous red brick.
Magnificent, Whitby Abbey
I conserved my energy (or maybe I was being lazy) and did a circuit on the tourist bus, which is usually a good way to see a lot in a short length of time anyway. I got off at the Abbey, spent ages there looking around and also had a nice lunch at the café. There was method in getting off the bus there – 199 steps to go back down to the village. When I was in the church, I heard some old lady saying they had the cubicles around the pews so people could do a tinkle during church without being seen, the sermons went for so long, it was necessary. Not sure how true this is but it was good for a laugh.
Whitby was Capt. James Cooks home for some years and I visited the house where he lived during his apprenticeship. Sadly, again, no photos allowed but they had some very interesting maps and drawings dating back to his expeditions.
I also found out that Whitby served up inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula – the things your learn!!
et jewellery, Scarborough, England
It would have been nice, I think, to buy a piece of jet jewellery, but that would have been the end of my travels – HUGELY expensive, nice to look at and read about though.
Back at the bus stop for the bus home and chats with some of the oldies again. Wouldn’t it be lovely to record some people’s life stories. Just ordinary people with memories. They’re so interesting, yet they think I’m the interesting one. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to remember all this when I’m older and grayer!!
MidLife Traveller 