Canterbury

David and I got up relatively early to catch a train to go to Canterbury. It felt like we could have slept for days. England has a fantastic train system. You can get pretty much anywhere you need to get to by train and they run on time. The only drawback on taking the trains going south during the summer is that you're getting family beach crowds. We got stuck next to two loud groups on the train, but that didn't stop us from getting a little nap in on the way there.

David Asleep on the Train

I was expecting Canterbury to be very similar to York, but it turns out that it's a more modern city. It seemed to be a big destination for teenagers - there were lots of kids hanging out in the park, and lots of families strolling around the shops. We headed right to the cathedral, which is the big attraction.

The Gateway Arch to Canterbury Cathedral

Past the gateway arch, you get a glimpse of just how large the cathedral is...

Canterbury Entrance

A Side View of Canterbury Cathedral. This is still only about half of the full size.

An interesting spire on the outside. Notice the heads along the crest.

David got a map of the cathedral and we were on our way inside.

David at the Entrance

The cathedral is largely known for its stained glass. Unfortunately, a lot of the stained glass was bombed out in World War II. In fact, the only reason that the cathedral is still standing is because the Germans had poor maps of England. The locals in Kent would also light fires out in the middle of nowhere to try to trick the Germans into thinking the targets were in a different place.

The stained glass at the entrance of the cathedral.

Stained Glass

Once inside, there was nothing to do but wander around and look.

The Apse in Canterbury Cathedral

The Tomb of the Black Prine

A Stretch of Ceiling in Canterbury Cathedral

A Side Chapel in the Cathedral

A beautiful example of medieval painted word work.

A marble tomb of a king and queen (can't remember who)

Clock

We wandered around the back. We came across a room called "The Treaty Room". It was the room in which France and England signed the contract to build the chunnel together.

The Treaty Room

The monk's entrance in the back.

After the cathedral, we went to a place for lunch called "The Custard Tart". It was a tiny little shop in a back alley that was recommended by the guide book. We had a light lunch and grabbed some sweets for later.

For our next stop, we were going to take the train further south to Dover. The man at the ticket window in Canterbury was trying to save us some money on the fair and was taking forever to calculate and sell us a ticket. As we sitting there, our train rolled into the station. We eventually politely asked him to just sell us a simple ticket to Dover and we ran for the train. The conductor held the train a minute to let us on, but we got the sense that they barely ever hold trains for people.

David and I both fell asleep on the half-hour trip to Dover.