Sunday in the country

Chilham is probably one of the cutest towns I've had the pleasure to visit. If you're driving on the A252 and blink, you'll miss it. So watch out for this sign:

Sunday morning started with a wander over to the antique fair at the Chilham Village Hall where I was fortunate enough to acquire a Guide to the Olympic Games and London printed by the Daily Telegraph.

You can't go to the country without having a proper cream tea. Not a fan of tea myself I chose a hot chocolate but still enjoyed some tasty scones with clotted cream and jam.

Canterbury Cathedral is worth the trek to see and the £9 cover is worth it. Whether you're religious or not, Christian or otherwise. The amount of work that went into building this massive structure and the continued efforts that are made to maintain and restore the cathedral are impressive.

Saint Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas a Becket) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170 when he was murdered by a follower of King Henry II of England. I remember vaguely learning about it in a religious studies class at SFU years ago. Seeing the spot in person certainly makes the event more real.

The architecture and art of Canterbury Cathedral are impressive. The ceiling is so incredibly high you wonder how it was constructed with such exactness in the 11th century.

Canterbury's architecture, history and the experience is impressive. You feel lost in a massive building, insignificant against the incredible history and experiences that have touched the building and area. You wonder back to when it was used as a place of sanctuary by those in need of it. Pilgrims still visit it today. History has, in fact, never stopped.

It's not the destination but rather the journey

A good lesson was learned this weekend. It really is the journey that will leave us with memories and the experience. The destination is just a place you visit.

This weekend was what the Brits often term - city break. Because every now and then you need to catch you breath and get out of the city and into the country. Canterbury was out destination. But that's not the point of this story.

The British rail system is something to marvel at. You can get to all four corners of the nation within a few hours on the system. That is, of course, until you have a rail-side fire in Chilham that halts the system like a wrench in the gears. Our train was forced to stop in Ashford, described as a 'bit of a dive' by my mom. Rightly so.

After some confusion by the rail staff and mixed messages about whether we would be able to even get to Chilham, where our inn was, my travel companions and I hopped in a taxi and were on our way. It's difficult to get your bearings when you're riding in a cab, backwards, in the dark, but the driver eased our worries by asking, "Have you seen American Werewolf in Paris?" Still not sure why he did but we were given a brief history lesson about Jane Austen and soon enough within twenty minutes we arrived safe and sound at 600 year old Woolpack Inn, our home base for the next two nights.

You know it's a proper pub when there's a wood fire burning in a massive fire place and the place is full of locals enjoying a pint on a Friday night. We were more than happy to join the party and have a few drinking before retiring for the evening.

Saturday's theme was definitely 'the foot path.' The countryside is full of them. Sometimes they're along rivers or lakes, other times through a farmer's field, an apple orchard and sometimes between two fences.

Our 17 kilometre hike through the country followed Time Out London's route from Chilham to Canterbury through Chartham and Chartham Hatch.

If we had taken the path most often travelled we would have missed out on meeting some unexpected friends:

And wouldn't have walked through the hops fields of Kent:

Nor would we have had a tasty pub lunch at The Chapter Arms, a quaint country pub in Chartham Hatch. Where, I must say, the fish and chips are delightful.

It wasn't the destination that made the day. It was the journey: the company, the challenge, the excursion and the unknown. So take a leap and step into the unknown. Follow that path and you may find something you didn't expect. And you'll probably enjoy it more than you expect.

More to follow on Canterbury. We did actually make it there. With slightly tired and very muddy feet.

Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's...

This weekend was a pretty spectacular one. There's very little opportunity to be bored in London. The museums are free to wander through, the markets exist for adventures seekers and the local pub is great for people watching and a tasty cider.

It's Sunday evening and my feet are tired and my stomach is full. Definitely a sign of a solid weekend exploring all the corners of London.

Saturday morning started early with my on a bus by 8:00am. Time for a visit to Portobello Market with a good friend that's just as content to get lost down a winding street in a foreign city as I am. Always a good characteristic!

Notting Hill Gate Station is packed with tourists and the poor book store employee probably had to direct about 15 tourists down the street to the market in the short time I was waiting there. Really, there should be a proper map. Nothing can be simple in this country.

The market was runs the length of the road and even when you think you've reached the end, there's more to come. Antiques, up on antiques, plus food vendors, fruit and veg and tourist souvenir vendors.

