A Day Trip to Canterbury
We were up early today… our objective: a day trip to the city of Canterbury!
We each had set our alarms for 6:30AM, and they both came screaming on at the same time. We showered, got our stuff together and left the Euro at 7:15AM. Earlier we had decided against having our breakfast at the hotel, as they didn’t start serving until 7:30 and we had an 8:40 train to catch.
We made our way to St. Pancras International to catch our train. We were quite early so we decided to have a light meal to tide us over until we could get a full breakfast at Canterbury. We settled on Le Pain Quotidien in St. Pancras in St. Pancras and had a light (but carb-heavy) meal of bread and croissants, served by a very friendly fellow from Italy (later when paying the bill we chatted with him, and he said he has many relatives in Toronto).
At about 7:50 we finished our light breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien and left to find the platform for our Southeastern train. It finally appeared on the Departures board so we made our way to the platform, boarded the train and found our seats: a very comfortable 2-seater. We pulled out of St. Pancras station exactly on time: 8:40.
Arriving in Canterbury
It was a pleasant ride to Canterbury and we were there in under an hour (50 minutes to be exact). We disembarked from the train and started to get our bearings – first stop: a proper breakfast. We found a lovely café called The Kitchen Refectory just outside the train station, so we went in and ordered. Vince had a “Veggie Up” and an Americano; I opted for Eggs Benedict with my usual English Breakfast tea. It was all very good:
Exploring Canterbury
After breakfast we started exploring Canterbury. Canterbury is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s not a big city (pop. 55,000), but is extremely significant historically and culturally. The site of the city is ancient – it has been occupied since Paleolithic times. Many historical structures fill the area: a city wall founded in Roman times and rebuilt in the 14th century, the Westgate Towers museum, the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey, the Norman Canterbury Castle, and of course the most famous structure in the city – the Canterbury Cathedral. The Cathedral is what we are most interested in exploring today.
We spent most of the day wandering the fascinating city of Canterbury:
The Geoffrey Chaucer Statue
Geoffrey Chaucer was a medieval English poet, writer, and philosopher and one of the best English poets of all time. He is considered a father of English language and literature, and is best known for his work The Canterbury Tales.
The plinth of this statue depicts the characters featured in Chaucer’s Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, but their faces are represented by locals with Canterbury connections. Actor Orlando Bloom, who was born in Canterbury, is depicted at the front of the plinth as the “Young Squire,”along with other locals. There are 29 pilgrims mentioned in The Canterbury Tales, which tells the stories of pilgrims travelling from London to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
The two-meter high sculpture of Chaucer was created by Kent sculptor Sam Holland, and the plinth by Lynne O’Dowd.
The Crooked House
On Palace Street you will find The Crooked House. a quirky, skewed 17th century, half-timbered building at the end of the Street. It is one of the most photographed buildings in Canterbury. The structure looks as though it could topple over at any moment, but the building is actually very secure because a steel frame keeps the landmark sturdy. The shop is currently home to Catching Lives Bookshop, who stock fiction and non-fiction books:
At this point during the day we had a refuelling stop at Costa Coffee. I loved their washroom sign:
Canterbury Cathedral
Our ultimate goal while in the city was to tour Canterbury Cathedral, which we did in-depth. We were in the Cathedral for about 2 hours – what an amazing and awe-inspiring place:
The War Horse Memorial
Just beyond the Cathedral sits the War Horse Memorial. This memorial commemorates the 8 million horses who died during active service in WW I:
The Friends’ Garden
Just past the War Horse Memorial sits The Friends’ Garden. At the centre of the garden a statue commemorates the Royal East Kent Regiment, known as the Buffs, whose origins date back to 1572:
The Harris Memorial Garden
Just past the Friends’ garden sits another calming space: The Harris Memorial Garden. This war memorial outside the Cathedral, and is named for George Harris, 4th Baron Harris. The County of Kent War Memorial Cross stands at the centre of the garden. The garden stands as a memorial to the people of Kent killed in the First World War.
It was so nice to see all of the Cathedral and its grounds this time; during our 2010 visit here we had only a few minutes from the guided tour we were on, and had to practically run through the Cathedral.
Return to London
At about 4:00-ish our feet and stomachs were telling us we’d had enough for the day, so we returned to the Canterbury West train station, where we caught the 4:20 train back to St. Pancras International.
We arrived back in London at about 5:15. Returning to the Euro we rested a bit, then headed out to our anticipated dinner at Choppaluna – we needed some fresh veg! It was a delicious meal and most appreciated.
Finishing up at Choppaluna, we left and stopped in a convenience store to buy water and chippies! We returned to the Euro at about 7:30, got into our comfies and spent the rest of the evening reading, talking and catching up on this journal (me). Exhausted after doing over 19,000 steps today! Off to bed at 9:30.
Today’s step count: 19,243
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