After lunch, which was a delicious Shepherd's Pie, we climbed the Transporter Bridge. Built in 1911, it was created to ferry people from one side to the other via a cable car or they could walk across the top of it. It still ferries cars from one side to the other, but the pedestrian part is closed to the public now. But being that we are special, we got to climb to the top and get a tour. Despite some people being afraid of heights, all but one of us made it to the top. We got a spectacular view of the area, steam cooling towers of a coal plant and all.
Tuesday we went to Harewood House which was, and still is, owned by a Lord and Lady. The upstairs is used as the private apartment and the rest of the house is restored to different time periods. The family is known for having large art collections and the current owner is into modern art, so there was a wide range of styles. Our guide was this funny and charismatic young curator who told us not only the history and issues, but also the juicier details about the family. It was interesting to also see the contrast between how the house was constructed and what the Victorians did. The Victorians can probably be described as the worst era for preservation.
Wednesday and Thursday was project days, so we spent our time in the town of Leyburn doing research or at home working on what we had. We at this point had just met the person who was assigning our task, so we were a little behind the other groups and in a sort of manic mode trying to imagine being able to complete the tasks.
Thursday night was our celebration for the two birthdays we had while over in England. After dinner we gave them the presents we had purchased for them at various gift shops along the way and then took a nice stroll around the lake. Since the sun stays up until almost 11, we decided to play Bagmitton until it got dark. We only had a clothes line to use as a net in the original tennis court, but it worked.
Friday we went to Whitby which is a coastal town famous for being described in Dracula. The first place we went to was the Abbey that is the site of the scene in Dracula. There was a thick fret that made the sight perfectly spooky looking. After the tour of the ruins we were set free to roam about the town. The town is a tourist trap basically but they had a beautiful beach and some neat little shops to goof around in. After Whitby we drove to Robin Hood's Bay, which was a smaller and less touristy coastal town. We walked along the beach and when we turned back we realized that tide had come in quite a bit. Luckily there was a ramp further down the beach where we could get back up to the parking lot.
Saturday we moved to Richmond, which was a disaster. The professor and her family were too stressed out about the whole thing and made it more complicated than it had to be. So when we got to our new place, called Middleton Place, we all headed into town to get away. We went to an Indian restaurant that night and had the worst service ever. Not only were they rude to us, they charged us $40 too much and we didn't get all our orders. Of course they refused to give us a receipt so we didn't have much of a leg to stand on to get our money back. We also went and sang karaoke that night. One of the girls used to be in a wedding band and does theater, so she brought the house down. I got the nerve to sing in front of everyone, thank you Rock Band game.
Sunday we were all so warn out from going, going, going that we sat around the house and did nothing. It really feels good to be lazy when you have earned it.
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