Our two weeks annual leave, planned to coincide with my 50th birthday, should have seen us in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Instead we are visiting Kent as a starter.

It's probably not going to be too different to Kazakhstan, but let's hope all of these travel restrictions associated with Covid are behind us soon so this can be confirmed!

Friday 18th June 2021
Our first night was in London, stopping at the Mercure Hotel Bloomsbury which was very close to Russell Square. By chance our friends Helen and Simon were also in London, and staying fairly close, so we arranged to meet up with them for dinner.

Our restaurant, the Trattoria Verdi, was just a few yards from the hotel and served up good priced, well sized dishes. With the house red wine at just under £20 a bottle a convivial evening was had. It was nice to catch up after such a long time over a meal.

Saturday 19th June 2021
With no need to get to Canterbury until around 14.00 we had a lazy morning before grabbing breakfast at Caffé Tropea in Russell Square ahead of catching a High Speed service from London St Pancras International.
Arriving into Canterbury West railway station we had a 20 minute walk across the city, through Westgate Gardens, to reach our accommodation.

We had rented a ground floor apartment for four nights and for a little over £160, it was a reasonable place for us to stay. That said, Heather didn't like the shower and there was no TV. So it could have been better!

Having dumped the bags we headed back to Canterbury West to catch a train to Chartham. Adjacent to the station was the Chartham Vineyard, so a purchase of a locally produced sparkling wine (you can't call it Champagne, but in essence that's what it is) was had before walking back to Canterbury along the Great Stour Way which took us about an hour.

Sunday 20th June 2021
We spent the Sunday exploring Canterbury. Our first port of call was the St Augustine's Abbey, an English Heritage site. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a monastery until its dissolution in 1538 during the English Reformation. After the abbey's dissolution, it underwent gradual dismantlement until 1848. Since 1848, part of the site has been used for educational purposes and the abbey ruins have been preserved.

After lunch we headed to Canterbury Cathedral, a building that very much dominates the city skyline. Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. It was largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant extensions to accommodate the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170.

The day also gave us the opportunity to explore the historical streets of the city itself. It's a nice place to wander around, grab a drink and people watch as well.

Monday 21st June 2021
It was a wet day, it was also the longest day of the year, but we decided that we would visit the North Kent Coast. Our first stop was Broadstairs and in the dry it would have been a pleasant place to spend some time. In the rain however, it was hard to appreciate the place properly.

After a fish and chip shop lunch we headed to Margate. Whether it was raining or not, it was hard to see the attraction of this place. It was a short stay before we travelled to Whitstable.

Whitstable was a nicer place, and even in the rain it had potential, although as a seaside resort the beach was not attractive. It also seemed that Monday was a day where many places were closed - or maybe because of the weather they really couldn't be bothered. That said, on a better day it may be worth a return visit to enjoy some of the outdoor seafood dining establishments.

Our final call was Faversham, mainly for the reason that we had to change trains there to get back to Canterbury East railway station (which was also much closer to our accommodation). What a nice town it was to visit. It had stopped raining, so that helped, and even though it was after closing time for many shops, the town still had a nice feel about it.

Faversham is also home to the Shepherd Neame Brewery, Britain's oldest, so there was time for a pint of locally produced beer before enjoying a Chinese meal and then a train back to Canterbury.

Tuesday 22nd June 2021
Travelling from Canterbury East railway station, via Dover Priory, we made it to Folkestone. The reason for visiting was threefold; I wanted to see the renovation of the former harbour station, Heather has never been to Folkestone, and I wanted to re-visit the Hotel Burstin, somewhere that we had a family holiday at in 1985.

After walking to the harbour area it was good to see the renovation work on the former station. It has great potential.

The Hotel Burstin however really was a down at heel place. With rooms available at £29 a night, it really was showing its age. It's dated, dominates the harbour, and from what we heard later may even be set for being demolished . . not sure it would be a loss to the town either based on the TripAdvisor reviews.

After a nice Tapas lunch we headed to Rye, travelling via Ashford.
Rye was a lovely place to spend a few hours. Nice cobbled streets, historical wooden framed buildings and it had a nice feel about too.

Wednesday 23rd June 2021
We headed off from Kent, and make our way to Christchurch in Dorset.

Our journey took us via London (on four trains, taking 4h30m), but it's nice to be 'back on the rails' seeing a bit of the country again.

MORE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM OUR TIME IN/AROUND CANTERBURY ARE AVAILABLE IN THE 'PHOTOS' SECTION OF THIS BLOG.