Whitby July 14th, 2011

I'll start with Whitby and some of last week since I have been such a slacker when it comes to blogging! I have some pretty awesome pictures to make up for the slackage so at least you have that in store! So last week we had school during the week which was always interesting. I always learn interesting facts that I have never learned before and it really opens my eyes to seeing things differently. During the week we scheduled our tickets to Ediburgh and then luckily our trip to Whitby was chartered so we didn't have to take the BritRail (the main source of transportation/train for us lovely MCC children and all of Britain). We have eaten out a lot lately at places like Nando's...that chicken place that I posted about earlier on in my stay here. I am not so sure I elaborated on Nando's so I will do that now. Nando's is extremely tasty and most of their food consists of succulent chicken cooked over a grill with different hot sauces. I have eaten a wrap with chicken and ate some garlic bread and some dreamy mashed potatoes with it and OhHhH how I love it! They let you get free refills on soda which is unheard of and then they give you a ton of sauce to throw on your food. Now that I have you all hungry...haha...I will say that I ate at Pizza Express which is a popular pizza chain over here and I had a glass of milk and a pizza similar to a pizza at Sauce in Arizona but it had some ham, mushrooms, and black olives. It was aighttt. So onto Whitby! Jumping on the bus we had a pretty long ride where I slept and also showed Megan Colt 45, some lovely Tenacious D songs, and we jammed out to Nsync, Garth Brooks, and my personal fave Justin Bieber. Erica woulda jammed if she was awake but I believe she was pretty tired. I have decided I will go ahead and post pictures of Whitby and my time there so I can explain better my experience that way and so I don't bore you with just words...

Here is Whitby! Whitby is a few hours away from Nottingham and it is seemingly a fishing town considering it is right on the North Sea. It is also in the North East part of England. Everywhere here seems to be the same when it comes to walking...not only do you have to walk everywhere but the ground is very "hilly" so I really get my calves a workin'.

More of Whitby!

This is Megan...she got up 199 steps so I had to take a picture of her afterwards...what a reward hahahhaa.

This is the view from the top of the hill where the Whitby Abbey ruins are. It was quite the sight to see all the way from up there...you'll see the Whitby Abbey ruins in a second.

Right before you get to the top of the Abbey, there are a ton of graves and so I went buck-wild taking pictures of all of the graves. It was totally eerie!

Here is the Abbey!! Well...what is left anyways!

Me taking a lovely picture in front of the Abbey.

Just different parts of the Abbey...can't really explain much...

I'm standing on history! Pretty awesome!

Pretty view

A grave right next to the Abbey.

I don't know if this was a good idea but I did it anyways...muah-ha-ha-haaaa.

My lovely friends posing like the lovely ladies they are <3

This little socket was still in the remains of the Abbey and I'm not sure what it was used for but it was pretty cool so I took a picture.

Loving the scenery!

Megan being a candid photographer...sweet of her.

Me in the Abbey.

Pretty view inside the Abbey looking out.

The landscape around us was beautiful. It was so green and the ocean was near us and the flowers were beautiful. I can't believe how pretty everything was!

Being the cool kid that I am...

This was kind of the entrance to the Abbey...it had a statue that I'm sure you can't really see but it wasn't realllllly worth capturing. The view was beautiful though and you could see the city and the ocean which was stellar.

I guess you can kind of see the statue in this picture...not that important right?

I'm quite the candid photographer.

Here is a picture coming down from the Abbey back into the graveyard. Kinda scary right?!

So here we are at The Magpie Cafe, this is supposed to be the best fish and chips in town and even around England because they are so fresh and let me tell you....they held up to their reputation. So stinkin' fresh and yummy.

I stole Erica's glasses and thought I'd see how I looked. They're pink! So coooool!

Be veryyyyy jealoussssssss.

NOW! This is where these little fishies will eat the dead cells off of your feet when you stick your feet inside of these tubs. I had to take it to show everyone...my Mommy said that they have this in AZ but to see it was so crazy.

The next few pictures are for my Mommy, I get a little homesick and when I do I try and find things that remind me of the people I love...in a window I found little figures of an Italian Greyhound, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, and horsies alll in the same window. It is nice to be able to find things that make my parents happy and be able to show it to them!

The end of our trip was getting our hair braided with these two really nice ladies.

:D

So I guess there isn't much I have left to say...I really said it all! The people in Whitby were really nice even though we were only there for a day. I really enjoyed the scenery of Whitby and of course the grub! I am going to go ahead and catch some dinner right now and then I'll come back and tell more about Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today considering Whitby was only a day trip last Thursday. I am so excited to show pictures of Scotland because at the moment, Scotland had to be my favorite place thus far. I guess this is goodbye until next time and of course I'll end with a I love you all very much and...MISS YOU!

Ashlee J. Murray