My Canterbury Tales
About a week and a half ago [too busy to post!], Marissa and I went to Canterbury. We went mainly to the the oldest Gothic cathedral in the UK, that I studied briefly while at UofT. We hopped on a bus bright and early Sunday morning and set out for the 2-hour journey via coach. It was a miserable day but we made the best of it with colourful umbrellas. When we got off the bus, I was surprised at all the high street stores in such a small city [150,000] - h&m, topshop, and so on. It took 6 million people in Toronto to get an h&m! This town must get a lot of tourists. The main street was fully pedestrianised with heavy foot traffic. The buildings were so beautiful done primarily in a proper British tudor style.
We set out wandering the streets. We found a farmer's market at which we weren't allowed to dine. The restaurant was completely empty but we were told they were full. It was suspicious. We saw the old entrance gates from the former fortified city as well. Finally, at noon, the cathedral opened.
GAP... oh, and UK's oldest gothic cathedral... :)
The Canterbury Cathedral.
We spent about two hours wandering the cathedral. I've never actually been inside one. I've just seen a couple thousand photos [I'm not exaggerating, am I Anna?] It was MASSIVE and since it's so early in the Gothic period, it's a smaller example of the style. Insane. This is the ribbed vaulting of the nave.
Interior transcept quadropartite elevation.
Interior choir elevation.
A view from the apse right through the cathedral to the west facade.
Marissa and I chilling in the cloister.
After the cathedral, we went to the Roman Museum. It was very silly, but we got a student discount. It was in a basement. The highlight were some original Roman foundations that predated the British occupation. The rest of the 'museum' was kind of a joke. The descriptive text was all on paper printed off a computer. There were old school mannequins that acted out various scenes of daily Roman life. It looked like a budget master's thesis or something. As we played with the tesserae [glass mosiac tiles] in the children's area, we overheard a man exclaim that it was the best museum he'd ever been in. We had to cover our mouths to avoid laughing out loud.
Next we went for hot chocolate and 'brown sauce'. I'm still not sure what this brown sauce is all about. I don't know when it's appropriate to eat it, or why anyone does. Its ingredients remain a mystery... I mean.. BROWN SAUCE... What is appetising about that?
We tried to go to 'The Tales of Canterbury' exhibit. But we weren't exactly sure what it was and although the guy at the front desk was very passionate about it, we passed as the student price was still 7 quid.
After a spot of shopping, we went for dinner at 'Cafe Latria' [above]. After a day in the rain, we wanted a hot meal in a cozy environment. We sat on the upper floor, by the window of this charming tudor building. We had a delicious soup and sandwich.
It was definitely nice to escape London for the day.
We set out wandering the streets. We found a farmer's market at which we weren't allowed to dine. The restaurant was completely empty but we were told they were full. It was suspicious. We saw the old entrance gates from the former fortified city as well. Finally, at noon, the cathedral opened.
GAP... oh, and UK's oldest gothic cathedral... :)
The Canterbury Cathedral.
We spent about two hours wandering the cathedral. I've never actually been inside one. I've just seen a couple thousand photos [I'm not exaggerating, am I Anna?] It was MASSIVE and since it's so early in the Gothic period, it's a smaller example of the style. Insane. This is the ribbed vaulting of the nave.
Interior transcept quadropartite elevation.
Interior choir elevation.
A view from the apse right through the cathedral to the west facade.
Marissa and I chilling in the cloister.
After the cathedral, we went to the Roman Museum. It was very silly, but we got a student discount. It was in a basement. The highlight were some original Roman foundations that predated the British occupation. The rest of the 'museum' was kind of a joke. The descriptive text was all on paper printed off a computer. There were old school mannequins that acted out various scenes of daily Roman life. It looked like a budget master's thesis or something. As we played with the tesserae [glass mosiac tiles] in the children's area, we overheard a man exclaim that it was the best museum he'd ever been in. We had to cover our mouths to avoid laughing out loud.
Next we went for hot chocolate and 'brown sauce'. I'm still not sure what this brown sauce is all about. I don't know when it's appropriate to eat it, or why anyone does. Its ingredients remain a mystery... I mean.. BROWN SAUCE... What is appetising about that?
We tried to go to 'The Tales of Canterbury' exhibit. But we weren't exactly sure what it was and although the guy at the front desk was very passionate about it, we passed as the student price was still 7 quid.
After a spot of shopping, we went for dinner at 'Cafe Latria' [above]. After a day in the rain, we wanted a hot meal in a cozy environment. We sat on the upper floor, by the window of this charming tudor building. We had a delicious soup and sandwich.
It was definitely nice to escape London for the day.
posted by Douglas J. Stiles, BA Hons, MES! at 11/02/2006 03:07:00 p.m.
1 Comments:
Dude .. your friend Marissa shes a hottie.. i guess us nOrth side Jiggy folk know whats up.. and whats up is that we only hang out with the hottest of the hot.
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