Off Out Today,

we are going to Canterbury,

 to look at the town, cathedral and have our breakfast/lunch, 

 after going through so many roadworks and temporary traffic lights,

 we finally arrived,

 then missed the turning for the car park,

 so round again, 

 to the car park, at £1.80 an hour we were not sure if that was expensive or cheap, only having used one paying car park before, all of the other times we have used them it has been a weekend so there was nothing to pay,

 we made our way through the walls of the city,

 and spotted a tea shop, that might come in handy later,

 and a reminder of our former home, a shop selling Thai handicrafts,

 also good news, a Wetherspoons, so that is our meal sorted if we find nowhere else,

 we were early, 

 so not many people about,

 we passed a church on the High Street,

 next to this tower,

 the legend,

 a neat row of shops,

 compared to the side streets that have evolved over literally hundreds of years,

 but one thing in common with many High Streets, every few shops, one abandoned and empty, also like many High Streets, every 7th or 8th shop a charity shop,

 but there it is, Canterbury is the same as many others in this respect,

 into the square and one thing we did notice,

 there were a lot of public houses and eating places still going,

 the entrance to the Cathedral grounds, we will be going there later, 

 but as we are here a quick pose,

 a rather neat ice cream van,

Debenhams on the corner,

 this looked nice but unfortunately closed for business,

 we bimbled around,

stopping and looking at the shops,

 restaurants and pubs, this one locked up and closed,

 but this on was open and great fun, the Whirligig Toys shop, 

 another restaurant,

 the green shop opposite sells handicrafts, we will be calling in later,

 this could be a choice for Diana, a Chocolate Cafe,

 a sign of the times,

 next to a really old building,

 unfortunately no clue as to what it is, so I assume a private house,

 another public house,

 OK I give up,

 is the Koran Cowgirl a restaurant, riding stable or pub?

 some more old buildings,

 we then went off of the main streets and found ourselves transported to a time before bricks,

 the buildings here using flints instead of bricks, 

 a few nicely planted out troughs,

 no shortage of cafes, but only a few advertising a full afternoon cream tea,

 we continued our walk,

 along quite streets with plain brick,

 or coloured facades,

 we hit a dead end,

 behind the sign,

 some work of the masons,

 then back to flint buildings,

 a craft,

 to lay the flints in there own right,

 we were soon in sight and sound of the River Stour, 

 little remaining of the original mill,

 but houses are still nearby,

 in the distance,

 45 minute escorted boat trips, 

 that are punted or rowed down and up river,

 some of the original lock fitting are still in place,

 we walked towards the weir, 

 not the place to fall in!

 as we walked over,

 one of the punts,

 did a 360° turn,  

 another in the distance,

 a quick pose,

 as the punter explains to the guest,

 some of the history of the river,

and here is the video,

naturally I had to get into the picture!

 we made our way back across,

 the weirs,

 and into town,

 where we passed this building,

 the legend,

Diana asked to stop here, 

 and in she went,

to buy this sign, since we started the upstairs room Diana has Christian it my 'Man Cave', so I guess the name will stick, 

 into the High Street,

 so many old shops,

 like these,

 and this one a favorite since we visited one of it's branches in Oxford on our last visit there, 

 the hospital open for visitors,

 here one of the two groups offering waterborne tours,

 of the river,

 everywhere you look old buildings, 

an magic shop or a bar? 

 well this is definitely a bar,

 as is this,

 with it's hanging sign,

 and wall plaque,

 we just had to look into the Jaguar dealership, 

 at the end of the street,

 we turned back and retraced our steps, 

 and for afternoon tea we decided on Patisserie Valerie,  

 my turn to pour,

 we had a seat in the window,

 watching the world go by, 

 and here is our selection, starting at the top which we will finish last, six cakes,

 in the middle which will be our middle course, two scones with current and two without, plus a large jar of fresh cream, and to top the scones, four jars of jam, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and apricot,

 and a number of sandwiches, all delicious, 

and here we are, the price including an extra pot of tea, £25 for the two of us,

 past the statue of Geoffrey Chaucer, dressed as a Canterbury pilgrim,

 and would you believe it? a Hotel Chocolate in Canterbury,

 I settled for a jar of sweets,

 the avenue leading to the Cathedral,

 a little bit of London,

 due to its age the cathedral is almost under a constant state of repair,

 as we entered past the group entrance,

 we looked at the main door,

 and stopped,

 for a quick picture, 

 and on entering looked up to see the shields on the ceiling,

 into the main part of the building, the nave,

 to say there has been a place of worship here a long time is an understatement,

 just look at the dates,

 we passed this sculpture in wood,

 looking up scaffolding,

 and netting everywhere,

 which blocked the view of some of the stained glass windows,

 the columns looking so huge, even so that we could not see the ceiling,

 a list of the bells and their weights,

 along the sides of the building

 memorials to fallen soldiers,

 in by many, long forgotten wars,

 the pulpit,

 and wooden archways,

 which led us to the first of the stained glass windows that was easy to see,

 and what lovely detail there was to be seen,

 looking up,

 was made easy, 

as the cameras eyepiece rotates through 90°, 

 and this is what you see if you look up,

 we walked past the Bell Harry,

me trying to take the perfect picture,

 and then past the organ,

 towards the middle of the cathedral,

 and past the Martyrdom,

 and one side of,

 the tomb of,

 Henry Chichele, 

 on the far side,

 a place for prayers,

 and a small chapel,

 with stained glass windows, 

 we continued towards Trinity Chapel,

 with it's windows,

 which were so beautiful,

 looking back towards the Nave,

the chapel itself, 

 Diana lite a candle,

 in the middle,

 a solitary candle burned, the texts below speak for themselves,

what more can I say? 

 some of the stained glass windows above this one are I believe being cleaned, and have been removed,

 others have been after being repaired put back,

 I remember being told of Edward Plantagenet so many times in history class at school, 

 I wonder if today he is still required reading?

 on more window,

 this one old,

 but behind this tour group,

 these are relatively new, 

the legend, 

 and for this one, 

 again the legend, 

 arriving at the exit,

 I noticed this,

 the Royal East Kent Regiment chapel,

 I mention it only, 

  because my father served in The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment,

 we said our goodbyes to the cathedral,

 and passed a place of worship which will hopefully be restored to its former glory for all to enjoy when the restoration work is finished, 

arriving home it was time to place the refrigerator magnet on the door, the car performed flawlessly, we travelled 116 miles and the car returned 57.7 miles to the gallon, (thanks Mike!), which I have to say I was quite impressed with, we are only going to make one post again today, as it took more than a little time to post, back to the evening, after our evening meal, a few quiz and antiques shows, plus a couple from Poirot, and we were off to bed.