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.
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