Canterbury

Last week, my parents and I attempted to escape Cornwall's most recent monsoon season by venturing off across the country to visit my little brother in Canterbury. Being the protective (and slightly nosy) older sister that I am, the main purpose of this trip was to inspect my brother's new university lodgings and decide whether or not they were up to standard. However, after I concluded that they were certainly up to standard and that he is- in fact- a rather jammy git, we also managed to squeeze in quite a lot of sightseeing!

Here are a few pics from our travels, if you'd like to take a look... :)

When we arrived in the city centre, we took a little wander down the King's Mile and had a nose around in a few of the shops that line the streets on either side. I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Canterbury's second most photographed building (after the Cathedral, I suppose) over the heads of passers-by. It's called The Crooked House and apparently gained it's famously skewy look after alterations to an internal chimney caused the whole building to slip sideways. Oops.      

There's an inscription above the equally skewy doorway, taken from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, which gives a charming description of this very unusual building: "...a very old house bulging out over the road... leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below..." Charles Dickens, 1849.    

After a great deal of meandering about Canterbury's winding streets, we decided to stop off for a cup of tea at a lovely little cafe called Kitch. This place is the bees knees when it comes to cakes- everything is homemade and, joy of joys, they offer more than one gluten free option! Naturally, I plumped for the most exotic thing I could spot and, I have to say, the raspberry polenta cake I chose was a great accompaniment to my usual cup of earl grey.

They even offered us a few milk options with the tea- a godsend to someone like me, who's always embarrassed to be that idiot piping up about the possibility of almond or soy- and when the tea came they brought the milk out in little bottles! I'm a total sucker for details like these, so you can imagine my reaction when our waitress served the tea in proper vintage-y china cups and saucers...    

Canterbury is a crazily busy city with a constant stream of visitors walking its streets from dawn til dusk but, strangely, amongst all the hustle and bustle it still retains a really cosy and friendly feel. Even though crowded places aren't really my jam, I found myself happy enough to just amble along with the masses and take in all the quirky little boutiques and street vendors (like the 'little green box' street cafe above) that the city has to offer.       

On our second night in the city, we met up with some old family friends for a cheeky cocktail or two before heading off to the local Chimichanga's for dinner. I'm afraid to say my brother and I sort of scoffed and slurped ourselves senseless... ordering a giant plate of nachos, extra fries and then a rather huge cocktail to share between us. In our defence, the food (and the student discount) was just so blooming tasty!        

The next day, each of us nursing a bit of a sore head, we took a trip to the local harbour town of Whitstable.  

The smell of all the foodie fare on offer here- everything from lobster and chips to candy floss and churros- gave us a real hankering for a classic seaside treat. I must say, there's nothing better after a windswept walk by the coast than settling down with a salty bag of chips and a big ol' mug of tea. 

This really was perfection :)         

After our impromptu lunch, we returned to Canterbury in order to spend our last evening at the one hotspot we hadn't visited yet- the cathedral.

On our way down towards the cathedral, however, we quickly popped into a shop I'd visited and fallen in love with on a previous trip to Canterbury. Charmingly named Queen Bee, this tiny boutique-y shop in the heart of the city centre is filled with gorgeous bits and bobs and stocks everything from teapot lamps to hand-painted vintage writing desks. On this visit, I even spotted some tins of old-fashioned chalk paint in a selection of shabby-chic colours that the shop sell alongside the classes they run in upcycling old furniture...a fab idea!

Once my parents managed to drag me away from Queen Bee's delights, we made our way down towards the cathedral entrance.  

As it was after 5.30pm, entry into the cathedral grounds was free, which meant we could take our time wandering around this magnificent building at the off-peak end of the day. This also meant that I could grab my camera and sneak off to get a few shots of the cloisters on the quiet.  

I must admit, I got quite emotional walking through the empty cloister by myself- there was something a bit eerie about being alone in the presence of such vast and beautiful architecture. 

It was, all in all, a rather spectacular visit- I had such fun visiting my brother and getting to hear about all the wonderful things going on in his city (he could be the mayor, I swear...he loves it there so much) and I really hope that I'll get a chance to visit him again soon.  

Thank you for reading :) I really love sharing what I'm up to with you and seeing your comments! It truly makes me happy. Be sure to keep up to date with me on Bloglovin & check out what else is inspiring me on Pinterest!     

All the love,

Sian x