Weekend Gateway to Whitby 08.06.2013

Whitby, a seaside town on the North Yorkshire coastline, which took about 2 1/2 hours drive from Nottingham. Unique for its sights and atmosphere, and one of the best places to visit during the summer.

The day did not start off bright and sunny, it was windy, cloudy but lucky it was pretty warm. Our first destination was to drive directly to a good rating seaside cafe "Sandside cafe" in Sandsend. I have heard good review of this from the tripadvisor, and decided this place for our lunch.

We took a breezy walk from the carpark along the coastline to the cafe. We entered seeing the place was almost full with people, and dog lovers had brought their dogs with them. As we rarely get warm days in UK, and this day was exceptionally good except for the cloudiness & seabreeze, we decided to dine at the outdoor extension with views of the ocean. We ordered the cafe signature dish - Seafood platter which served with fresh crab meat, smoked salmon and prawn on thick toast, and fresh crabmeat sandwich. The fresh crab meat was not to my liking, but dear liked the freshness. The coffee was not really fantastic. I went on to try the Yorkshire lemon curt tart (£2) , it did not turn out nice as well. Well, the overall atmosphere dining beside the seaside should compromise for these. I did enjoy.

A short drive of 10 mintues to Whitby town center shortly after lunch. We were attractd by this lovely seaside port town by first sight. The town retains much of its 18th century character, narrow cobbled streets, beautiful harbour. The city center is dominated by the ruins of Whitby Abbey which takes 199 steps to reach the top at the East cliff. These sights were amazing. No doubt the St Mary's churchyard setting which next to the Whitby Abbey provided the inspiration for classic novel "Dracula" written by Bram Stoker. Other famous inhabitant include the sea explorer-Captain James Cook, this was the town he mastered his seamanship.

 

 

The city center is divided into the East (Old Town) & West (New town), linking each side with a new electronically operated "swing bridge" in 1909 worked on the principle of swing leafts instead of drawbridge flaps.

Listen for the bell being rung to signify that the swing bridge is about to open to allow vessels to pass upstream. The Westside are where all the major shopping, cafes &restaurants, visitors center and supermarkets were situated. It also only takes a little walk to the lighthouse which stood at the end of the pier. During evening , the sun had shone, and it made the picturesque town, ports, quayside even much more beautiful.

 

The Eastside started with quirky shops, then 199 steps to reach the Church of St Mary's churh and the ruins of Whitby Abbey. I had heard good things about fish & chips in Whitby so I had eventually had a try in one of the take away shop -"Fish & Chips". There were many fish shops, we went to Mister Chips. We ordered small haddock with fries at £4.20 to share with. It really tasted good with its crispy batter and fresh fish flesh, accompanied by fries.

The day spent was so relaxing and lovely. We ended our day with cups of coffee at one of the cafe along the quayside. The coffee was nice, and view was fantastic.

xPerience Edinburgh

On June's summer month, we were heading North of UK to Scotland for a 3D2N short trip.. Scotland is well known for its scenic highlands, landscaping. Due to time constraints, we were only visiting the Capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the Ruin of Dunnottar castle at Stonehaven harbour.

It took 6 hours drive from Nottingham to Edinburgh. While reaching Edinburgh, we were greeted with downpour. It was really a bad day to start with.

We checked in at Salisbury Hotel as it offered free on-site parking, and yet accessible with 20 mins walk to the main attractions like Royal Mile (Old Town) , alternative we could take a bus from the main street. I was not impressed with the room decoration as it was dated, and chipped wall in the shower room. I did not feel comfortable overall. However , the hotel staff was friendly, and there are free wifi, so these two points plus the free parking would make up for the room's shortcoming.

After unloading our luggage, we took a slow walk down to city center-The Royal Mile (old town), Princes Street (which is the main shopping street). As it was still raining, we were not in really good spirit to hang around. So after a quick bite at the Patisserie for coffee and cake, we walked back to our hotel. We had our first night's dinner at the basement's cafe- Cafe Cassis. The food was delicious and of good quality.

Day 2,Again, its another rainy day. Our holidays mood really being turned off by the Uk weather. We walked down to the main road, and took a bus down to Waverly station for the Edinburgh hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus tour.

We booked the 24 hours' grand ticket at £16 per adult, which covers 5 routes- But we could never able to complete 5 routes even without getting off as the traffic in Edinburgh was quite bad, and the last bus was at 4:00pm. Our first stop was the Royal Yacht Britannia, the former floating residence of the queen and the Royal family. With mere purchase of £11.75 entrance ticket, you can experience what the life would be on board with audio tour of 5 decks. It includes the engine room, the laundry room, cabin crew room, sick bay, drawing room, state dining room, queen's office,  queen's bedroom, the honeymoon room which Prince Charles and Princess Diana used to stay during their sea cruise honeymoon. The visit was unusual and interesting, it is definitely value for money.

 

The next stop we alighted at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen's residence in Scotland. Around the corner of the main road, we can see the Scottish Parliament House.

 

Palace of Holyroodhouse







Scottish Parliament House

After a glimpse of the Palace from the outside, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the main station to walk around the city center. We should have visited the Edinburgh Castle, but by the time we reached it was already 3pm, and so we have decided to take a few pictures of the exterior, and then moved on exploring other nearby areas such as the Royal mile (old town), princes street. The view of Edinburgh castle from the Princes garden was magnificent despite misty rainy weather.

Edinburgh castle





Along Princes Street-Jenners is the departmental store

As rain continued and we need to seek shelter, We decided to go for early dinner at the famous "The mussel Inn". We read good comments about this restaurant from dear's colleague , and also the traveller's guide book recommendation. We were lucky to be early, as without making reservation, we would not be able to get a table during dinner hours. We ordered smoked salmon and seafood chowder as starter, the well-known half pot of mussels and seafood platter as main course, followed by cheesecake as dessert. The food was really deserve a good thumbs up.



Day 3, which was the finally day. Rise and shine. It was a bright sunny day. We were really happy, as we were to visit the last destination in Edinburgh-Calton hill for panaroma view of the city. The monument was built intended to replicate the Arthen Parthenon and to honour Scotland's dead in the Napoleonic wars.But funds went dry and left uncompleted.



Opposite view of Salisbury crags, Arthur's seat



After spending about an hour in Calton hill for the breathtaking view of the city center, we carried on our journey to "The ruin of Dunnottar Castle". It was about 180km from Edinburgh, which requires at least 2 hours drive north to Stonehaven.

At around 2pm , we reached the Castle. There was a small stone path leading to the castle. It took some walking down the cliffside and then further up to the castle, and the sea breeze was quite strong. But the view was amazing, and it does worth the additional two hours drive.




View of Dunnottar castle-the two tower house

 

"Whigs Vault"-This dark chamber was used as a prison in 1685 for 122 men and 45 women. Some escaped and fell to death, some died of starvation, disease. A place of torturing and suffering

Inside the "Whigs vault"-the dark tiny room used as prision



Remains of barracks and chapel



The site was now a ruin. There was really nothing much to see, but the view was fantastic. This place was quiet, breezy, and I believe it would be quite spooky at night. After walking around the ruins for about 1 hour, and quick bite of the take away pie as lunch, we headed back home. There was about 7 1/2 hours to reach home.

Overall, our first long highland drive journey was great, and we are looking forward to visit all other beautiful highlands & isles within Scotland. Scotland experiences more rains and coldness than southern part of UK, so the next visit would probably be another Summer.