There may have even been a bit of (unconfirmed) Banksy spotting as well:

And a beautiful wall at the north end.

Post- market adventures took us to Hampstead Heath for a pub lunch of fish 'n chips at The Freemasons Arms Country Pub & Dining.

Sunday is Flower Market Day at Columbia Flower Market so for the second day in a row I was up, and on a bus early to meet some lovely friends from Vancouver. Being even bigger food lovers that I we ducked into the little bakeries and dessert shops, as well as an organic pub in Islington.

The flower market is quite incredible with people shouting random things out: "Two for a fiver." or "We need the money!" and even "I'm sorry, we only sell flowers." Kudos to the flower vendors of Columbia Road Flower Market for the morning entertainment.

Summing this weekend up in just a few short bits does not give it justice. Being away from home, the people I love and familiarities is never easy. Having people to share adventures and new things with is always fantastic. Especially when they share your sense of humour:

...Here comes a candle to light you to bed,

And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

To market, to market to buy a fat pig.

Markets and London are synonymous with each other. There are websites available for tourists to pick and choose their neighbourhoods, their needs and their wants. Looking for food? Antiques? Flowers? There's an app, I mean, market for that.

Today was my third full Saturday in London and I was wanting tasty, tasty food. Cheese, meats, desserts. It was all to be had at Borough Market today. Little tip: go early, get out early.

Enter Borough Market and you have incredible cheeses from small farms in England and France. Samples are thrusted at you and let's be honest, you don't want to say "no, thank you."

Organic vegetable retailer, Turnips, showed their best with amazing heirloom tomatoes and purple carrots.

Giant meringues seem to be quite popular in London these days. I've seen them at a few different bakeries around town since I arrived. Perhaps they're like cake-pops back home and just a fad. You can only eat so much at a time as they're super sweet and make such a mess (not that I would know anything about that..)

What might be considered quite shocking in Vancouver would be the amount and type of game and animal that is eaten in Great Britain. Even more so is how it is presented in a markets. I think that shopping at Asda's, Tesco's, Safeways and Save-Ons have created a disconnection between ourselves and the food we eat. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we need to kill, skin and bleed out our animals (just like we don't need to build our own homes out of mud and hay - there are specialists for this.) But being we should recognize that the chicken breast we're eating in fact comes from an animal that was once living and breathing. The vendor at this stall proudly showcased his items for sale:

Finally, the best carrot cake and icing that I have ever had, was devoured today. I would like to thank 'cakehole' for my newly formed addiction. The tiny, inconspicuous stall may have you asking, "Really, this place?" My response, "Really. This. Place." I highly recommend the carrot cake with lemon mascarpone cream cheese icing. I'm sure any other cake will do but this one knocked my socks off.

Next week: Portobello Market. It's known for antiques but where there are crowds with money to spend, there are food vendors.

Getting 'lost' in London

Saturday morning was absolutely brutal. First 'Friday Night Drinks' kicked my arse, big time.

Luckily some fresh air, bowl of chips and a ginger ale were a good cure and got me back in shape.

I met a good friend from Vancouver and was treated to a curry dinner in Brick Lane. I will have to go back when the stalls are open. The neighbourhood and people remind me of Thailand with every neighbouring stall being run by a 'brother' or 'cousin'. Everything is 20% off, etc etc. A good vindaloo was had with a chicken korma, happy stomachs all around!

With a lovely night ours to use we did some wandering through London, tagged onto a bit of a 'Jack the Ripper' walk and then found a gold mine: Leadenhall Market. It was completely empty on a Saturday evening as it's tucked in a financial/banking district.

The things you find when you wander but are not lost.

Next up: apartment hunting

So it's approximately Day 7 and the 'family' is hunting for a new home. The landlord is looking to up the rent an extra 500 pounds per month because it's 'Olympics time.' Bollocks to that so we've contacted an agent and she's found us 2 flats in the same building and the one that it looks like we're moving 2 floors down. It seems a lot of work but it works out to saving approximately 3,000 pounds in total.

After 2 days of work I'm still alive and ready for our official induction tomorrow. I can't wait until we get on site and get things rolling. Also, a pay day.

This weekend I'm thinking of checking out the Columbia Road Flower Market on Sunday. And maybe head into the Trafalgar Square and do some wandering in the free art galleries.

Nothing overly exciting but here's a photo from this weekend's wandering. It's the Greenwich Foot Tunnel: