Robin Hood's Bay

Today dawned with a clear blue sky, the sound of seagulls and postcard-perfect views in every direction. During a delightful breakfast with two English couples from Shipton who have done the Coast to Coast, we were so happy to see Jerry's smiling face come in the room to say good-bye.  We had missed them last night at dinner and now he and Jayel (not sure of that spelling) are leaving by bus.  We have met the nicest people on this trip.

Of course we couldn't just sit around and relax our feet.  NOOOOOOO, we had to traipse all over town, up and down hills and steps some more, and I'm so glad.  This is the village that the word picturesque was coined to describe.  Besides the obvious physical appeal, it is rich in works by local artists.  There is also a wonderful National Trust museum and store where I deposited quite a number of pounds.  Thank goodness I am restricted by weight and bulk. We also had the pleasure of listening to a group of Lifeboat shanty street singers.  Another video I'd love to be able to post.  Very catchy tunes. There are streams of tourists coming down the hillside toward the bay, which is now at high tide.  The tides here are dramatic. Here is the same location where we took our photos yesterday upon arrival.

Our B&B, the Clarence Dene, is the one with the For Sale sign in front.

A few views of the village:

Esplanade in Robin Hood's Bay (for Sonia)

Charming patios everywhere

This beautiful St. Stephen's Church is right up the street from us:

A very ornately decorated organ

Notice the lovely tile floor

The ceiling

A few more ramblings whilst I wait for photos to arrive.  Last night at dinner we ordered one bowl of soup, a goat cheese starter and some vegetables to share.  The British can't seem to handle us.  The waitress brought us two full bowls of soup, saying they had divided the soup for us and then the starter arrived with obviously TWO helpings!  Of course they only charged us for what we ordered.  Another thing I've noticed is that it is apparently way too painful for them to bring only one piece of toast to the table no matter what we order.  I guess they can't handle the unbalanced state of the cute little toast tray and don't realize that it's even more painful for me to waste food.  I hope all that leftover toast has gone to a good cause.  Pigeons maybe.

Barry showed up about 4:30 and we're still waiting to hear from Sheri and Jere.  All set for dinner at The Victoria Hotel again tonight.  Our original plan failed as the reservation at the Smuggler's was not confirmed and both it and the Bistro near us are already completely booked for tonight. The gorgeous weather has brought people from everywhere today. Can't blame them.

Just back from dinner at The Victoria Hotel again, this time with Barry, Annette and Jim.  Had a very fun evening laughing and reminiscing together and also joking with the servers. One of the servers, who is only 20 years old, is a veritable character straight out of Dickens.  I only wish I could have gotten a video of him. He is bigger than life and very sweeet. Barry and Jonathon (in absensia ;() very generously treated us to dinner.  The oddest thing happened as we were all getting ready to eat- Jim looked over and saw a man at the head of a nearby table that looked exactly like Jonathon! We had just been saying that he was with us in spirit, and voila.  Spooky, but he's a pretty powerful guy!

Here's the space where the photo of all of us will go when it finally catapults through space and finds it way to my Chromebook.

One last anecdote tonight:  our waitress used to be a teacher and on the 60th anniversary of the children of Robin Hood's Bay being evacuated to Penrith during the war, someone suggested they do a recreation.  She ended up taking 5 teenagers, 14 and 15 year olds, on horseback for 6 days across Yorkshire.  As she was laughing and telling us what a great time they had, she said no one considered how much preparation it would take, etc.  I tell you once again, these Brits are TOUGH!

Good night for now.  Tomorrow we leave the Coast to Coast Trail and make our way back to Peterborough by bus and train. The whole adventure has a surreal quality about it and I'm so happy that I took the time and had the patience to deal with erratic wi-fi, syncing and a temperamental blog program.  Otherwise, I may believe that I imagined the whole thing.

Much love to you all and to all a good night.  Mary