Canterbury tour

The beautiful weather held out over the weekend. 
Saturday, I left Wilmslow headed for Canterbury. 
This town was there before the Romans and is still
going strong today.  It is a university town and has
a great blend of the historic with the new.  The sites
include an incredible cathedral
(except for the stained glass), some Roman ruins,
a large portion of the original walls of the city
(built by the Romans and modified later by different
tribes and the Normans), and a pedestrian downtown
that is a pleasure to walk around.

The church was started around 597 with the current
building built a little after the Normans arrived
(1066).  One of the early kings appointed Thomas Becket
to be the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He did this to
hopefully have an ally in the church.  Mr. Beckett,
however, did not toe the line and the king soon
wished that he would disappear.  A couple of the
King's knights (kinicketts for the Monty Python fans)
overheard the wish and made it come true.  They
killed Thomas in the cathedral.  Soon afterwards,
this church became the destination for pilgrims
from around England.  The Canterbury Tales were
written as a result.  (I think I got most of the
facts right, if not, remember the source.)

After the cathedral, it was lunch time.  This is
one great place to eat.  There is a huge selection
and all convenient to the sights and sites of the
city.  I decided to follow a younger crowd into a
Pasty Shop (no, not that kind of pasty).  I have
had pasties on a couple of occasions and they have
been good, quick meals.  The shop was extremely
busy and they had a good selection.  I chose the
wrong one.  By the way, if in Canterbury, take time
to walk the walls of the city......you get the best
views from there.

Second stop was Dover, and in particular Dover Castle. 
This site has been in use for a long time.  There are
still Roman ruins there from when they built lighthouses
to guide their ships into the Dover harbour.  A large
part of one of those lighthouses still stands.....but
the Romans were not the first ones there.  The entire
area around the castle is worth seeing.  They include
the Roman lighthouse, a castle with parts of various
age (400 to 800 years),  WWII gun emplacements, and
tunnels dug back into the white cliffs of Dover and
used during the last 300 years or so.  One of the
highlights was a falconry exhibition.  I only saw
the last two birds, (an African eagel owl and a
Peregrine Falcon) but they were incredible.  One
cool thing about Dover is that you can moon the
people in France from the cliff side observation deck,
which I assume was put there for that purpose.

Sunday took me to the Heritage Motor Centre just
outside of Oxford.  I actually meant to go to Oxford,
but got side-tracked.  Lots of great cars from the
last 110 years.  To top it off, there was an MG
rally out in front of the museum
(You would love this place Michael!). 
You would have to see these cars to believe them. 
Some of the highlights were a couple of James Bond
cars used in the movies.  The first was the original
Bond car, an Austin Martin used by Sean Connery,
and the second was a later Austin Martin used to
save Halle Berry in a more recent Bond flick. 
My favorites though were the Austin Healey 3000's
and the Triumph TR6's.  Great cars in a great setting. 
To top it off, on the way home, I drove along beside a
guy in a beautifully maintained '70s vintage 442. 
It had the steering on the left side (think US not UK). 
He had the windows down and the radio turned up and
seemed to be having a large time considering the cost of
fuel here.

I hope this finds all well where you are.

DWR