Canterbury, in the county of Kent, in the realm of her magesty Queen Elizabeth II

Yes, we're in England. (!!!!!!!!!) No, it wasn't part of the original plan. I'd like to know how many of you kids knew we'd do something like this. (Leave a comment on the blog. We LOVE to read those by the way.)

So we had to be at the ferry by 6:45 yesterday morning. We went through customs which is great because now we have a stamp for England in our passports :) The ride over took about 90 minutes. Huge ferry boat. I slept most of the way. We passed the cliffs of Dover as we landed. Once we landed the adventure began. As you know, folks drive on the left-hand side here. Terrifying best describes it. For some reason we always felt like cars were coming right at us - especially on the very narrow (16 feet wide) country roads with absolutely NO shoulders. Often there's a building just 6 inches of the road or a "wall" of bushes that are "trimmed" from cars brushing against them when they drive by. The country roads are like snakes with one abrupt curve after another. The locals drive very quickly and often we were startled by a car coming at us around a bend. Dave said it was more difficult to drive here than in Paris. Paris was very busy but here, you have to concentrate very hard all the time. For some reason turning right takes a lot of thought. It just doesn't feel right. Once around the corner, I have to remind Dave to stay on the left side.

Since we really only had a day in England we decided to stay very close to the Dover - where the ferry is located. London was about 90 minutes away but we weren't up to another busy city. So we headed to Canterbury. I believe in the Heath Ledger (probably spelt that wrong)movie (A Knight's Tale?), they mentioned Canterbury. Alway it sounded like a great place to go, and it was. (I think this was my favorite day yet.)

We found out there's a time change here - one hour earlier. Many kids were on their way to school. Amy, in the 3 countries we've been in, all the kids are still in school. Most of the kids wear uniforms and there are many class trips taking place.

We found a hotel right away - in an incredible old home which was built in 1830 in the Victorian Gothic style. This is probably the nicest, most unique, and expensive place we'll stay in. (Laura you would love this place.) They let us in at 10 am which was great. It allowed me to get my blog post for Thursday written.

We then walked to the centre of town and spent about 4 hours there. Dave decided that need toed to buy a jacket. He didn't want me wearing his John Deere windbreaker any more - because it wasn't attractive enough. Okay for him but not me. :) I got a gorgeous turquoise, linen
jacket with flared cuffs. Emilee, I thought of you when I saw it.

We went into the Canterbury Cathedral. A totally different church than the catholic ones we saw in France. This is an Angilcan church. A beautiful church with so much history and many tombs of very famous people in it. After the church we wandered around the town centre (notice the Britsh spelling?). There's a very tall stone wall all around the inner city with huge gates (you have to see them to understand what I mean by "gate") at several points.

We went back to the room. I had a nap and Dave did some research on the Delta Works in Holland. He wants to go there today as we head back to Holland.

Dave says at England feels the most "foreign" to him - of the countries we've been in so far. I think it feels very comfortable. There's so many similarities to Canada. :)

England still uses pounds (not Euros) which is a bother. Having one currency for all the countries is a great idea. Again, something for Canada and the US to think about. Distance is measured in miles/yards but temperature is in celsius. It's a real mix of imperial and metric.
We thought Paris was expensive. England has it beat.

We wanted to take a drive through the countryside to visit some small, old villages but we couldn't find any. Apparently they're all over the place. We stopped in a pub for fish and chips. You can't come to England and not have fish and chips! Dinner wasn't being served for another 30 minutes (they eat "late" here) so we had a beverage. We sat in this small pub, looking at the North Sea, sipping our beverages and talked about infant baptism, the contradictions throughout scripture and unforced rhythms of grace. Once our table was ready we found out they didn't serve fish and chips so we left. We found a place that did have them but they only took cash. We put in our order and went to get some cash. Dave dropped me at a cash machine and drove around the block. We've had it several times when we're apart for brief periods and I wonder what would happen if he never came back or I was gone when he came back. Too much tv I guess.

We got our fish and chips but I was very disappointed that it were served on a plate and not in newspaper. :( It was super good though. We headed back to the hotel and watched a movie. Really the first time we've had the tv on.

Today we head back to Holland. The ferry leaves at 1:30.

One thing I learned today - our debit cards are antique. In England, all the debit cards have chips in them, which makes them much more secure to use. When we handed our card to some shop attendants, they honestly didn't know what to do with it. In one store, they didn't have a pen for us to sign with and another didn't know where our signature should go.

One new thing I experienced today - having my picture taken with a bobby, although the officer didn't like to be called that. He said his name was Nick. Thought of you Bobby when this was happening. :)

Most powerful moment of the day - being in the crypt of the Canterbury Cathedral which was built in 1050. People have been worshipping there ever since - even today. The stone steps were worn down so much you could see the "dips" in them. That's over 1,000 years of feet going up and down. Amazing!

One pleasurable experience - watching the traffic lights. They go from red to yellow and then green. Fun to watch.

Hugs and kisses to the kids and grand kids. Hi to Elaine, Kathy, and Mike. I hope you're all enjoying following our adventures! Until tomorrow.