UK Edition: Pictures of the Night

Tonight was a much needed, relaxing night. I ate some snacks for dinner, watched a few TV shows I have been missing from back home, and got to talk to most of the most important people in my life. It was wonderful. All night, all I wanted to do was go for a walk but all the opportunities to chat with people came as I was ready to get off the couch and walk out the door. No worries though! I was able to talk with people and get a walk in. Talk and walk, what could be better?!

A late night walk was so worth it. I wanted to take pictures of things that I see every day that I will miss seeing in person after I leave here. The kinds of things you usually take for granted but that are so ingrained in your mind that they become such a part of your trip, when you leave you wish you would have taken the pictures of the little things. Since I started my walk long after the sun started setting, I did not get many of the "little" things, rather the big things instead. I'm happy with what I captured though and want to share a few with you.

There are lavender plants all over the place. These particular plants are just around the corner of our apartment, which we walk past any and every time we leave our place (except for when we leave for work). They are so full and vibrant, what's not to enjoy about them? I took a few pictures of them tonight and stayed near them long enough and close enough to smell them. The building you can sort of see in the background is called The Orchid restaurant. Its on our list of places to eat but its a little more expensive so we will have to find an occasion to celebrate before we venture there.

This next one is a view of the city nearly opposite of the lavender picture. To the left is the city Counsel, which has this beautiful garden filled with plots of every colored rose you can imagine. The picture also shows part of an area where some of the spas once stood; the city of Harrogate was originally a spa town, with sulfur water thought to have medicinal properties.

Further down the road, more towards the city centre, is The Crown Hotel, which is just as it sounds, a hotel that hosts many conventions in the city of Harrogate. Its fascinating to walk past, especially at night. My favorite part here is the blue sky, not photoshopped or anything. It was such a clear night tonight and the soft glow of the lingering light makes the color this bold.

The last stop on our tour is really not that much to see a street view of some shops and a blues bar, which has awesome live music nearly every night (in case you decide to visit this posh city some day). Its one of those views that gets ingrained in my mind that I just don't want to forget - sidewalks lined with beautifully crafted shops and buildings and people mingling about and enjoying a slow, quiet walk around the city with their special someone.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! I guess I really did because I enjoyed putting this quick post together. I know I said its the little things and that these aren't necessarily the little things - I think they are though. I'm getting too tired to form sentences that communicate my thoughts so lets just say I really appreciate all these views.

Good night to all! Or as some say (and yes, I want it to become part of my regular vocabulary, along with many other words and phrases (for another post)), toodle pip.