Canterbury

Early Saturday morning of last weekend, Carin, Leah and I left on our pilgrimage to Canterbury. Though I admit it was quite different than the pilgrims' journey in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales because we traveled by bus instead of horse...oh well! The hostel we stayed at in Canterbury was wonderful! (most hostels are a little dodgy) The staff was so welcoming and in our bedroom of seven women there was two Canadians, one German, one Australian, and us three Americans! It's crazy how many people from all over the world end up in England.

We saw many sights in Canterbury: The very well done Canterbury Tales attraction that depicted scenes from the famous work of Chaucer. I read some of the tales in high school English, but I had forgotten how funny they are! We also went to the gorgeous Canterbury Cathedral for church on Sunday morning. It was stunning how beautiful the interior was! It also happened to be the start of the Canterbury Festival, so we joined the exciting night parade one evening! I felt a little like I was in marching band again as we walked to the beat of the brass and drums leading the parade. :)

The best part of the trip was our decision to rent bikes and ride them the 7.5 miles to the coastal town of Whitstable. There is a special trail for this called the Crab and Winkle Way (amusing, I know.) It was a perfect fall day and I loved, loved biking under the orange trees and hearing the crunch of leaves under my bike tires. I kept thinking as I pedaled, "I'm biking in the English countryside on an autumn day with two amazing friends. How perfect!"

The coast of the North Sea was great, though the water was freezing! We had a fun time just relaxing before we had to bike back. What a fabulous weekend in Canterbury we enjoyed!