Day 5--Canterbury

I asked Tracy the other day whether Molland House was haunted. She's lived here seven years, and says she's never seen or heard anything. However, she says one of the cleaners swore she once saw a man in a long dark cloak walk down the hallway without making a sound, and a relative of Tracy's swears she once heard and saw the swish of petticoats at the top of the stairs.

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Well, each night I'm getting a few more hours sleep, and my head cold has improved, though I still have the sniffles. After kippers (smoked fish) for breakfast, and a quick nap, we went to Canterbury. Now the trip is starting to catch some steam. The first thing we did, after lunch, was the boat tour. There is a brief film clip at the bottom of the page (unfortunately I was unable to capture any of the tour guide's frequently witty observations, so the footage makes the tour seem like a dry history lesson, when in fact it was quite entertaining).

After the boat tour, we detoured over to the remains of the old Franciscan monastery (top picture above), which was a nice bit of tranquility in what is really a very busy city. Then we detoured for about an hour into the Roman museum, which was interesting, although the place was swamped with French students.

Our next stop was Canterbury Cathedral. Although not as big as Notre Dame, it certainly is breathtaking, and it is certainly the largest cathedral mother has ever seen. Inside we met up with an assistant or docent, a very friendly and amusing guide who gave us an impromptu tour of "the crypt," which, despite it's name, is quite vast, open, and beautiful. She pointed out interesting historical and architectural details that might have escaped our notice, and did so in a very entertaining way. Shakespeare wrote that "All the world's a stage" but he might well have said "All England's a stage."
After the cathedral, we had tea and pastries at a corner patisserie, where we made the acquaintance of Alissa, our server, a drama student from nearby University of Kent (yes, another actor), and spent a long time swapping impressions of our respective countries. The English, on the whole, have made us feel quite welcome. Even the cabbies have been friendly.
After a French dinner, we caught the bus back to Ash. Tonight another attempt will be made at a good night's sleep before our sojourn to London tomorrow. Cheers!
John FishNChips, haunting the streets of Olde England
P.S. By Franciscan I, of course, mean the religious order founded by St. Francis of Assisi. There are still Franciscan monks in Canterbury, and we saw a few of them walking down the street in their traditional monkish garb amidst crowds of mostly college kids in contemporary fashion. Franciscans are not to be confused with San Franciscans, who wear much less clothing and are usually on roller blades.

Day 4--Roman fort and the Secret Garden

Well, I still have a head cold but I managed to get a few hours sleep this morning, which helped get me through the day. Mother and I went up to see Richborough Roman Fort. It was mother's first opportunity to see actual Roman ruins, but they're mostly just foundations. It was very quiet and tranquil though. I hiked over to the amphitheater, which is just grass on top of a hill, no foundations or anything. I laid me down in the green grass of England and took some pictures of nearby cows.

We then went down into Sandwich, had lunch and spent a couple of hours in the Secret Garden. One of the main reasons for doing this trip was so that mother could tour some actual English gardens. We're hoping to do Sissinghurst Garden on Sunday, but the rains came in late this afternoon, and it may rain on and off all weekend. Oh well. On to Canterbury tomorrow and London on Saturday, where we will be doing the London tour with Edouard. Til then, as the locals say, Cheers!

John FishNChips, hiking the moors

Day 3--Ash

Well, mother and I were supposed to go to Canterbury today, but my head cold got very severe this morning in terms of congestion in my sinuses, exacerbated no doubt by my continuing lack of sleep. Mother, however, is well and has been sleeping, so she decided to go explore the village of Ash and possibly the Secret Garden over in Sandwich today, and we'll do Canterbury either on Friday or Sunday, by which time hopefully I will have my act together.

John FishNChips

Addendum: though I didn't get a nap, I did eat lunch, take a shower, and went down into the village for a walk, all of which was a big psychological boost. Mother didn't make it to The Secret Garden, but she did find some tea houses in Sandwhich. I've posted some pictures above of the main church in Ash and its environs, as well as a shot of me with one of the Molland House kitties.

Day 2--Sandwich

Day 2 started off rough for your exhausted blogger, as my Sleep Deprivation Experiment continues, and my head cold is not making things anymore pleasant in that department. Nevertheless, mother got some sleep so she was up for an afternoon self-guided walking tour of the nearby medieval town of Sandwich. We had fish n' chips at a restaurant that was built in the 1780s as a coach house. We even stopped in a local co-op supermarket and bought some items. We plan to tour a local garden, named, funny enough, The Secret Garden, on Sunday, weather permitting. Mother loved the town's architecture, it's cluster of picturesque homes, and we ended the day relaxing in the courtyard/sanctuary of the town cathedral. I'm now waiting for dinner to be served, after which I plan to take one of mother's Benadryls to help with my congestion and hopefully help me to sleep for 12 hours. Then I'll be bright as kippers!

John FishNChips, Esq.

P.S. Travel tip--in England, there is no need to tip the cabbies anything more than a pound.

Day 1--Arrival

Our journey from Havre de Grace, MD, to Ash, Kent County, England turned out to be more arduous than it needed to be. Everything was fine until a thunderstorm swooped in and decided to sit on top of BWI Airport, causing a three-hour delay in taking off. In fact at one point we had to turn back to the gate to refuel because we had been sitting on the tarmac so long. I started to wonder if it would have been quicker if we drove.

But one way or another we made it here. First, by extremely expensive taxi cab from Heathrow to Charing Cross Station; then, two and a half hour train ride from London to Sandwich; and finally another cab ride to the Molland House. I have included pictures of its interior and exterior above. The owner, Tracy, is extremely outgoing and friendly, and a fantastic cook to boot. Mother and I both had cottage pie for supper. We started things off the English way. We look forward greatly to breakfast tomorrow.

Now I'm typing up this post on Tracy's computer because my wi-fi connection won't work. As usual, technology problems follow me like a shadow. I am always prohibited for some reason, and of course whatever I have is never good enough. Probably why sometimes I'd like to scrap it all. OK, this is not a very upbeat opening to this blog, but this is what jet lag and zero hours of sleep will do to you. Exhausted and tired, this is John FishNChips, Esq., signing off.

Or, John Takes His Mother to England for a Week

So after two years I finally get to return to Europe, and what happens? Freakin' volcano! That wasn't even on the list of probabilities. I used to love Iceland, but now they're pissin' me off!

No, seriously, I love how Iceland makes such a nuisance of itself.

Actually we were more depressed at the possibility of being stranded in the U.S. instead of England. This is my mother's first overseas adventure (my fourth) and we've been planning it for over two years. It was intended to be a retirement/65th birthday present from my sister and me, but my sister and her husband adopted a child instead. And that's a whole other different kind of adventure. :-)

So I'll be taking Mom to England for a week. We plan to visit gardens, tea rooms, London and Canterbury. I also plan to meet up with my "French connection" Edouard. (OK, that's a joke, DEA!) And we'll be staying right outside a town called Sandwich. And given the recent volcanic ash that strangled European air travel, it is even more ironic that our B&B is located right outside Sandwich in a little village called . . . Ash. You just can't make this stuff up.

We leave on Sunday April 25th on the red eye.

Til then . . . Cheerio!

John FishNChips, Esquire