Sunday, June 22nd - Robin Hood's Bay
Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire
Yesterday morning, right after breakfast, we packed up and left behind the foul-smelling room at the Arncliffe Arms. Sticking to our plan, we walked to the village of Egton and caught the train to Whitby. The train was packed with vacationers and day visitors looking to escape the heat inland and have a nice day at the coast. The train ride was just over 9 miles, but you could feel the temperature moderate as we approached the North Sea.
Whitby is a picturesque coastal town with a historic harbor, a ruined abbey (yes, one more abbey) and thousands of tourists on a hot summer weekend. Whitby is associated with Captain James Cook, who began his seafaring career there, and with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, parts of which are set in the town—who knew? I have included photos of the abbey and the cemetery that Bram Stoker used as locations for Dracula.
Escaping the tourist hordes, we took a bus to Robin Hood's Bay and checked into the Victoria Hotel. Whether the tour company was attempting to make up for the less-than-stellar accommodations of the past few days, or perhaps it was the only available lodging when they developed our itinerary, does not matter; we are just happy, no, ecstatic to be here! I would guess the Victoria Hotel is a four-star hotel. The shower was sublime, and I had eggs Benedict for breakfast while looking out over the cliff at the village and the North Sea.
We originally had planned to spend just two nights here and then head north to a location along the bus route to Edinburgh. We have decided to stay an extra night and day, enjoying the location and luxurious lodgings. There is always a let down when a long walk like the Coast to Coast is over—you have regrets, lots what if’s, many memories and you are tired and sore. We will just rest and relax while walking the beach, hiking along the cliffs with breath-taking sea views, walk the narrow cobbled street (yes, the is only one street), checking out the pubs, restaurants and stores here in Robin Hood's Bay.
Note: What follows has nothing to do with our Coast to Coast walk except it relates to iPhone photography which was the only "camera" I brought with me on the walk.
I have downloaded and started using the newly released Adobe iPhone app—Indigo. I have a love/hate relationship with Adobe. I cringe when each month the charge for the Creative Suite shows up in my bank account. It was Adobe who really pioneered the subscription based software model—you don't own your software, you rent it. And, more importantly, they are largely responsible for the AI "hyper-realism" I am attempting to avoid through my experiments with analog photography. You will find two examples of the "remove reflections" tool. There is the original, the image with the reflection removed, and an image of the reflection—amazing! I have also included the version after some fiddling in Hipstamatic—an attempt to make a digital image look more "analog," but that will always be unsatisfactory to my eyes, but it is fun!
Here are the photos from yesterday and today, you may have to copy the line and paste it in your browser address window:
https://www.reedpikephotography.com/coast-to-coast-photos/june-22nd