A Canterbury Tale

First things first, I've never actually read The Canterbury Tales; I don't even know what it's about.  But the small city of Canterbury in the Kent region of England is the absolute cutest.  It's got everything from picturesque waterways to adorable lanes lined with historic buildings, all topped off with one of the most famous gothic cathedrals in England.

Kendra and I arrived in Canterbury early in the afternoon on a Sunday in November.  The first thing on our list was to find a pub for a hearty English Breakfast.  We struggled a bit at first, as most places were either over-priced restaurants with a tourist clientele or local pubs that didn't serve food.  Finally we took a chance on a tavern called the Cherry Tree we spotted down a side road and were treated to a breakfast I can't stop dreaming about.  Eggs, English bacon, sausage, tomatoes, fried mushrooms, beans, chips (fries), and fried bread all for under 6 pounds! 

Once our big meal was out of the way we had another mission - new boots for Kendra.  We popped in and out of shoe shops, taking in the town as we went.  Gorgeous architecture was everywhere - like all of Europe, really - and the smell of fresh roasted chestnuts filled the air as people got a start on their holiday shopping.  

After finding the perfect pair of boots - on sale too - we headed towards the cathedral for an Evensong service.  Evensong is a short service commonly held in the late afternoon or early evening in Anglican churches.  Taking place in the quire, the 45 minute long liturgy includes times of prayer and scripture readings interspersed between songs sung by the choir.  Both the quire and the choir were beautiful, and it was a great way to get out of the cold for the better part of an hour.

When the service was over we stopped by a Tesco to pick up our go-to 3 pound meal deal (a baguette sandwich, superfood smoothy, and pack of crisps - how can you go wrong for $5?) before making our way to the train station.  It was just before 5 and the train we booked back wasn't until 7:30, but we figured we would see if our ticked was valid on an earlier train as all the shops in town closed at 5 and there wasn't much left to do in the dark.  We got the okay from a station staff member to take an earlier train, but still had more than 30 minutes to wait so we popped into the closest pub, the Unicorn Inn, for a quick pint before returning to London for the night.