North and South of the Thames

We returned to London on Monday afternoon and since then have walked here, there, and everywhere as we get accustomed to this area of the city. Our Marlyn Lodge studio apartment is a short five minute walk north of the Tower Bridge so naturally we've been across to the south side of the Thames - and back.

Whitby by the Seaside

I realize I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but a single week will never be long enough to do a UK town justice. However, given we had one final day in Whitby we were determined to hit the beach.

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey dominates the landscape. It's visible from almost every vantage point, including the bay window of our flat. Walking through the town, whether old or new or atop the west cliff, it's always there, making its presence known. 

Whitby

"This is a lovely place. The little River Esk runs through a deep valley which broadens out as it comes near the harbour…The houses of the old town are all red-roofed and seem piled up one after the other anyhow…Right over the town is the ruin of the Abbey, a noble ruin of immense size.  Between it and the town is another church, the Parish one, round which is a big graveyard, all full of tombstones. It descends so steeply over the harbour that part of the bank has fallen away, and some of the graves have been destroyed."

Glorious York

A sunny Sunday November day in York can only be described with one word - glorious. Determined to make the most of our final day in the city we left our flat and paused to admire the view of the River Ouse and the Low Ousegate bridge. 

Eburacon, Eboracum, Evorwic, Jorvik...YORK!

Everything worth seeing and doing in York is a 25-30 minute walk from anywhere, but after spending a full week here we've barely scratched the surface. Even trying to capture the exterior of York Minster in a photo is next to impossible because it literally doesn't fit in the viewfinder. It's that massive.

York City Walls

When arriving in a new place we usually take a stroll to get a feel for our surroundings. In York, that meant walking around town via the city walls. At 3.4 kilometres York's are the longest medieval walls in all of England and while we met only a few dozen people we learned 2.5 million folks climb the steps each year to walk all or part of it and enjoy the spectacular views.