Whitby

Ok so I'm in York having a coffee which is as good a time as any to share Whitby with you all. 

It is a cute lil coastal town in Yorkshire. It was pretty windy when I was there but I think in summer it would be very lovely. It is well known for its fish and chips and I found a place that did gf ones so I was stoked. Even better was that the fish was battered, normally gf means no batter which sucks. Anyhow it tasted incredible so I was very happy. 

Turns out most the stuff was shut for winter being its offseason but I still saw some stuff (just not the museums etc, but really I'm not missing much with those lol). The beach was lovely so was the views from the cliffs. One thing I read ppl travel to go and do are the 199 steps (really ppl, go climb Fanthams Peak, that would be a better use of step climbing lol). Thought I would walk down them (my accomodation was at the top so no need to walk up them) however I ended up on the wrong part and walked down the Donkey Track which is a gradient of 1:1

Then I spent the morning wandering around Whitby, went back to the beach and the Capt James Cook monument and also went to Pannett Park which was pretty good. Had Green Flag Status (throwing that in there cos I know what it means lol). Then got on a train to York :) 

Nice sunset on way to Whitby

Whitby War Memorial

Whitby at dusk

My dinner 

The Abbey

Friend I made on the Donkey Track

Whitby Beach

Missie pretending she's on a boat

Missie hanging with Capt. Cook

Whitby Beach from above

A gardener at Pannett Park

Part of a cool seated area in the Park

A random tree stump carving

Back on the train, resting before more exploring 

Christmas tree

Put my space saver allergy free Christmas tree up yesterday :) I'm pretty stoked with it to :) just need some pressies for under it now. It's made from wool, keyrings, lolly wrappers and jewelry :)

Also rest of my week is looking pretty good, going to the ballet tonight, then moro am off to Whitby for a night, then York on Thursday for a night then on Friday down to Dronfield to see Zan and Noel for a couple nights, heading home Sunday :) should be a nice lil break. 

My awesome as Christmas tree

The Southern

So the GF Burger challenge has another participant :) 

The Southern is very close to our flat which is a good bonus for it but since it's not being ranked on proximity that doesn't really affect its rating. Overall I am giving it a 2, now I know that seems low but really the rating system is designed for most places to get a low score, seems I'm not always a nice generous person hehe :)

The burger was pretty good but the bun was kinda dry and it tasted a lil GF. The chips were also ok, not great but def not ick. 

Interestingly enough The Southern is a sister restaurant to Holyrood 9A, and even though it is closer I think I would prefer Holyrood 9A, the burgers and chips there are just better. Of course I will do my duty and try The Southern again in case it was just having a bad day :) 

So the rankings are as follows:

1. Holyrood 9A

2. Burger.

3. The Southern

Meet Russ

Yesterday at work we were fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust and had a bake sale, as part of the bake sale a lady also brought along some teddy bears to be sold. She collects abandoned bears and cleans them up and fixes them if they need repairs and then writes them a lil story and puts them up for adoption, for a donation you can take one home with the proceeds going to charity. Gotta admit being on the bake sale stall with the teddys hanging out with us was a good test of my willpower. Russ got put aside almost immediately for me tho, and he sat on the floor next to me and he guarded my food till it was time to go back to work then he moved up to my desk and helped me out :) now he's chilling on my bed with Missie and Harry. 

Here he is with his lil story :) 

Isn't he gorgeous :) and yes he will be well looked after and he has other bear friends again as well :) I think he'll be nice and happy 

And the forecast is for brrrrrrrr....

This is what my Saturday looks like weather-wise, and to think it's still technically autumn... I think winter has well and truely arrived to be honest! 

Time to rug up warm

Snow, snow, snow :)

Got our first lot of snow today :) it didn't settle in the city but there was lots swirling around in the air and some settled for a minute or two then disappeared but still it was snow :) and The Pentlands have snow on them now :) it's just a dusting really but still they are white and it's snow :) :) :)

Made me super happy and my workmates happy, them cos they were amused/laughing at the fact I was like an excited lil kid with my nose pressed to the window then jumping with joy hehe :) I don't care, it meant we was all happy :) and for a previously tired cranky Jill it was a good thing. Tired happy Jill way better lol

Half marathon pics and a vid

So turns out there was a video being taken while we were running, click the link if you wish to see it. There is obviously advertising at the start and at the end it is the route in very fast forward from the lead car, but in the middle you can catch glimpses of me running and crossing the finish line :)

Jill running Swiss City Half Marathon

And here are a couple pics so you know what I'm wearing and might be able to therefore spot me amongst all the runners lol (and yes Dad in the area lit with blue the first marathon runner has overtaken me).

Zurich

So I spent a few hours in Zurich before I flew out on Tuesday, can safely say that I think Luzern is way prettier and definitely more fun to explore.  The pics are all pretty much just random ones that I took cos I liked the look of something, cept for the one with the caption that one I knew what it was, well I think I did lol.

Zurich Opera House (I am pretty sure lol)

Luzern in pictures

One of the old bridges

A cool art piece in a church graveyard

My faithful map reader :)

The Dying Lion (its a carving in a rock face that is meant to be something all imp but is kinda a lil funny hehe)

Missie chilling out at the top of one of the towers along the wall

One of the many random painting along the oldest timber bridge

Taking a break during one of our busy days exploring

I just liked this building :)

Part of the half marathon route, taken the day before the run when we biked it 

Another section of the run, it sure was a pretty run even if I was a lil flat lol

After the run, we are all stoked and proud to wear our hard earned t-shirts :)

Chilling by the lake

Making new friends in a park

I just like the colour of this tree :)

We liked the colour of all the trees in the background but no photo would do them justice :(

Just because and its so true :)