Canterbury | Wanderings and Ponderings

Approximately 1/10 of my time here is over now (I’m leaving in June) – it’s impossible to believe, though perhaps that’s because I simply refuse to do so.

Even though I’ve really just arrived, I’ve grown incredibly attached to this city – the campus, the city centre, the various places to explore, and of course the people! Even though I’m still at the beginning of my experience here, it pains me to think of leaving in a few months.

Here’s a few photos of what I’ve done so far:

My friends and I took a leisurely walk near the city centre and stumbled upon some gardens

Gardens near City Centre

Me with the Cathedral

Panorama with the Cathedral

That evening we went down to the city centre to buy coach cards for a discounted price on our bus ride to London. I’d never been there at night, and it was simply beautiful.

Weaver’s by night.

Weaver’s / the river by night

City Centre by night

The other night, Rachel and Lee and I went down to a local pub called “The Unicorn.” We met Lee’s flatmate Jess along the way and got her to come along too :) The pub was even better than I expected. There was a lovely, traditional pub atmosphere, which was only improved by the prints of the famous unicorn tapestry series (which, in case you don’t know, were used as the tapestries in the Gryffindor Common Room in the HP movies). I can’t wait to try new pubs, but I will definitely visit this one again!

Unicorn tapestry print @ The Unicorn

The bar @ The Unicorn

Our table @ The Unicorn

Me @ The Unicorn

There are more photos in the gallery, if you’re interested! :)

: Gardens near City Centre

: Gardens near City Centre

: Panorama with the Cathedral

: Me with the Cathedral

: Drive to City Centre

: Drive to City Centre

: Roundabouts!

: Cool stone walkway near City Centre

: View off the walkway

: Interesting playground

: Weaver’s by night.

: Weaver’s / the river by night

: City Centre by night

: City Centre by night

: Cool architecture in the city centre

: Cool architecture in the city centre

: Cool architecture in the city centre

: Street view in the city centre

: Unicorn tapestry print

: Real, wood-burning fireplace @ The Unicorn

: Our table @ The Unicorn

: Me @ The Unicorn

: The bar @ The Unicorn

: BUNNIES

: BUNNIES

: City Centre

: Posing w/ the telephone booth

: Posing w/ the telephone booth

: Outside The Unicorn pub

: Street view in City Centre

: Street view in City Centre

: The river outside Weaver’s

: Outside Weaver’s

: Street view in City Centre

While study abroad has been an amazing experience so far, I won’t sugarcoat reality by saying it’s perfect. Despite it being a dream come true, things still go wrong. This is the story of one of those times:

Katie and Alice and I returned to Katie’s flat after dinner, and discovered a note on the door from Katie’s flatmate Max inviting us to a “pub” in the city centre (the quotes around pub are significant, as you’ll find out in a moment). I Google the pub, and luckily find out it’s got a formal dress code before we go down to it (none of us were aware of this requirement). We each go change into nicer clothes and meet back at the bus stop (bus instead of walking because it is freezing outside. Literally.).

Upon reaching The Cuban (the name of the pub), we discover that not only is it not a pub – it’s much more of a club, but there’s also a line stretching a couple lines down the sidewalk to get in. However, we figure as long as we’ve come this far, we might as well give it a shot and see what it’s like. After all, studying abroad is all about trying new things, right?

Standing in line took an incredibly long time, and once we got in the guys we were meeting, Max and Marcus, decided they were ready to go. We explored for a minute, but given that it was so crowded and different from what we were expecting, we didn’t really argue. So, we set off into the night.

After a few persistent questions, I finally gathered that the guys were leading us to the bus stop. We waited around for the bus for about 30 minutes I’d guess…they’re supposed to come every 8. No one seemed very concerned though, but I was frozen to the bone, so I called a taxi. The man warned us in advance that they could only send a 4 seater, but we agreed that that was fine; some of the others didn’t mind waiting for the bus. The taxi comes and Marcus tries to convince him to let 5 people ride. The driver wasn’t arguing, so he simply drove off, leaving us taxi-less. Still freezing, I called another taxi. Just as they answered, another taxi drove up and I climbed in. No one else did though, so the driver drove off.

A few seconds later, he mentions that I’m lucky I called a taxi, because the bus that’s supposed to come has broken down. We turn around to tell the others, however still none of them joined me. Oh well. They got a different taxi, apparently.

While it was definitely not a pleasant night, it was definitely an adventure, and we all made it back safely.