Tam and Des go to Canterbury

Caught the train to Canterbury yesterday for a day trip out of London. We had nice blue skies and it was so very sunny, yet so very cold. A cold day in the sun.
Canterbury's only about 1 hour and 40 minutes out from London Victoria Station and it wasn't very expensive either for a return ticket (like it is for some other places 1 or 2 hours out of London). Less than 10 pounds each (which is about $25). We're probably going to try and do some more cheapish day trips now and try and see more of England.

Canterbury is a nice little town. We enjoyed the more leisurely pace and vibe. London is a tad hectic and full of people. Mostly rude people. Why, even Tam was shocked and amazed when someone who bumped into me in Canterbury turned back and apologised. And then straight after, a car stopped for us to let us cross the road first. We were stunned. We've noticed that London, despite being the capital of one of the oldest civilised nations, lacks manners.

Canterbury still has some of its original wall still up. Think its Roman-style. We think walls are cool. Like in Lord of the Rings.


This is the main entrance to the Canterbury Cathedral, which is a World Heritage Site. Note the Starbucks next door on the right.


This it the stunning Canterbury Cathedral. It's too big so we couldn't fit it all into one shot. According to the Lonely Planet, this is the first major Gothic construction in England. It was nice to look at, but we've seen some more awe-inspiring churches and cathedrals already, so the wow-factor meter wasn't going berserk.



This is out the back in the Great Cloister


We were a bit too cheap to pay the 2 pound photography fee to shoot inside the Cathedral, but we found these two in the Great Cloisters.



This is the Thomas Beckett pub. He was the famous dude who was murdered in the Cathedral cos he kept disagreeing with the King. Quite a nice little pub with a real fireplace and dried hops adorning the ceiling.


This is the Canterbury Castle. Rated highly on the crap-o-meter. It wasn't even suggested in the Lonely Planet (and for good reason). There wasn't even a moat.


I tried to make it fun anyway.


Canterbury Canal


A very old house


Simple Simon's. The oldest pub in Canterbury. Another quaint pub.


A cool little building.


We liked Canterbury. Very different to the Canterbury back home, although they did have a couple of kebab shops and lots of young "chavvy" people about. But, it's the first British place we've found that has a bit of a coffee culture. There were so many coffee shops there. Not just the big chains either. Very impressive. Must be all the international students attending the local Uni. Nice place to visit. And still lots of stuff that we didn't manage to do. Like, we didn't see the Canterbury Tales show, but we did go to Chaucer's bookshop and I bought an old hardcover copy of Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles. But, there seems to be other interesting things to do down that way in Kent. So we'll probably go back again.