Day 10 - Whitby and York

*Due to slow Internet speeds in the Lake District and Whitby, this post has been delayed.*

Our lodging in Whitby is in a haunted lodge, but unfortunately no one reported seeing any specters overnight. Whitby is a harbor village that's hilly and easy to get around. We walked into the city centre then across a bridge to where the streets narrow and many unique stores can be found. After walking a bit, we reached the famous steps up to the abbey. One of Whitby's most famous, but brief, residents was Braum Stoker; the Abbey and these steps play into the Dracula story. The village has embraced this connection and it's become somewhat of a Gothic/horror haven, especially during their annual festival. Due to time restrictions, we weren't able to climb the steps, but we did enjoy our morning walk!

After checking out, we headed over to Whitby Abbey. It's perched high on a hill above the village and is a ruin. This is one of my favorite abbeys. I love the different color stone that can be seen, the view out over the North Sea, and I marvel that this much has survived for so long, especially having been targeted by the Germans in WWII.

We skipped lunch today in order to get to York, a favorite highlight of any trip to England. After getting into town and parking the car, we headed to Betty's for afternoon tea. Betty's serves the tea in silver (stainless) pots with white china plates and cups, and the scones are served on a three tier serving trolley/tower. All very proper.

After tea, we head to York Minster, the crowning English cathedral in my opinion, for choral Evensong. This was a special service three years ago and I'm happy to say it was just as magical today. The choir was made up of men and boys ranging from 6 or 7 to 50+. There are about 20 members of the choir and when they open up, they hit notes and volumes that make the hair on my hairs stand up. I loved the fact that we sang a closing hymn along with the choir and for a brief moment, I too was a York choir member...ha! After checking into our B&B we walked back into town to get dinner at Cafe Rouge. Unfortunately after a 40 minute walk, we discovered that it was closed for remodeling! However, we found a French restaurant across the street and ended up having one of the beat meals ever! A perfect way to wrap up a perfect day in England. Tomorrow our schedule is open as we tour York and pretty much do whatever we want in this great town.

 

Day 6 - Cotswolds, Stratford, & Coventry

After a slower than normal start today, we jetted off to the southwest and the northern part of the Cotswolds. This is the area in which William Morris founded the Arts and Crafts Movement and Hidcoate Gardens is an excellent example of the movement as applied to horticulture. Hidcoate was built by an American, Lawrence Johnston, during the early 1900s.

We had off and on mist this morning with overcast skies which made the autumnal colors of the garden really pop. We had the best time wandering the landscape, enjoying the vistas, and swearing you could see fairies peeking out from behind flowers and mushrooms. This was a perfect time to visit this garden and I bet spring would be equally as good. After strolling the grounds, we stopped off for a quick bite of lunch in the garden cafe. Homemade ice cream for dessert! I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our drives today were just fantastic as we went down country roads that are two way, but only one lane wide. Whilst driving here, one must always pay attention to oncoming traffic and little turn outs called laybys (lay byes). If the turnout is on your side and a car is coming, you have to move and get out of the way. It's a lot of fun to drive, but not relaxing! We didn't get a chance to get programs and gifts at the Royal Shakespeare Company last night, so we drove back to Stratford. We arrived just as school got out so the streets were crammed with young men and women dressed in their uniforms.

After some gift shopping, tea, and walking, we got in the car and headed to Coventry. The travel partners wanted Indian food and I wants English, so we found the place that serves both! Towards the end of dinner, Carolyn bit into something wickedly hot (spicy) and the favorite line from her while we were laughing hysterically at the face she was making: "You have no idea what's going on in my mouth!" She's all good now; just a numb tongue! The dinner ended with the table next to us having a birthday cake in the shape of a hedgehog; with a flare of sorts on fire. Would never happen in the US.

We head north tomorrow and meet a friend of a friend of Marianne's. He storm chases in the US during the spring and he's going to show us the off-the-beaten paths of the Lake District.