Suzanne and I made our own pilgrimage from London to Canterbury today by coach, taking 2 hours, not 4 days - warm sunshine luckily. We had a really lovely day out.
A rowing boat trip with Captain Jake
A 'hospitality house' which put up the pilgrims for no charge for one night when they arrived from London.
Residences on the riverbank are most desirable now the Stour is no longer an open sewer!
Nice rusty piece of sculpture outside the construction of the new Marlowe Theatre. Christopher Marlowe, we are led to believe, was killed by being stabbed in the eye in a pub brawl in Deptford, of all places! Another story says he faked this rather nasty demise, in the style of his writings, and fled to Italy in order to escape an assassination attempt by Queen Elizabeth's henchmen, as he was working as a spy for the Crown against the French and Spanish, but in reality he was a double agent, and his treachery was discovered! From Italy, he continued to write, and sent his manuscripts to England to his friend, a certain Mr W. Shakespeare, who published them under his own name!
The Weavers' House, a refuge for the Huguenots escaping France and Belgium.
Ducking stools weren't just for determining witches - short sharp punishments were meted out for nagging wives, and dishonest merchants as well.
Followed by a very nice lunch - sea bass caught last night.
A visit to the Canterbury Tales Experience; which was a series of tableaux telling the more family-friendly tales, complete with authentic smells and sounds.
Evensong at the Cathedral to round off the day.
Those 4 days on the coach would have so much fun had it not been marred by my unexpected pregnancy & subsequent lack of energy & basically feeling like I was going to die right there on the velvetine seat!! you lucky thing having sea bass for lunch, my absolute favourite fish in the whole wide world x
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