Today I woke at the ungodly hour of 7:30 (having gotten home at 4 in the morning eek) to make good of my social programme trip to Dover and Canterbury. It poured ALL DAY 😦 And the winds were so bad that they ended up closing Dover Castle (a fortified structure. Doesn’t make sense to me either) so I only got really rainy pictures of the outside. Whatevs. Hopefully they will reimburse us.

Lots of rain droplets.

Then we took the bus ride back down to the seaside, where we braved the high winds and torrential rain to catch a glimpse of the distant white cliffs, which would probably have been gorgeous in the sunshine.

We basically left immediately for Canterbury after that because we had nothing else to do, but the ride was about a half hour so not a big deal. We walked through cute little streets towards our destination…

I went and paid the £6.50 for Canterbury Cathedral, which was of course beautiful from every angle.

The first cathedral was established in 597. I can’t even comprehend the ancientness.

A candle sits where Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered on false orders in 1170.

Me and the view from the east end.

Sitting on the steps leading up to the Quire and looking up gives you this view of the very top of Bell Harry Tower.

Some dark stained glass I really liked the look of, and the mood it set for the south transept.

The cathedral houses the tombs of Henry IV and Edward the Black Prince of Wales (son of King Edward III of England), and also has a crypt where Rachel and I breezed through. It was lofty and silent and eerie. No pictures of dead people. Too imposing.

Afterwards the group and I strolled over to The Old Buttermarket pub for some good eats.

I ordered a delicious meal of Lamb & Apricot Pie filled with mint gravy, mashed potatoes and vegetables, and apple juice! Mmmmmm.

Then we wandered through some sweet shops, got ourselves a free sample of Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline from a chocolate shop, and then headed back to the bus for home. On the way, we saw the remnants of a small church where Christopher Marlowe was baptized, which was cool.

But after all that, today was still very disappointing, not only because of the rain, but because I felt like I did not see Canterbury at all for how long we sat in the pub. If I have time, I think I will make a point of at least going back to Dover. The end.