From Yorkshire to Edinborough

The last couple of days have been a challenge internet wise...but hopefully all is good to go.
So...
We reluctantly left Steve and Bev's Tuesday morning.  They were so good to us, made us so comfy and really looked after us.  We packed so much into the time there and had lots of laughs...and left a little bit chubbier me thinks...all that lovely food.  Bev's fantastic dinners ( I'll be after some recipes please Bev) and the lovely Lemon Curd cake and Steve's Bakewell Tart....oh my goodness...so yummy.
We found ourselves on the road again heading up to Castelton, a little village near Whitby.  On the way we called in at York and then Knaresborough (I think that's the spelling?) ...
York is a magnificent City,  I could barely remember it from years ago.  We went to the Railway Museum....fascinating...I love Trains, trains of the bygone era...such a romantic way to travel and the engineering and history was amazing. 
So there we are in this wonderful place...exploring these old and graceful streets and lanes...so many wonderful buildings, shops and cafes.  It's time for lunch.  Bat spots a gorgeous Tea Room...all quaint and  pretty, starched white table clothes...silver wear and China.  I start to vere off in that direction when the Badger calls me over to an alley he has found and it much excited by the sign 'Cornish Pasties'...my lips start to quiver as I fear my dreams for little prim sandwiches and a cup of tea  in this graceful establishment slipping away....and slip away they did as I was ushered into this little bakery and presented with a cup of tar in a paper cup and a bag stained with grease containing a soggy oosing pastry.  The Badger doth spoil me.   He gets tucked in and then starts to grin...apparently my face said it all and once he had gained his composure and stopped laughing...did apologise...hells bells Badger...how far away is Cornwall anyway?
York Minster is absolutely awesome.  The 'Shambles' which is an old street was delightful...the buildings just marvelous and we struck the market day to boot.  I bought myself a treat...a glass jar with a brass lid and a little brush attached..I can just barely remember having to fill these up with paste/glue at priamary school....how could I leave much a memory behind I ask you?  And those of you who know our home will agree...it' just what I need...more 'stuff' hehehehe
Well...form York we continued on to discover the delights of Knaresborough...what a little gem with the Viaduct.   Yorkshire is a truly beautiful place.
From there we arrived at Castelton and our accommodation.  Oh my flipping goodness...Badger has done an amazing job on finding brilliant  accommodation..but alas..this wasn't one of them.  Yikes...the cottage was about 400years old he tells me....people must have been jolly midgets.  It was like being in a child's cubby...that hadn't been cleaned...ever...ik.   Not to worry..it's only one night so what do we do?..trot to the pub across the road of course.   Found the landlord asleep in front of the fire and extremely grumpy to find infiltrators in his sanctum....his good lady wife arrives and reluctantly serves us a beverage...slamming the drinks down on the bar and then proceeds to poke the fire with a huge iron bar with much violence.... exit stage right here asap.
We did find another public house a little more convivial and a nice dinner was had.  By this time it was actually snowing quite heavily...by Bat's standards anyway.  So a quick walk up the hill to the cottage....get there and what has the badger done?...yep ..shades of Gerona and Barcelona from last year...keys are locked in the cottage and we are here in the snow...grrr...thankfully he had the car keys and we could go and get the landlord...to let us in.
We escaped there first thing in the morning.  Mind you it was one of the most picturesque places I've seen and straight out of a Herriot Novel.  The snow was indeed icing on the cake for me...The Badger is getting a bit over it though.
Whitby...and sunny on arrival and I took some great shots and thought of our very talented Ron Farnhill from Peninsula Art Soc. who has painted Whitby on many occasions.  The sun was short lived an soon...snowing again...yipeee.  The Abbey was totally spooky and I can understand why Whitby inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula...how good would it be to do the ghost tour there..maybe be next time?
And here we are in Edinburgh in this comfy opulence...well done on this one Badger ten out of ten.