CANTERBURY

The website for Canterbury indicated that there was a German Christmas Fair being held in that fair City, so with thoughts of our previous experience in Vienna last Christmas, we departed early for the 60 mile trip. The forecast was 2 - 8 degrees so we went well prepared.

Seeking a parking spot in Canterbury we drove around with little success, and then when we stopped at a road junction, happened to notice that there waa steam pouring our from under the bonnet of the faithful old Vectra. An inspection revealed the cap of the reservoir had blown off and was fortunately sitting on the engine, meanwhile the water had disappeared down the street! And of course this was one time that we had not taken the mobile phone with us!! A young man stopped in his car and asked if he could help - then offered his mobile phone which we used to call our Roadside assist from the Insurance company. About 40 minutes later they arrived (having driven from Dover 20 miles away!) and soon had us back in business. Naturally it was Len's fault - he had checked the oil and water before leaving, and after topping up the reservoir had obviously failed to screw the cap back on tight enough to prevent the resultant blowout!

So we found a parking spot (2 quid all day) and trundled off to find our Christmas Fair. Canterbury is a most charming city, a mixture of old and new due in no small part to pretty severe damage inflicted by German tourists in the 1940's using bomb releases instead of Leicas! There was very much a festive air about the place and it was very pleasant to stroll along the streets. We eventually found the fair which consisted of a mere five stalls mainly involved in selling Glewein and German sausages ! Disappointing to say the least.


So we visited the Tourist spot featuring the Canterbury Tales. This was excellent value with a series of dioramas, each one relating a Canterbury Tale.Top photo was taken there and Len is the figure on the left! Then we went to visit the Cathedral,an absolute must. It dates back to the 6th century although it has been rebuilt and added to over the years. It is a bit awesome to stand on the spot where poor old Tom Becket was put to the sword in 1170. And the Western Crypt is almost 1000 years old which adds to the eerie feeling. There was an Evensong Service at 3.15 which the missus wanted to attend, and as I hadn't seen a Pub handy I thought I might as well accompany her. It was very ritualistic with lots of bowing and scraping, but the choir was superb and as my hearing reluctantly failed to catch a single word of the reading, it turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Did a bit of shopping naturally, and savoured a hot glass of Glewein (3 quid a glass!) and then back to the car. Carol drove home, stopping at the first service station to buy some anti freeze to top up the aforementioned reservoir.