Summer Holiday Day 7: Whitby

Here's the transcript from our family discussion about Day 7:

It's summer holiday, 2023 day 7. And we are now in Helmsley. I was waking up in the Black Swan
Hotel and we decided to go for breakfast. So breakfast is included at the Swan
Hotel, the Black Swan Hotel. But it was very busy and it was basically only just a slice
of toast. Yes, that's all we were going to have. So we went elsewhere. And yeah, and quite rightly.
So we went to the cafe on the square. Yeah, one of the many cafes. We got to experience
Helmsley Cafe for breakfast. And it was really nice. It was really nice, yeah. I had pancakes
and also I finished reading Stardust. Which I am now reading. Are you liking it by the way?
Yeah, it's very good. I'll probably finish it tomorrow. It took me a month.
You forgot to finish it in three days. I mean to be fair, I did finish Ocean at the end of the
lay in three days. And then we went to the Helmsley Bookshop. It's a really good bookshop.
Yeah, it's just the best size. Just nice small bookshop. So there's all the genres,
but there's not too much, not too many books. They're not overwhelming by choice. And I got
really nice hardback copies of two Sherlock Holmes books we don't have. So there's
Scarlet Letter alongside Sign of the Four. No, not the Scarlet Letter. What am I talking about?
Studying Scarlet. And the Sign of the Four. And there was the other one, which was the
Casebook. Yeah, the short stories. The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes along with his last bow.
And Conor bought the Lonely Planet Guide to England.
Which I think is attractive particularly by the photograph of Whitby.
Yeah, but also the maps. I said to him, do you just want a map? And he was like no, I want this.
You know, I want to download Google Maps onto his iPad and let him explore. I'm not sure if he
even realises how good it is. And yeah, I got a couple of books. I got a present,
a Christmas present for myself. From somebody. And one for Uncle Charles. Plus a road map,
a road atlas. I also bought a Casebook but then we read some of the questions and actually they
were a bit hit and miss. But at least it kept us occupied. Yeah, well that was the intention.
You know, I was, I didn't buy it thinking that we would know all the things in it. It was to
potentially learn some things. So we left Helmsley
and started the long drive to Scarborough.
So that's when we listened to Rutherford and Frye. Yes, we learnt about the impossible number.
We learnt about i squared over minus one and how it helps to solve equations involving
oscillations and waves. E i to the pi plus one equals zero. Yeah, e to the i pi. E to the i pi.
Plus one equals zero. Yeah. E to the i times pi. E to the i. Yeah, e to the i pi. And
we also learned that actually for the quantum mechanics equations,
it's not just a useful tool, it's necessary. Yeah, so that was really interesting.
And then we arrived in Scarborough. And we didn't get out of the car. We didn't, we just drove.
I mean, again, it was the right decision to go and recce the place in the car,
even though my right ankle by this time was like... So like about four miles outside Scarborough,
I had this massive feeling of foreboding where I was on the verge of saying,
I think we should have bought this and not go to Scarborough. But I didn't do that because I knew
that I was the one that didn't want to go. So I was sort of like... Although I should have
learned my lesson from the whole Mallorca thing, but I should probably just have said it. But anyway.
And also the murder cabin. The what? The murder cabin. The murder cabin. Yeah. On day one.
But we left immediately. Oh yeah. Oh, we all thought that though. That wasn't. But it was just more,
I kind of felt like, oh, I've got this massive prejudice against Scarborough and I shouldn't
let that prevent everyone else going somewhere that we all might have a nice time, so I'll not
say anything. And then we got there and we were like, no. The place where 10 years ago I threw
sand in Dad's face. Sorry about that by the way. Yeah. It was 10 years and three days since the
last time we had visited Scarborough where all that threw sand in my face. Maybe it'll take another
10 years. No. I'm never going back to Scarborough. And things can change in 10 years. That's the
decade. And I looked at Google Maps and I thought, oh, look, there's some cafes. I wonder if they're
actually quite nice cafes along the beach. And actually that Scarborough is, you know,
kind of, maybe there's some nice things that would be good if you went there in October or
sometimes. So I thought, oh, we'll just check it out. And how wrong I was. Those cafes were
not kind of nice, kind of would-be-like cafes that, you know, they were just dire. The whole
place was just arcades. Just money laundering. Yeah. We had a discussion about money laundering.
Talked to Conor what money laundering was. Well, because he asked. We explained it to him. Yeah.
Because I was surprised how many. Because he was asking about American candy
sweet shops. And he was like saying, oh, and the American candy sweet shops outside Buchanan
galleries. And then, you know, so he knew that they were, like, he was the one that brought it up.
And he asked about money laundering. Yeah. We've talked about it before, but
we didn't know what it was, but we've explained it to him. But yeah, it's still not clear.
But yes, we drove right through along the seafront of Scarborough, as if it was like,
you know, the open top bus tour, slowly progressing along. And then we got stuck behind a bus
all the way to. Robin Hoods Bay. Robin Hoods Bay. And again, there was. Couldn't get parked.
We would have. We would have gone down to.
