Visiting Lyla in Canterbury

The last weekend in February I had a long weekend from work.  I bought a ticket to go visit Lyla at her university in Canterbury months ago, so I was very excited by this point.  On Thursday I flew up to London (saying Jo Napot to my Hungarian flight attendant, thus causing her to drop the sandwich she was holding out of shock) and caught the train to Canterbury.  After a change in London, I was soon in the quaint little town.  Lyla picked me up from the train station and we headed to her dorm, where she made me dinner and we caught up.

The next day it was out sightseeing in the city.

This is the town wall.  The double-decker buses entering the city go through that little door in the middle, passing inside the walls by only two or three inches on either side. 

Canterbury was just so English.  Little buildings crammed together, canals, and rolling green fields betrayed the hundreds and hundreds of years that England has been tamed.

The entrance to the Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican church. 

me in front of the Cathedral

looking up the giant tower of the cathedral

awnings inside

The cathedral is quite large, and very open-planned.

the dome

There was a lot (a LOT) of very intricately patterned stained glass.

There were also a lot of tombs of famous people and royalty.

the wall of the cathedral gardens

me and Lyla

After visiting the Cathedral, Lyla and I got lunch at a pub.  She had a steak pie and I had a seafood pie.  We both had delicious, hoppy ale, poured from a hand-pumped tap.  Yum.

That night I went with Lyla and some of her friends to see the horribly depressing new Javier Bardem film, Biutiful, which is very good, though it has its weird moments for sure.  After that, we went to a party at one of her classmate's house.  It was fun and everyone was very nice.  Saturday we had thought about going out to the coast, but we awoke to a gray and rainy day, so we decided to do some more sightseeing downtown and just relax, shop a bit (I bought an awesome little dress and some jewelry, all on massive sale), and enjoy some time together.

First we made bangers and mash for lunch.  Again, yum.

Walking around the town, we looked at all the cute old buildings.  This bookstore was established centuries ago and really gets the most space out of its small parcel of land.  Do notice the crooked little door.

Pretty! 

English!

Silly!

After a "tasting menu" dinner of Polish Zsurek, Scottish Haggis (sooo good!), and Koleves-inspired Roquefort pasta, Lyla, her friend Rebecca, and I headed out dancing.  I also had the most delicious cocktail I've ever had: gin, watermelon, and elderflower liquer.  Also, new dress!  Cheers!

Sunday we woke up, made a fantastic breakfast, and relaxed for a bit before I had to catch the train back to the airport.  It was great to see Lyla again and just relax and get to know her new home.  I love her.  And Canterbury is gorgeous, too!