Crossing the bridge...

The second day of our holiday was just as grey and cold as the first. Lizzy had wanted to visit Whitby, so we drove north through the Yorkshire Moors National Park, stopping at Falling Foss for a short walk and a welcome cup of tea and some cake - very appropriate as it was Pete's birthday.

Whitby itself was seething with tourists, all looking for an escape from the biting eeast wind. We walked up to the Abbey and then mooched around the town looking at all the interesting shops. Our favourite was a shop selling a wide range of specialist teas, coffees, other beverages and various chutneys and jams. Lizzy and Chris bought Pete a bottle of mead and a jar of specially hot Naga chilli sauce for his birthday. Hazelnut Turkish delight was also purchased - absolute heaven!

In Whitby the bridge across the river raises to allow boats through, and we were able to watch the whole process. The closure results in a human traffic jam, and this is the flood of people coming across after it re-opened. It's nice to see everyone looking so cheerful (especially the lady on the left of the image) - I think the cold wait didn't help!!

On our way back home we stopped in Bridlington to try and buy a Chinese meal. We were singularly unsuccessful and left after a somewhat embarassing incident in a Thai restaurant. In the end we headed to Hornsea which had a very friendly Chinese take-away, excellent value for money. I'm not sue I ever want to go back to Bridlington - in a cold April evening it seemed singularly bleak - but perhaps it seems better in the summer.