poliphilo

i was expecting to have to pay to go into Canterbury Cathedral but the ticket office is on the gate to the precinct and you can't even walk round the outside of the building without first handing over £9.50. This made me cross. But then I reflected that the Cathedral was always a money-making machine- it's one of the primary functions of any temple- and Chaucer's pilgrims also had to pay through the nose.

I'd been planning to have a cup of tea in the tea shop (now a Starbucks) where Sergeant Bob Johnson receives his "blessing" in A Canterbury Tale but the crush around the Buttermarket put me off and we got in the car and drove to Folkestone and I finally bought my tea- an hour or two later- from an booth down by the harbour.

Ailz had a bacon buttie and strawberries and ice cream.

We went to Folkestone because we had a money-off voucher for petrol at Tesco's and this was the nearest outlet. It was thrilling in a not altogether pleasant way- to be driving round narrow country roads (being led a dance by the SatNav) on an empty tank. The reason we got sort of lost was because I wanted to take a detour to see this- the romanesque church at Barfrestone (pronounced Barson)