Robin Hoods Bay if we'd got a parking space, but there was none.
By this point, my foot was getting really sore. But also the tide was in.
Oh, well, actually, it was just. It was just after high tide. It would have been just crowded and.
So. Yeah, that wouldn't have been like. No. In the end, actually, serendipitously,
we found what was a reasonably nice pub. So we ended up in Hawksby. Hawksby.
Hawke. Hawke. Hawke. Hawke. Hawke. Hawke. Hawke. Hawke, I think. Hawke. Well, wherever it was.
We ended up at this nice pub restaurant. Called the Hayden Homes.
It was definitely called that. And sat. And I was reading my Sherlock Holmes book. I was reading
Slutty and Scarlet. And we had. And we did some of the 10,000 quiz questions. Yeah.
There was a Sherlock Holmes one as well, which I didn't do as well on it. And I thought I would.
And I had a gigantic fish and chips, which I knew I would fill me up too much.
We had what was described as chicken gyros, but it wasn't really chicken gyros.
I liked it anyway. It was nice. And whilst we were there, I kind of
realised we could do a walk. Using the OS Maps app,
plotted a route that I thought we could get us from there to the sea, the edge of the cliffs.
And we set off through the farm fields. Well, down a public road away.
A public road away. Through the fields. Not through the fields, yeah.
We saw some horses. Yeah, we saw some horses. At that point,
there was some cloud cover. And it was just kind of nice. Then the cloud started to part
and it started to get quite hot. And. And I, not that I knew this at the time,
but I got a bit sunburned. So cows.
And then, yeah, and then. Cows that came right up to us.
Yes. I saw a cross from the cliffs.
Yeah, across the front, yeah. Yeah, and the route that would have taken us to the edge
of the cliffs was through a field with cows with calves, which we were absolutely no way
having experienced. I had a bad experience with cows last Easter.
Um, and. That was kind of terrifying.
But we got, you know, it was a good, good help to kind of.
It was a nice walk. We just kind of.
Walk off some of the gigantic lunge.
Yeah, so we just sort of walked for almost two kilometres and then turned around and walked back.
Yep. Then got in the car and drove to Whitby, stopped at Sainsbury's to get some
stuff for dinner, including some panko calamari, which we had, they were good.
And then drove to the apartment, which was.
Quite a small place, quite cheap.
Had a balcony with a view of the Abbey.
It had a nice view.
But, but. Yeah.
But the actual apartment was.
Yeah, it was, yeah, not, not clean.
Yeah, it wasn't very clean.
I think it was okay.
I had Wi-Fi.
But great location actually.
Now that we know about.
Pannet Park.
Pannet Park.
Yeah, but I wouldn't do that again.
No, no, no.
And, and we went for.
So we gave, we gave all of us some pasta.
Yep.
And then we went for a walk to the east cliff.
Well, across the bridge, along that lovely kind of cobbled street.
Past all the jet, Whitby jet shops.
And up the 199 steps.
And.
And we went into the churchyard, went into St Mary's churchyard and we sat on a bench.
And it was a really kind of like, the sea was quite wild yesterday.
Because it was quite windy.
Yeah, absolutely.
But it was obviously lovely weather and it was just really mellow.
So we sat there for a while, didn't we?
Just watching the waves.
And then contemplating whether a Whitby was better in October or in the summer.
O'Conor was quite definitive.
Concluded it was better in October.
For Halloweeny.
Ooh.
But then we went to the Abbey.
I didn't even realise what you were doing.
You were just kind of like exploring and thought, oh, let's go in here along to the YHA.
Well, because when you go in, because obviously the Abbey itself was shut,
but you can still go in because the YHA is up there.
You can still go into the bit at the front where the museum is.
And instead of just going in and coming back out again,
I was like, I just thought, oh, well, let's just walk
round the back of the building and sort of do a loop.
Yeah.
And in doing so, we discovered the bar.
The cafe and the bar.
The cafe bar.
With a massive kind of like beer garden with loads of picnic benches in it.
So it provided exactly what I was hoping for somewhere in Whitby,
where you could get drinks and ice cream.
And me and Conor had full-sized raspberry magnums and they were amazing.
Yeah, and I had a neck oil and Anna had a glass of busika.
But you wanted a pint, didn't you?
I did want a pint, but I didn't tell you that, although it was my own fault.
So yeah, so that was nice.
But then Conor started to get itch feet and we just leave and then we...
So we went back down the steps and we went on to the kind of little wooden grove.
I've got a load of video from that, from actually from that,
from last night and from this morning, we've just taken a whole load of video.
Or the little pier, I can't remember what you call it.
It's got a name.
And then back to the apartment.
Yeah.
We walked all the way back and...
We had our dinner and you and Conor went on your devices.
Yes, we went on our devices.
And then we left you to your own devices.
Another who do you think you are?
Yes.
I didn't, I went to bed.
You did.
This time it was Claire Foy.
Yeah.
Her's was very good.
And then I went to bed.
I'll just do it a little bit longer.
That was day...
Seven.
Seven.
Yesterday.