The ruins at Whitby, facing out to sea on a freezing day in a blindingly bright winter sun. Those of you not from Enlgand might know the place from Dracula. This is where his ship wrecked and as a black dog he ran from it and up the 199 steps to the abbey where he disappeared among the gravestones. Shortly after that the story of Dracula moves to London, which is not even remotely close to Whitby.

I have people asking if this is where Dracula was supposed to have lived while in England. It's not. He had several coffins stashed around London, not Whitby, which is several hours away for those of you who don't know.

And I have to say, it's real history is far more interesting than any Dracula association could ever be.

The place was founded in 657 by who we now know as St.Hilda. She was a Northumbrian Princess of Saxon blood named Hild. Celtic and Roman clerics met there to iron out their differences about the Catholic faith. It was the home of St.Caedmon, the earliest known English poet. It was destroyed by Viking's in 867 and refounded by one of William the Conqueror's knights in the 1070's.

For anyone interested in a more in depth history I suggest you check these links: [link] and [link]


And yes, there actually are that many stairs and yes I climbed them O_o