9/16/2025 Breakfast is included during our stay. The breakfast room is very nice and there is outside seating which would probably be a good option in better weather. It's around 8:45 am. Pleasant surprise. Menu card on the table. You can order what you want. Great. I am not a fan of the breakfast buffet. We both got orange juice and tea and coffee. I asked for the mixed fruits, toast, and scrambled eggs. Richard started with granola with fruit and eggs Royale-toasted English muffin, smoked salmon, poached eggs, spinach and Hollandaise sauce. He said it was great and I loved my fruit. I also loved the little jars of jam especially the black currant.
 |
| Granola with fruit, my bowl of fruits, orange juice, tea, coffee |
 |
| Eggs Royale |
 |
| Scrambled eggs |
Canterbury Cathedral. Will do another visit to see the things we missed yesterday. Great Cloister. Chapter House. Water Tower-built by Wibert, prior from 1153 to 1167. Drainage and water supply system which carried the water from springs north-east of the Cathedral to the Water Tower where it was sent up brass pipes to a cisterns the first floor so that the monks could wash. System also used rainwater from the gutters on the Cathedral roof to flush the drains. Quire. At the gift shop I bought jewelry-necklace and earrings. Cost with my 10% discount was 291.36£/$396.95 These each have a tiny piece of purbeck marble. This is a fossiliferous limestone found in Dorset, England. The stone can be polished to reveal thousands of fossilized shells. This type of marble was used extensively by medieval builders for flooring and architectural features such as columns, capitals, and string courses.
 |
| This is our hotel with Canterbury Cathedral in the background |
 |
Great Cloister
|
 |
Ceiling of Chapter House-wagon vaulted roof made of oak
|
 |
| Chapter House-East end Victorian window depicts historical characters associated with Canterbury-Queen Bertha, St. Augustine and King Ethelbert. They are credited with establishing Christianity in southern England. Also saints, archbishops and royalty ending bottom right with Queen Victoria |
 |
| Ceiling |
 |
| Mirror allows you to take a picture of the ceiling without cranning your neck |
 |
| Water Tower-efficient drainage and water supply system |
 |
| Too funny! |
 |
| Water Tower |
 |
| Water Tower |
 |
Reading Room and exhibition
|
 |
Quire-slender columns, vaulted ceiling, pointed arches. Gothic.
|
 |
| Postcard-Quire |
 |
South-East Transept
|
 |
| South-East Transept: Window-Salvation is about leaving behind the evils of WWII represented by a padlock with a keyhole in the shape of a Nazi swastika |
 |
| South-East Transept: Window-Peace shows God welcoming children of all nations to his bosom |
 |
| Military hero and the epitome of the knightly ideals of chivalry Died 1376 |
 |
| Corona Chapel-named after the corona or very top of Becket's head which was sliced off as he was martyred |
 |
Tomb of Henry IV who was devoted to the cult of St. Thomas. Henry died in 1413 and is buried with his second wife Joan of Navarre who died in 1437.
|
 |
Thomas Becket
|
 |
Trinity Chapel
|
 |
| Trinity Chapel-Marble mosaic pavement inset with roundels showing the seasons and signs of the zodiac. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Now we have time to explore the town a bit. Our hotel has given me a map of sorts. I have done some research so I'm off to find the post office to mail my postcard and a pharmacy to pick up some things Richard wants. Also just to take in what's what in this town. I stopped at some souvenir stores. I bought a coffee mug at Heritage of Canterbury. Cost 5.95£/$8.11 I also bought a hat at Cool Britannia. Cost 10.65£/$14.51 At WH Smith there was a post office/Royal Mail in the upper level. I bought a stamp 3.20£ and mailed my postcard with fingers crossed I'd receive it back home. FYI not only did that postcard make it to my home but it arrived before we even got back home! At the Superdrug store don't remember what we bought. But it cost 10.48£/$14.28 There's even a MacDonald's here. This is a cool town. Before heading back to our hotel we stopped at an ice cream/gelato food truck. Richard didn't want any but I got a single scoop cone-salted caramel. It was so tasty! I should have gotten the 2 scoop but in a dish so it wouldn't melt all over.
 |
| Entering town through the Christ Church Gate |
 |
| Constables' Office |
 |
| Other side of Christ Church Gate-undergoing renovations? |
 |
| Postcard |
 |
| Hat I bought |
 |
| Coffee mug I bought |
 |
| Ice cream/gelato truck |
 |
| I got a single cone of salted caramel |
 |
| Re-entering the Cathedral grounds through the Christ Church gate |
 |
This is what the Christ Church Gate on the other side looks like. Right now this side is undergoing renovations and is covered up.
|
 |
|
Pinocchio's. Our reservation for dinner is 6:30 pm. Our hotel called for a taxi for us. Taxi to the restaurant. Cost 10.00£ There's a couple by the door when we arrived. They asked us about this place. Did we have a reservation or not? When I replied we did have a reservation I also told them it wouldn't hurt to see if they could get a table for dinner. The place is named after the puppet Pinocchio and there are some figures of him. Cute. Place is very busy but there are a few empty tables. We got seated immediately. Specials for the day written on a chalkboard. Lemonade for Richard and an espresso martini for me. I got the tagliatelle bolognese. It was hot, the pasta was al dente, the sauce was superb! Loved it. Richard went with the swordfish special. Pan roasted swordfish in chef's marinade served with fresh salad and roasted potatoes. Small dish of green parsley and caper sauce. He was very happy with his choice. Fish done perfectly. Dessert. I ordered the affogato and shared it with Richard. He gave it 2 thumbs up! Cost 59.70£ but got our 10% discount so 53.73£/$73.20 This place was a great experience. Service and food were outstanding plus that discount! Taxi back to Christ Church Gate. Cost? But I think it was the same company that we used to get to the restaurant from our hotel. Lovely to walk the Cathedral grounds at night to get back to our hotel. So quiet and peaceful.
 |
| Cab Direct-taxi to restaurant |
 |
| Taxi to dinner |
 |
| Old city walls |
 |
Lemonade
|
 |
| Espresso martini |
 |
| Place is busy |
 |
| Blurry picture of our taxi after dinner |
Tomorrow we head to London! We're at the end of our trip and we're looking forward to going home. Unfortunately we both got sick but I'm doing better. Richard still tires easily and is not up to a lot of walking. Walked 2.34 miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment