The Last Pilgrimage

One of the most famous pilgrimages to make in England is to travel to Canterbury. Originally, people did this to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett, who was murdered in his own Cathedral while Archbishop. The Canterbury Tales are the stories of a group of people making this pilgrimage.

Who am I to argue with tradition? So, my last holiday trip in England was to Canterbury - although I didn't walk. I took a bus.

I had a wonderful time wandering around the city - there are so many interesting buildings and ruins and museums to see! I met up with my esteemed colleague, Dr. Gill Watson, and she showed me some of her favorite sites and then drove me an hour away to her house in Goudhurst.

I spent a delightful two days there - we walked around the Kent countryside, picked blackberries, had traditional English cream tea (meaning afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream) at Sissinghurst, and played a couple intense games of Scrabble.

Apart from a bit of drama at the end - our picnic on the Kent coast became a picnic in the sun room when we discovered that a neighbor unwittingly blocked Gill's car in her driveway - it was a wonderfully peaceful and relaxing weekend. Kent is a beautiful part of England, I highly recommend visiting Dr. Watson!

But if you do, don't bring any dependents. I thought Olivia would enjoy a nice holiday, but as Gill kept trying to sheep-nap her to return her to "her natural habitat", I had a rather exhausting time keeping my eye on her.
The full story of the trip is in the captions of my Kent photo album.