Canterbury Castle, July 31, 2010

Part of walled city of Canterbury

Today we had a lovely leisurely breakfast and chat with Laura and Robert. Around 10:30, we headed for Canterbury Cathedral.

Squirrels?

It's part of the walled city of Canterbury, and is the seat of the Anglican church. For Becky, this was a pilgrimage akin to going to Jerusalem. The cathedral is a medieval architectural masterpiece, and is steeped in history. Thomas Beckett was killed in the church in 1170, for example.

Font in the church

Three swords used to kill Beckett

Modern stained glass of multiethnic people

The stained glass windows are beautiful, and most have been preserved. We spent several hours walking around the cathedral; Becky had the audio tour and filled us in the important and interesting points.








Lunch was at The Old Weavers, another very old building on the river, with a long history of serving food and as an inn.

We had a great lunch accompanied by beer, of course, then headed back to Ryarsh, with a stop at Sainsbury's for dinner supplies.

Off to have a drink before dinner now. Will write more details later. 

Robert surprised us with champagne for a toast for Mark for his birthday.

Then we had a delicious fish stew for dinner, accompanied by much laughter and good stories. Robert and Laura's son Alec and daughter Nell joined us at dinner, too, and we regaled them with stories of their Dad's time at MIT. It was a great evening.