A happy accident brought us to the beautiful City of Canterbury. At the end of a visit to Whistable by the seashore our train was cancelled. We hopped a cab to nearby Canterbury station. Our nice and knowledgeable driver explained that Canterbury was one of the oldest towns in England.
There were settlements in the area even before the Romans arrived. During medieval times, Europeans visiting the British Isles often first stopped in Canterbury. Its cathedral became the religious center of England’s Anglican Church, home of the Archbishop. Today, tourists come to visit the place where Thomas Beckett was martyred in 1170 AD and where Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales in the 14th century.
Before we boarded our train, we walked by the town’s oldest wall. It was flying the Ukranian flag in solidarity with the nation under Russian attack. We meandered along a short portion of the Stour River, its banks covered with beautiful trees and colorful flowers. Our visit was brief, but long enough to realize there is much more to see in Canterbury.
