A Canterbury Tale

So, the day before we were set to go back to Dover to board the ship, we made our way across the town square to the trusty bus station (although cute shack would be a more apt description) Everyone said their good mornings as we boarded the bus to Canterbury (of Canterbury Tales fame) It turned out to be an hour and a half drive as we wound through neighbourhoods and counryside alike. Honestly, it reminded me a bit of Ontario. Here, you can go from big city to cows in just about any direction in the space of a half an hour. The only real difference I saw was in the houses, they reminded me of the fifties with their simple styles and designs. We were whipping by too quickly to get good pictures but think picket fences and manicured lawns.

We pulled into Canterbury, asking for directions to the town square and immediately a woman said "Keep walking and the church is right there too..." I think they are so used to people asking about the cathedral that it's just a given. Talk about a cute place...We hit it on their market day, best apple pastry EVER and Mom had a strawberry napoleon that looked delicious too. We were too busy gobbling it down to take pictures of them...All for 70 pence! (70 cents for us)

Stopping at the booth...





Hitting the town Square with the church right in front of us (We actually didn't realize it was part of the church right away, we kept hearing the bells as we traveled around corners..I kept saying "Is this it?" I think we were the only ones in town to walk right past it while going in a big square. I swear, neither one of us can find our way out of a paper bag..:-)



Perfect little house for Cindy





Cruising down the canal...The guide asked them to wave for us, as you can see, they were very co-operative!:-)








Waiting outside to get into the Cathedral grounds for free after 5pm. For some reason, they let Mom and I in early and we pretty much had the place to ourselves until the service at 6pm. Yes, they have a free half hour service and we went. Mom even taped the nuns singing  before I stopped her. (You weren't supposed to use cameras/videos in the church and I didn't want to get yelled at...:-))

It was truly a moving experience. I don't think words can describe it except to say that you feel incredibly small in the face of such enormity.



Inside, before the service....

Video of nuns singing

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/?action=view&current=MVI_3910.mp4











Stained glass in the windows that they took apart piece by piece to hide during the war so the Germans wouldn't destroy it. They numbered the pieces so they would know how it all went back together.








Yup, we found the coffee here too. It's fun to know you've been to all these little nook and cranny coffee places...



Cute town worthy of the tales..Thanks Canterbury for a great day filled with awe and excitement. We were so happy to see that each experience offered something totally different and yet all of the UK cities were filled with warmth and welcome.