Exult

We walked up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey this morning in wonderful sunshine.

The abbey reminded us a lot of Lincoln Cathedral, both in its scale and architecture. Whereas the cathedral is preserved in all its medieval glory for our use today, the abbey, a victim of the whims of kings, is just a beautiful shell and it is necessary to use a lot of imagination to see how glorious it must have been.

As we sat near the cliffs' edge and enjoyed the sun on our faces my thoughts were again on the fleeting nature of life and how much harder it must have been for all those who've gone before us. Most of the headstones in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, next to the abbey, are so weathered after 150 years that its impossible to read the inscriptions. Again, I find it strangely comforting that all of the things that seem so important to us now will mean nothing to anyone in another 150 years.

The rest of the day was enjoyably spent pottering and being touristy. We visited the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, which is very well done and interesting, had lunch in a little seafront cafe, and shopped for the obligatory souvenirs for those left behind.

It was a great weekend and gave us time to spend alone in each others' company for the first time in many years. We were both relieved to discover that we do still actually like each other and do have things to talk about other than children, dogs, school and work. Whitby is picturesque, fascinating and so friendly and it's the first time I can remember going away and not being in a tearing hurry to get back to the comforts of home. That must be a result.