Days One and Two: Canterbury and Folkestone, UK

During Julia's visit, we spent two nights in and around Canterbury, then two nights in the foothill towns north of Turin Italy where my Peraud grandparents are from, followed by two nights on the Meditarian in the town of Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre, Italia. I hope here (and in the next few posts) to simply share a few photos from our week.

 

Berfore a fabulous dinner at RockSalt (www.rocksaltfolkestone.co.uk/)  in Folkestone (just east of Dover), we rode a water powered tram down from the town centre to the sea. The best part of this trip was that we were joined by some locals, an older couple, probably grandparents, with their seven year old or so grandchildren who were making their way back to their parents in the parking lot below. "Wave to Mummy." With Julia here, it was fun to rediscover the accents.

 

 

Public art, of sorts. Quite fun.

Just outside of our restaurant, the docks and traps from which and with which our meal was gathered. No fake, Red Lobster decorations, here. Much like the locals in one of the pubs we visited, this is the real deal: a right proper Britsh fishing village.

As a well-adjusted midwestener who was raised on Gordon's fish sticks (and honey) during Lent, I've never been one to enjoy fish that when served, looks like it did when it was alive. I have, admittedly, missed out on what I am told were some very good meals because of this aversion. Julia knows this, of course (and loves me anyway) but even she couldn't resist teasing me when our prawns were served. While I am not sure I will change my aversion to "fresh" seafood in St. Louis, these big little guys were amazing! (Wait until you see the pizza we had in Vernazza.) 

 

After dinner and my being scared at the table by a tricker-treater who had made his way past the hostess and into the restaurant (no really, I jumped, quite to the amusement of the reserved Brits at the next table), we took the city bus back up to Canterbury.

Before turing in we had a drink at one of my locals (www.forgebistro.co.uk) where we were greeted by a group of five drunkish thirtysomething males who were down from London to have a bit of fun with their mate who had never seen a cow. The beauty of technology allowed us to watch the video they made of their friend running in fright from the unamused cattle.

Upon learning we were from the States, one of the guys, a high school English literature teacher, talked about his frustration with the way poor students in the UK are being excluded from equal opportunity. He had hoped to become an administrator so he could help remedy this discrepency. He also wanted to teach in the U.S. where, as he thought, we don't have these problems. I was surprised by how much his (mis)perception of education in the States matched mine of the UK. Our conversation was cut short, however, once they realized there were free coupons to be had for the strip club down the street.

And, even if it hadn't rained, with Julia here, it was a perfect day.