Canterbury Tales

This past Sunday we were able to go on a historical tour of Canterbury with our ward. Our Bishop used to be a tour guide of some kind and decided that he would do this for us. (Originally it was for just the new students, but then it became a whole ward thing... which I like better.)

So this was our first stop. This is St. Dunstan's, one of the oldest church in England. It was built in the late 1100's; and the "new" wing of the church was built in the 1500's. Thomas Moore's head is buried on the grounds. (Cool random fact.)





Next on our tour was sadly just an old door. (It was too big for me to take a good picture of it, unless I wanted to get hit by fast moving cars.) Apparently the family used to own most of the land in Canterbury. Sir Thomas Moore's daughter married into the family.

The door was cool, and at some point I will get a good picture of it.



This house was pretty cool because it was mentioned by Charles Dickens in his book David Copperfield. This was the school that David went to. (I've been told I should read this book.)



Then we saw the oldest hotel in Canterbury, "The Falstaff Hotel" established in 1403. (All of these numbers just blow my mind!) I just can't imagine things being that old.





Then our next stop was the West Gate. I tried to get a cool picture of a double decker bus going through it, but none went by whilst we were there. But honestly they fit... by a few centimeters. It's awesome, and kinda stressful to be in bus when they are squeezing through. It reminds me of Harry Potter when he rode the "Knight Bus" and got all squished.





This is where (back in the day) the poorer travelers would stay that couldn't afford a hotel. It was a hospital. But a hospital in the hospitality sort of way and not the I'm sick and need care kind of way.





This was an old pub that was special for some reason that I can't remember. I do remember that Kathleen, Jesse, Annie and I ate there about a month ago and the chips were amazing... as were the mushy peas.



This was an old inn that one of the Queens named Elizabeth entertained her gentleman friends. I'm sorry, I am like a child; my attention span is really short, so the details start to get fuzzy about half way through the tour.



And finally we arrive at the square before the Canterbury Cathedral. (That was the main event.)




Really pictures won't do it any justice. It's just beautiful, and something you should see for yourself. So hop on a plan and get over here! =)