Day Trips to Canterbury, Dover and Brighton

Monday, June 5th, we road-tripped to Canterbury, where we explored the famous cathedral and it's grounds, and the surrounding town. The cathedral is drenched in history, containing the tombs for many kings, queens, saints, deans, priors, etc. It is quite beautiful and very well maintained, although not particularly ornate on the inside, comparitively speaking of course. We walked the town and it too was quite charming, with loads of little shop lined narrow streets and buildings and businesses that have been there for hundreds of years. We caught a train to Dover, and despite our efforts to get up into the castle, we were too late and turned away. Taking the guards guidance, we tried circling the castle grounds for a walk along the cliffs, but ended up having to reverse our tracks all the way back into town, through town, and back up from the bottom instead. It was a long walk, but we were eager for the exercise. Turns out, there really isn't a whole lot to see from where we ended up. There were some really nice views behind the cliffs, of the rolling green hills, and the castle, but there weren't many while cliffs in our view, and the water, although very pretty in itself, was cluttered up by the very busy industrial port. We had a tasty, cheap meal in a pub, and took the train back to the hotel.

Tuesday, June 6th, we road-tripped to Brighton. Neither of us had been there before. I had low expectations, based on a few of the little blurbs I've read, and Vee had no expectations. Well, what a treat!! Just a great beach city with a festive vibe and lots going on. The water was a fantastic blue green, and the pebble beach was vast and long. We strolled down the main street into town, then veered left along the coastline where we walked and walked and walked until we finally got to the marina and quaint waterfront condo complex, then turned around and walked back. About 4 hours later, we finally took a break for another cheap, but delicious pub meal, and continued walking for another hour or so before finally heading back for the 55 minute train ride to the hotel. Almost all of the buildings we saw, if they weren't recently, and/or meticulously restored and/or maintained, there wer in the process of it. There were so many clubs, bars, restaurants, shops, cafes, galleries, theatres, etc., as well as a cathedral, and a number of other historical buildings. And, in the distance, was a while cliff lined coastline that went on and on. We really really enjoyed ourselves, and coudl imagine folks coming here for long weekends or weeks at a time during the Summer months and having a blast.