Early in December we went to Whitby in Yorkshire for a week - the week of our anniversary. The cats went on holiday to a lovely cattery and Bertie came along with us to enjoy the bracing cold of the North. Our apartment we stayed in was really lovely and the owners had put up Christmas decorations which made it really nice. It was right on the west cliff area of Whitby, so Ken got to take Bertie for lots of walks along the beach, which of course they both loved.
For those that don't know, Whitby is famous for Dracula - Bram Stoker lived there whilst writing the novel and lots of the town inspired his story. Because of this a lot of the town and cafes have a bit of a Dracula theme going on, as you'll see from these two pictures.
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| Ken being attacked by Dracula |
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| In case you can't tell, it's a bulb of garlic in the box! |
Whitby is a lovely place, dominated by the ruins of an abbey on the hill overlooking the town. Fortunately there are lots of coffee shops so on the days when it was a bit miserable we had plenty of places to go for coffee and cake. One of our favourites allowed dogs and was also a second hand bookshop - really nice.
Here are some views from around Whitby.
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| Whale bone arch |
On our anniversary (13 years) we went to York for the day - I love York, it's such a beautiful and magical city. We had a really nice meal, a wander round the Christmas market, evensong at York Minster, and a lovely afternoon tea in Betty's Tearoom.
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| Christmas market by day |
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| Market by night |
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| My afternoon tea - fruit scones with jam & clotted cream |
To get into York we parked in a park and ride and got the bus in - when we got back to the park and ride we discovered that someone had left the lights on and so the battery was dead! Luckily the rescue people only took about half an hour to come - how we laughed.
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| Ken calling the rescue people |
My other favourite day whilst we were away was the day we went to Fountains Abbey - it's a National Trust property with the ruins of a huge abbey. The day we went it was freezing, literally, and very misty which made it very atmospheric. Here are a few pictures from our day there, along with some great shots that show how cold it was.
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| Icy cobwebs |
One of the best tearooms we went to was on a farm on the way to the abbey - fabulous local food in a wonderful environment. I was taking a picture of the tractors and the farmer noticed so came over to chat to me - I told him that we had a Massey Ferguson on our farm, and he told me all about how they had developed the tearooms and shops on the farm to help with income generation.
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| A very cute sheep on the farm |
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| I loved this sign - especially the last one. |
Now before I finish, I have to share a couple of pictures of our beloved Bertie - he was totally spoilt on our holiday and I'm sure he bragged about it to the cats when we got home.
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| Ready for his walk in the cold |
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| Thoroughly spoilt - he's not allowed on the furniture at home! |
We've been very lucky this year, having some lovely holidays around the UK - and every self catering place we stayed has been fabulous.
That's it for now - stay safe and keep smiling.
Pamela & Ken
xxxxx
P.S: Final photo is lights in one of the trees at Fountains Abbey.
