Tony and I booked our local "Streetcar", which has now merged with another car share company, and is becoming named "Zip Car, for a road trip to Kent. So last Saturday morning, Tony, the pups, and I took off for Canterbury and ultimately Dover for the weekend.
I got my license so I could do just this sort of weekend getaway. It still amazes and terrifies my family and friends that I drive over here.
The dogs however could care less with their first class sleeping accommodations in the back seat. They are amazingly good travelers, and almost immediately fall asleep when we start moving.
Canterbury is a quaint and very livable town. It has it cute older section, from when it was a walled city some 500 years ago to a modern shopping district with all the comforts one would expect. It is interesting to see how they have managed to make the new fit with the old successfully.
We wandered around the town taking in its charms. Tony, who'd been a bit skeptical about this trip, was really taken in by the charms of this cute village.
The weather was supposed to be nice, but proved to be a bit unsettled. We had moments of heavy rain, that would then pass and we'd have some beautiful moments of sun.
The dogs of course were having a wonderful time being out with us enjoying the country air.
We paused during one of the rainy moment for a pub lunch. They were serving a Country Rabbit and Ham Pie, so I had to try it. It was good, but I was hoping for more. (Steak and Ale, and Chicken and Leak are still my favorites).
But the nice pint of Shepherd Neame beer helped to wash it down.
The highlight of the visit to Canterbury is the famous Canterbury Cathedral, which is headquarters for the Church of England. It is the equivalent in English terms to the Vatican in Catholicism.
And an amazing Cathedral it is. I'm not sure how it compares sizewise to York Minister, but it certainly would appear to be comparable.
There was evidently some debate over who would head the Church of England. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York wanted to be the heads of the Church of England. Eventually, they split the titles so that the Archbishop of York was Primate of England, and the Archbishop of Canterbury was Primate of All England.Whatever makes you happy I suppose. . .
It is interesting to see the nationalism embedded into the walls of the church. I've not seen a church where the heads of state are placed alongside the Saints, Disciples, and the Virgin Mary.
But here you can see Queen Elizabeth, Prince Albert, and Queen Victoria. I guess this serves to remind everyone that this is their church, and they are appointed as Sovereign by God to be the rulers of the land.
Inside, it is an impressive large Gothic building. It didn't strike me to be as pretty and impressive as the church in York, but it is a stunning and very important Church.
The most important character in this church's history is Thomas Becket. Henry VIII, who is not represented as a statue in the walls of the Cathedral, had Archbishop Thomas Becket, whom he had appointed to be his puppet leader of the Church of England, assassinated after he began instituting policies that differed from his own.
Shortly after the assassination, miracles began to occur, and Thomas Becket was deemed St. Thomas of Canterbury, and many religious pilgrims began descending upon Canterbury to see the spot where St. Thomas was killed.
These pilgrimages reached their literary fame with the publishing of "The Canterbury Tales".
So popular were these pilgrimages that there are actually two memorials to St. Thomas. The first is a more modern memorial featuring these very sharp and dangerous looking knives.
The original is a simple lit candle sitting in the spot where St. Thomas was killed. I found this to be the more moving of the two memorials.
In tracking down the various Kings of England, one can visit King Henry the 4th and his wife Joan of Navarre as they are interred here. They look very peaceful laying side by side.
One can also see the tomb of "The Black Prince". a knight in shining armor who was very highly decorated and respected for the good things he did.
After seeing the cathedral, we wandered around the village a little more before heading off towards Dover, where we planned to spend the evening.
I kept thinking to myself how much my Ren Faire loving brother would love this town.
We saw a tower that was part of the old wall of the city. It carried a plaque mentioning that this was the hometown of Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, and portrayed as his writing rival in the film, "Shakespeare in Love".
Canterbury is a wonderful town to visit, and I recommend it as a fun day trip from London, or as we did it, a relaxing two day trip to Canterbury and Dover.
We drove the 20 minutes it takes to get from Canterbury to Dover, and easily found Castle Inn, the cute Pet Friendly B&B where we planned to stay the night. It is a Grade II listed building, and very comfortable and conveniently situated just below the castle and just a couple blocks from the center of town.
Looming over the town and offering a sense of both safety and intimidation is Dover Castle. It has been in active service from the middle ages through WWII, all the way up until the 80's when it was turned into a Heritage Site. It was on the agenda for the next day.
Sadly, Dover has seen better days. Though we are told that it is busy in the summer, it was amazingly quiet while we were there.
It was once a bustling port town, but with the advent of the Eurostar. The need to use the ferries to the mainland has decreased, and the town is a bit quieter.
Almost creepy quiet. . .
I'd call it a modern ghost town, but that probably isn't fair to the obvious community that still lives and works here. It is just a modern port town that isn't as vibrant these days as it was in its past.
Tony and I found a cute restaurant, and went to dinner. That evening they were serving Pumpkin Soup. It was delicious, but always a good sign that Summer is ending and Fall is on its way.
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