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“How do you loose a cathedral?” |
Practical Information: We arrived at Heathrow at 7:15 a.m; made it through Passport Control and Baggage Claim and onto the Tube (£4 per person) for Victoria station by 9:00 a.m. The trip into London took less than the advertised 45 minutes and we boarded our train for Canterbury at 10:30 (£36.06 for two one-way tickets), arriving at 12:00. The walk from the station to our hotel took approximately 20 minutes. I'm a slow walker with bad feet and I found it to be an easy walk even with luggage.
The Pilgrim's Hotel is approximately a 5 minute walk from the Cathedral.
One full day is a sufficient amount of time to see the town of Canterbury and the cathedral.
Impressions: How do you loose a cathedral? We did...or we didn't loose it exactly we just couldn't see it until we were right at the front gate (next to the Starbucks). The side streets are so narrow that you really can't see any distance. The cathedral was awe-inspiring. The light shining through the stained glass windows lit up the interior and the lovely carved stone. Every time I’m in a cathedral I marvel at the workmanship and wonder how it was done without power tools.
The medieval timbered buildings housed everything from book stores to pharmacies. It was a little disconcerting at times to see a centuries old building with a sign advertising cell phones.
Only a portion of the stone wall that once surrounded the city is still standing. The wall and adjacent land has been turned into a park. You can walk along the wall or go down into the park proper where there are benches and places for children to play.
We took a river cruise along the Stour River and while it was a bit windy, we really enjoyed our guide's stories about the friars and the town's history.
There is a very modern and expensive shopping area just a few blocks from the cathedral. It's in a "newer" part of town so the shops aren't right next to the medieval timbered buildings
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