Chunnel & Canterbury

Today we headed on our way for our British Isles vaccation. After loading the car we headed to Calais to board the Channel Tunnel (or better known as the Chunnel). We drove on to the train's second deck and rode to England under the English Channel. 25 minutes later we were off the Chunnel and heading to Canterbury for our first stop. Driving a left-hand vehicle on the wrong side of the road (narrow country roads) made for an interesting start to our two weeks here. Even with two years of left-hand side driving in Japan behind us we still were weirded out by being on the wrong side of the car. So we got to the heart of Canterbury and started our exploration. We had a quick lunch and headed towards the famous cathedral. On our way we stumbled upon the Museum of Canterbury. Emilie and Tori both wanted to go so we decided if it stunk that it wasn't old Mom and Dad's idea. Well it turned out to be a great little museum. It told the story of Canterbury beginning in ancient times through the modern era. The displays were kid friendly and we got to learn a lot about this town and its interesting history. The kids really liked hearing about Saint Thomas Becket, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury until 1170, he was murdered in the cathedral and that event began the famous pilgrimage to Canterbury. The medieval section was also nicely done with Tori getting to dress up in a period dress. Mom really like the last two exibits that covered Bagpuss and Rupert the Bear. Bagpuss was a kids show played on BBC and CBC from 1974 on and Rupert is a storybook turned cartoon show that she watched also. Both characters were developed by native Canterburians. After the museum we headed to the cathedral. The grounds of the cathedral are steeped in history dating back to Saint Augustine's arrival in the 6th century. We got to listen to a practicing choir and stroll around the magnificent cathedral and grounds. There were still sections of old walls and buildings that were hit during WWII from German air raids. It was really cool being there. It made reading Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", back in school, more relevant. We then headed to the Canterbury Castle for a quick stroll. This castle was used as a prison for many years and is in a state of ruin now. After that it was hotel, diner, hotel for the night. Tomorrow heading west into Wales with a possible stop at Stonehenge.