Friday, July 8th - Canterbury

Mc has always dreamed of going to see the Canterbury Cathedral and so that was our number one destination while in the UK. We found that the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge was actually one of the best deals (you can get an “economy” room, meaning no/limited Cathedral view, for 60 pounds. It was located on the cathedral grounds and included admission to the cathedral and a lovely breakfast) and booked in advance.

*SuperNova Travel Tip:  When traveling to the UK, book as much in advance as you can. The UK, London in particular, is really expensive and you can often find good deals online at home before you go. Also, if you book and pay for things in advance then it won’t be such a shock or drain on your budget once you get there.

We managed to do the 2 ½ hour trip from the airport to the Canterbury train station without missing any stops, despite our fits of narcolepsy during the ride. The website told us that it was a mere 10 min. walk from the train station to the cathedral grounds and we set off (is it "luggage" because you lug it around?).

*SuperNova Travel Observation:  People in the UK have a different interpretation of how time works. We did a lot of research for this trip and while that was helpful, the number of minutes listed on websites that it took to walk from one spot to another was always off by anywhere from 10-20 min. Listed times became known to us as listed in “Imperial minutes.”

When we finally reached our lodge (and climbed 3 flights of stairs) and flopped on our beds (2 twins we just pushed together) with deliriously blurry visions of sleep in our heads, we looked at the time and realized it was 5pm and that we should just pony up and go explore the city a little and then go to bed at a normal bedtime.  So with more effort than should have been necessary, we headed out.

Canterbury is a lovely city, well worth the trek outside of London. It’s a walled city with cobblestone streets and a neat compilation of new and old shops. We wandered the streets for a while, holding hands and letting the fact that we were in another country sink in. Well, Mc was letting the fact that we were in another country sink in. I was letting the fact that we were in another country where they speak English set in. I was really looking forward to going to a restaurant and ordering without relying on my fluency in Gestures.  After wandering for awhile, we decided to have our first dinner at a restaurant called The Old Buttermarket in the square across from the cathedral.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: If unsure about which restaurant to pick in a new area, pick the one that has a lot of people.  If it's a normal eating hour and a restaurant is empty, keep looking.  Good smells are also excellent indicators.

Once seated, Mc ordered an English pear cider and I had my first imperial pint, which is 20 oz. instead 

of the usual 16. (In other not unrelated news, I do not have an imperial bladder.) Then we topped off our first night in England by ordering pizza. No, of course we had fish ‘n chips and bangers ‘n mash (actually, it was award winning Cumberland sausages and mash with onion rings and gravy, but that doesn’t sound as colloquial). I was surprised to discover that most fish ‘n chips we came across didn’t come with fish pieces like at home, but with one huge hunk of fish on top of a pile of chips. The fish ‘n chips also came with some mushy peas which were no better than they sound. But kudos to us for trying the local cuisine! After dinner we were finally, blissfully able to crash.