Yesterday morning we went inside Canterbury Cathedral as soon as it opened at 9am and started our visit in the crypt, which was closed last time we visited. It is the biggest crypt I've ever seen, stretching underneath almost the whole length of the cathedral. It's also the oldest part, dating from the early 1100s. That means it's Romanesque, my favorite flavor of architecture, and it has some great carvings and frescoes from that period.
We had the whole place to ourselves for about 10 minutes, then busloads of people came streaming in the crypt and cathedral above. How rude! I think the cathedral should open an hour earlier for guests of the Cathedral Lodge, like Costco.
But some of the busloads were a men's choir from Germany, who sung beautifully while we took our photos. Press play to hear them!
A few more cathedral highlights:
We stayed in the cathedral until almost checkout time at 11am, after which we put our stuff in the car (what a luxury to have a trunk!) and walked around Canterbury for an hour or so.
The first item of business was lunch, which we found at Pret a Manger, a healthy fast food place we visited a lot in Oxford. David had tuna and cucumbers on a baguette with chicken and mushroom soup; I had a toasted tuna melt on multigrain bread with capers and Greve cheese and a carrot-coriander soup. The soup was one of the best I've ever had. We ate on a bench in a little courtyard just off the main pedestrianized street.
Just part of the sandwich selection at Pret
Then we visited the following sights before returning to our car:
By around 1pm we were on the road again heading for Cambridge, which took 90 minutes and unfortunately was mostly on the motorway - including part of the big ring road around London (the M25). But the BMW sure seemed to like it! That thing is zippy.
In Cambridge I'd booked an apartment outside the city center for two nights. We had to call ahead upon arrival, so we decided to park behind King's College to take a few photos and call from there.