With a good crossing that didn't involve vomiting, we were on firm British soil once again. After a few laps up and down the highway, we found the right turnoff for our nights stay. After making sure everything is right with the girls and Springy, I had a pint of cider with the locals and other campervaners. That didn't finish until about midnight.........
The next day we headed towards Canterbury to see the cathedral where Thomas Beckett had some unexpected brain surgery. We scraped together enough coins to pay for the expensive parking and headed into the old town, looking for the cathedral (it's amazing how quickly tourist sites disappear the closer you get to them). We stopped at a Tea room which was made in 1550 for tea and scones and went mad at all the charity shops along the way.
I may have made this point before but the Charity (or Op) shop is an interesting phenomenon in a society. If you society isn't well off in general, there doesn't seem to be any any. If there seems to be have-a-bits and have-nots, you seem to have profusion of op shops. Maybe it has something to do with the society's culture of donating excess clothing? We can't remember seeing many op shops outside of the UK except for one in Sweden. Maybe The Poms are affluent enough to discard the previous year's fashions. All I know is the clothes are predominately for women. I keep thinking the men's clothes are from someone who has passed on as men generally wear their clothes until they can't be worn again and this may take decades......
Anyway, we found the entrance to the Cathedral Precinct and they wanted to charge us 28 pounds ($60 Australian) to enter. I've been to many cathedrals in my travels but this is the first time I have to pay to get near it. Sure some charge an entrance fee to enter the building but they generally have an area where you can stand and appreciate the majesty of the building without actually getting too close to the detail.
So we decided to skip the Cathedral and head on out to the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place. There has been some active discussion about actually where it actually did happen. Some say at the roundabout before the Abbey and some say a few miles away. Any which way, the place hadn't changed. You still had an audio file to listen to as you walked the path around the historical site. It still made amazing statements and then admitted that they didn't have much to back it with. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. They did have a new building talking about the build up prior and the weapons and armour used. It was amusing that the secured swords could be picked up to feel a blade but the shields be bolted to a metal weight that made the shield weigh 10kg heavier. Strange....
On the way to our night's stop, I saw a sight talking about a medieval fare in the district the following day. The only other medieval fare we saw in the whole trip was in Transylvania and that one was disappointing. The next morning we found the fare and Dee let me get changed into my non-Muggle clothes and do a reconnaissance. I spent too much time talking to other re-enactors and when I was walking back to Tell Dee I had organised how to get in for free, Dee had blown our cover and were talking to the front gate staff looking for me. Anyway, the event was filled with people doing very good quality re-enacting/living history and I felt like a honey bee visiting as many camp sites as possible. The interesting thing I saw was the high use of wooden framed glasses made in a medieval style.
We're now back in London in the flat we rented 4 months earlier. I was able to dig the mail out of the flat's letter box (I didn't have the key) and get our rego papers for Springy (phew!) as well as the Spanish free camping book and other bits and pieces about insurance and road side recovery.
Now the waiting begins to sell Springy. We thought 5,000 pounds was a good starting point. After a day of no hits, we had an offer for 3,000 which is the amount we were hoping to sell back to the person we bought her off, so we declined. I saw that Dee was getting nervous that we may not sell her at all, so I organised to see the previous owner and sell her. That would put money in our pocket and remove the anxiety. Unfortunately, he would only buy her for 2,000 which we accepted. A few hours later, we received a bid for 4,300...............Sigh! Such is life but I would have enjoyed having that extra 2,300 pounds (AUD$5,200). It makes me feel better that I didn't empty the toilet before selling her.
:)
So the bags are weighed and packed, the taxi is booked and we should be gone by 8am to the airport.
10 days to go before we're home. We're not planning on burning ourselves out in New York but seeing a few things, mostly the free ones. I have applied to view the Maciejowski Bible at the Morgan Library but it's being prepared for an exhibition in October but I can view my second option. Unfortunately, I don't believe I gave one......... Further discussion will occur!
But for now, Bed.
The next day we headed towards Canterbury to see the cathedral where Thomas Beckett had some unexpected brain surgery. We scraped together enough coins to pay for the expensive parking and headed into the old town, looking for the cathedral (it's amazing how quickly tourist sites disappear the closer you get to them). We stopped at a Tea room which was made in 1550 for tea and scones and went mad at all the charity shops along the way.
I may have made this point before but the Charity (or Op) shop is an interesting phenomenon in a society. If you society isn't well off in general, there doesn't seem to be any any. If there seems to be have-a-bits and have-nots, you seem to have profusion of op shops. Maybe it has something to do with the society's culture of donating excess clothing? We can't remember seeing many op shops outside of the UK except for one in Sweden. Maybe The Poms are affluent enough to discard the previous year's fashions. All I know is the clothes are predominately for women. I keep thinking the men's clothes are from someone who has passed on as men generally wear their clothes until they can't be worn again and this may take decades......
Anyway, we found the entrance to the Cathedral Precinct and they wanted to charge us 28 pounds ($60 Australian) to enter. I've been to many cathedrals in my travels but this is the first time I have to pay to get near it. Sure some charge an entrance fee to enter the building but they generally have an area where you can stand and appreciate the majesty of the building without actually getting too close to the detail.
So we decided to skip the Cathedral and head on out to the town of Battle where the Battle of Hastings took place. There has been some active discussion about actually where it actually did happen. Some say at the roundabout before the Abbey and some say a few miles away. Any which way, the place hadn't changed. You still had an audio file to listen to as you walked the path around the historical site. It still made amazing statements and then admitted that they didn't have much to back it with. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. They did have a new building talking about the build up prior and the weapons and armour used. It was amusing that the secured swords could be picked up to feel a blade but the shields be bolted to a metal weight that made the shield weigh 10kg heavier. Strange....
On the way to our night's stop, I saw a sight talking about a medieval fare in the district the following day. The only other medieval fare we saw in the whole trip was in Transylvania and that one was disappointing. The next morning we found the fare and Dee let me get changed into my non-Muggle clothes and do a reconnaissance. I spent too much time talking to other re-enactors and when I was walking back to Tell Dee I had organised how to get in for free, Dee had blown our cover and were talking to the front gate staff looking for me. Anyway, the event was filled with people doing very good quality re-enacting/living history and I felt like a honey bee visiting as many camp sites as possible. The interesting thing I saw was the high use of wooden framed glasses made in a medieval style.
We're now back in London in the flat we rented 4 months earlier. I was able to dig the mail out of the flat's letter box (I didn't have the key) and get our rego papers for Springy (phew!) as well as the Spanish free camping book and other bits and pieces about insurance and road side recovery.
Now the waiting begins to sell Springy. We thought 5,000 pounds was a good starting point. After a day of no hits, we had an offer for 3,000 which is the amount we were hoping to sell back to the person we bought her off, so we declined. I saw that Dee was getting nervous that we may not sell her at all, so I organised to see the previous owner and sell her. That would put money in our pocket and remove the anxiety. Unfortunately, he would only buy her for 2,000 which we accepted. A few hours later, we received a bid for 4,300...............Sigh! Such is life but I would have enjoyed having that extra 2,300 pounds (AUD$5,200). It makes me feel better that I didn't empty the toilet before selling her.
:)
So the bags are weighed and packed, the taxi is booked and we should be gone by 8am to the airport.
10 days to go before we're home. We're not planning on burning ourselves out in New York but seeing a few things, mostly the free ones. I have applied to view the Maciejowski Bible at the Morgan Library but it's being prepared for an exhibition in October but I can view my second option. Unfortunately, I don't believe I gave one......... Further discussion will occur!
But for now, Bed.
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