Category: x-personal

Let’s continue on yesterday, shall we? After I checked into the hostel, I wandered around for a while. There were cobblestones streets, and narrow alleyways, and stairways with names. Speaking of stairways…
This hostel is incredible. It’s an old building, it might have been part of the grounds of the house that’s situated next to the Abbey. From the window in my room I could see the Abbey itself, and from the front door I can see St. Mary’s church and the graveyard.
Last night I took a “ghost tour” of Whitby. There actually aren’t that many ghosts in Whitby, who was a bit overdramatic but effectively sinister, embelished with stories of witches, Dracula, and demon-hounds. All in all, very interesting. I got to see parts of Whitby I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
This morning I went for a walk along the top of the cliff. I nearly got blown off, the winds are that strong.

Had to stop earlier. Bus pulled away from stop and started shaking to muck. Anyways… It never registered that this country has had major civilization for over two thousand years. On the bus trip, we followed roads that passed through castle gates barely wide enough for the bus. We drove through villages where the newest building had to have been 300 years old. We drove over the moors, seemingly untouched by human hand,until you saw the tumbled over stone wall or battlement or cottage. Watching the sheep as we passed until we finally came to places where the sheep freely wandered across the road. There is not one part of this island that has not been claimed by man, reclaimed by nature, reshaped in a continuous struggle between the two opposing forces.
Whitby was incredible. I’m freezing my ass off, but it’s incredible. The hostel is right next to the old abbey, at the top of the 199 steps as described in Dracula. The seaside is amazing. The only real drawback is that it feels like UB in january – the only thing missing is the snow. I got in around 5:30, and was immediately glad I packed my leather jacket. I wandered around the streets for awhile, mostly on the East, medival side of town.

It never really struck me until today how old and ancient this country is. My train ride from Cambridge to York was much like yesterday, but my bus trip from York to Whitby has been a whole new experience.

pulled out of King’s Cross half an hour ago. Left from platform 10, right next to where Platform 9 3/4 ought to be. Spent the last half hour looking through Lonely Planet, glancing over maps of Cambridge and Whitby, figuring out things to do and see, trying to decide between bus and train for parts of my journey. All depends on time and cost.
SHEEP! Living sheep. Nice to see that not everything died. So interesting to watch the landscape speed past. Hills, valley, towns + cities + villages, farmland and animals, little backyard gardens and the ocassional crossing and even streams and rivers and creeks and ponds. So different than travelling in the U.S. But kinda similar. It’s reminiscent of driving along Route 17 back home, but much more varied.