Hi all!
Had a chilled out night at Jamie's last night and then this morning set out to King's Cross station for a spontaneous daytrip adventure with Jess from school!!
We had a bit of a crappy day Friday and had been saying we needed to get out of the city so we got the train for an hour to Canterbury, Kent.
Canterbury is very famous for its beautiful cathedral, the martyrdom of Thomas Becket (more on that soon) and also for being the site of pilgrimage in 'The Canterbury Tales' poems by Geoffrey Chaucer.
We had a really great day chatting and enjoying the tranquility of somewhere that wasn't London! Don't get me wrong - I love London and I'm enjoying living there. But it's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the constant sirens, bus fumes, rubbish everywhere and people always in a hurry. It was nice to come somewhere quiet where we could stroll around leisurely and chill out.
It was 24 degrees and sunny today, the weather was fantastic! So naturally I donned my jumpsuit (essentially shorts and a singlet joined together) and sandals and complained all day about how hot I was. I'm becoming a Londoner :P
First impressions - we were so excited to see trees in groups, houses not joined together and stand in an alleyway and hear literally nothing! Yay!
We saw cute canals, beautiful Tudor houses (so excited to tell the kids at school as we have been learning about these!) and lane ways filled with cute little shops. Had a look in a few of these and then headed to the cathedral.
The Canterbury cathedral was first built in 597 AD. In 1170, archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral. King Henry II had appointed him archbishop in 1162 and apparently Becket took the role too seriously and started to disagree with everything the king said, so the king decided to have him killed (how very religious of him hey!!!). Soon after, miracles were said to take place here so it became a famous pilgrimage site. We paid the £10 entrance free and spent just over an hour looking around the crypt, nave, chapter house (with beautiful stained glass windows from 1176 of Jesus' ancestors!) and the gardens. It was really nice, and the sun continued to stay out!!
We then sat down for lunch in a cute little tearoom. Had a sandwich (cheddar and chutney) and soup (tomato and basil) special which was delicious! Then shared cream tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. Mmmmmm!!!
Had a look in some more shops and Jess bought some gorgeous sunflowers (some for me - so thoughtful!) and we made a quick stop at Primark (as you do!). Then we walked the 20 minutes to the Spitfire Ground in St Lawrence. Australia were playing Kent and we decided to take a quick look!! We didn't want to fork out the £25 each but instead got to poke our heads through the gate and have a look. We were 2/132! Bought an ice lolly (icy pole) and sat down to eat it.
We then walked back to the station via the bustling shopping street and just missed a train by one minute. But we didn't mind!!
Got the train back to King's Cross and then walked home. Then last night I went to Clapham Junction to meet Jamie and some other people from the footy club for a drink.
Had a chilled out night at Jamie's last night and then this morning set out to King's Cross station for a spontaneous daytrip adventure with Jess from school!!
We had a bit of a crappy day Friday and had been saying we needed to get out of the city so we got the train for an hour to Canterbury, Kent.
Canterbury is very famous for its beautiful cathedral, the martyrdom of Thomas Becket (more on that soon) and also for being the site of pilgrimage in 'The Canterbury Tales' poems by Geoffrey Chaucer.
We had a really great day chatting and enjoying the tranquility of somewhere that wasn't London! Don't get me wrong - I love London and I'm enjoying living there. But it's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, the constant sirens, bus fumes, rubbish everywhere and people always in a hurry. It was nice to come somewhere quiet where we could stroll around leisurely and chill out.
It was 24 degrees and sunny today, the weather was fantastic! So naturally I donned my jumpsuit (essentially shorts and a singlet joined together) and sandals and complained all day about how hot I was. I'm becoming a Londoner :P
First impressions - we were so excited to see trees in groups, houses not joined together and stand in an alleyway and hear literally nothing! Yay!
We saw cute canals, beautiful Tudor houses (so excited to tell the kids at school as we have been learning about these!) and lane ways filled with cute little shops. Had a look in a few of these and then headed to the cathedral.
The Canterbury cathedral was first built in 597 AD. In 1170, archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral. King Henry II had appointed him archbishop in 1162 and apparently Becket took the role too seriously and started to disagree with everything the king said, so the king decided to have him killed (how very religious of him hey!!!). Soon after, miracles were said to take place here so it became a famous pilgrimage site. We paid the £10 entrance free and spent just over an hour looking around the crypt, nave, chapter house (with beautiful stained glass windows from 1176 of Jesus' ancestors!) and the gardens. It was really nice, and the sun continued to stay out!!
We then sat down for lunch in a cute little tearoom. Had a sandwich (cheddar and chutney) and soup (tomato and basil) special which was delicious! Then shared cream tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. Mmmmmm!!!
Had a look in some more shops and Jess bought some gorgeous sunflowers (some for me - so thoughtful!) and we made a quick stop at Primark (as you do!). Then we walked the 20 minutes to the Spitfire Ground in St Lawrence. Australia were playing Kent and we decided to take a quick look!! We didn't want to fork out the £25 each but instead got to poke our heads through the gate and have a look. We were 2/132! Bought an ice lolly (icy pole) and sat down to eat it.
We then walked back to the station via the bustling shopping street and just missed a train by one minute. But we didn't mind!!
Got the train back to King's Cross and then walked home. Then last night I went to Clapham Junction to meet Jamie and some other people from the footy club for a drink.
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