Whitby: a little Yorkshire gem

On 24 February, a couple weeks after my trip to Newcastle, I went with my flatmate to Whitby. It was a gorgeous day of sun, which would challenge anyone’s stereotype of rainy England.  Whitby is a seaside town in Yorkshire, and a lot of my friends who are local students have visited Whitby for a little vacation with their families. They also adore it.  There are loads of fish and chips vendors and a remarkable number of truly lovely shops as well! Aside from the fish and chips, there are also restaurants and fancy ice cream shops that looked delicious too, but none which we tried. A reason to return.

The car ride there is already an experience.  We drove over these lands and it almost felt like we were on another planet.  There are these massive rolling hills and valleys, almost like a North English version of the Grand Canyon. Then, as you near Whitby, the soil gets really dark. It was stunning—extraterrestrial.  Sadly, I don’t have any photos of these lands to share.

From York, it was about a one hour and twenty minute drive, which I thought wasn’t bad at all. However, as we got closer to Whitby, the roads started curving and swerving and I did feel a little car sick. Thankfully, once we arrived and I got out of the car and started walking around it went away.

We arrived and, like I said, the town was beautiful, but the sun only made it more so.  It is a genuine seaside town: sailboats in the harbour, seagulls flying overhead.

 

We got out of the car and started toward the Whitby Abbey straightaway, because we knew that was going to close around 4 o’clock and we didn’t want to miss it. As we wandered up to the Abbey, we walked through some of the roads and encountered truly charming shops! As you can see from the photos, Whitby is just a lovely place. We found a bookstore with a spiral staircase, a deadly fudge shop, and a gorgeous little cake house.

We eventually reached the 99 steps going up to the Abbey. Along the 99 steps was a graveyard, but it was less gruesome than you might think.  Many of the gravestones were very old (1800s) and well maintained. What struck me from reading them was how old the people were when they died, even though it was so long ago. Many were 70 years at their death, but several were also in their 80s or even late 80s.  With Whitby being a seaside town, I thought it must have been attributed to the fish, but after speaking with a family member who is a doctor, she suggested a different reason: porridge.  Perhaps it was both? Their nutrition aside, those are two foods I try to eat on a regular basis, the reason being that they’re some of my favourite foods!

There were several other people on the steps but the steps were not packed. When we got to the top of the steps, the Abbey was right in front of us. Behind us, we had a magnificent view of the town below us. I tried getting more photos to show this view, but between the glare of the bright sun and the small detail below me that my iPhone camera couldn’t capture, the photos did not really turn out (as you can see).

Once we made it up the steps, we entered the Museum house, which was where we would get tickets to see the Abbey. The museum was housed in a building that had a very Romanesque architecture, a mark of the Roman Empire, which at one point stretched all the way up into these high latitudes. In its own right, the building is considerable and grand. However, next to the Abbey and its popularity, it’s a bit overshadowed.

A sunny day it might have been, but there were some strong and fierce winds blowing over the high plain on which the Abbey sat.  I took photos of some of the stone that looked like it, too, had been cut by the strong winds over the many years.

Again, there were people about the Abbey but it was not crowded which made it very pleasant.  We were able to examine the structure for a while, taking many photos of its grand architecture and referring to our audio guides to learn information we otherwise could not have known.  (You should be able to click on the photos if you’d like to see them in a larger size)

 

 

We made our way back down the many steps, into the town centre and once more strolled past shops, but on a different way back than the way we had come.  We found one of my favorite things: a true fish shop (otherwise known as a fish monger)!

Although it was only 16:30 or so by then, we were both hungry, so we decided it was dinner time. We went to a fish and chips shop and I got my first fish and chips ever!! The batter was so thin and the chips were proper (which I think I can say now, after my first two terms in England). There were many fish and chips shops and, unfortunately, the one my flatmate was looking for we only found after we had already had our dinner. However, as I never had fish and chips before, I had no idea what to compare it to. But for fish and chips, I think this was one of the better ones! And, anyways, in Whitby, you can’t have a bad fish and chips.

 

Before leaving, we took a walk out onto the extremely windy pier, which felt a bit dangerous, though it certainly wasn’t (don’t worry Mami). It was thrilling walking out right above the beach where these dark, strong, wind-propelled waves were crashing onto land. The beams of the pier were also a bit separated in a somewhat anxiety-igniting way, so I walked on beams all the way to the end of the pier and all the way back like I was on the balance beam at the Little Gym many years ago. It was truly electrifying, though, out on the pier with strong winds blowing about and these grey waters beneath. The sun had now mostly set, so the sky was grey in England once again. Walking back from the pier in that way, I almost got the feeling as if I were a North English fisher(wo)man coming back from a long day at sea.  I felt both powerful and so small, trying to maintain my balance on the beams of the pier, yet being on this big, massive edifice all the same, looking at the town and the Abbey before me, with the sea to my back.

 

We drove home in the dark, alongside the dark ground beside us, which on this return trip we could not see. We got back to York at a reasonable hour and had the fantastic feeling of tiredness due to lots of sun.

My favorite photo from Whitby: