Exploring England: A day trip to Canterbury

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND

One day in Canterbury, England.

Confession: Liebling and I are overly hyperactive and suffer from an acute case of “ants in the pants” syndrome. These two bothersome conditions often result in impromptu weekend excursions to yet-undiscovered locales, both near and far. (This is great for the soul but usually hard on the wallet.)   You see, it is never enough for us to sit around at home on a sunny Saturday or Sunday, luxuriating in laziness; it is simply not enough for us to while away the hours watching athletes on the telly run across a field or down a court with some sort of ball. One of my favourite weekday pastimes — endlessly browsing fashion and gossip websites for the next trend or scoop (don’t judge me) — just won’t cut it on these long, languid days of supposed rest.

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No, a weekend (especially one with good weather) fans the flames of our curiosity and wanderlust until they are high and hot and crackling. We don’t just want to experience something new, we need to. Of course, with London being such an excellent travel hub, this means that our weekends while living there mostly consisted of travel to places like Copenhagen and Lisbon and Amsterdam. On the occasions where a getaway abroad wasn’t possible, we contented ourselves with travel around the UK, discovering places like York, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Cornwall.

Which brings me, of course, to our day trip to Canterbury (yes, of The Canterbury Tales fame) this past April.

Our decision to visit was made on a whim, fueled by our inherent restlessness and a subsequent quick scan of destinations within a hour’s train ride of London.  Located in the district of Kent and branded a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its history and architecture, a jaunt to Canterbury was a natural choice. (The relatively cheap train ticket helped, too.)

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 Exactly one hour after boarding our train at King’s Cross St. Pancras, we disembarked in Canterbury.  The small historic centre is quaint, cute, and highly photographable.  We loved it. Of particular note is Burgate, one of the city’s oldest streets, which is thought to be over 1000 years old. As Liebling and I arrived sans map or guidebook we elected to sign up for an hour long walking tour. We paid 10 GBP per person and I felt it was well worth the expense as the guide was animated and extremely knowledgeable.

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Perhaps Canterbury’s best known attraction is its cathedral and not without reason. We spent a good amount of time meandering about its cavernous interior.

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Liebling and I also discovered that a stroll along the banks of the River Stour is highly deserving of your time, particularly if the weather is nice.  If you go at the right time of year, the grassy patches are abloom with all kinds of comely flora.  This is a great place to unwind and I took time to smell the roses — literally.

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If you’re wondering about the food situation, never fear — Canterbury is not a place where one could ever go hungry. A snack of scones and tea (so British, huh?!) before our walking tour as well as lunch at a traditional English restaurant kept our stomachs sated.

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So, what’s the verdict? Well, our impromptu field trip to Canturbury turned out to be a cracking success, at once quelling our restlessness and wanderlust… at least until the following weekend!

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Have you ever travelled around the UK?  What’s your favourite city?  And how do you keep boredom at bay in general?

SHARING IS CARING

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