A visit to Canterbury: Canterbury, UK

The Canterbury Tales: *    If you read this classic in high school than you may expect a stream of pilgrims walking on the ancient walls towards Canterbury cathedral.   You will find local citizens using the walls as a very easy route without cars and stop lights, day travelers coming from the train station or the occasional runner and bike riders.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales

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An enormous structure but with perfect scale

More than 25 years ago I visited Canterbury for the first time.       My memories were of a town that made me fill as if I stepped back in time 500 years and a vesta box.    I am sorry to say I did not remember the cathedral but I did remember and still have the unusual silver box a man would have worn on a chain to carry small matches in.

So a second visit the Canterbury had the goal of seeing the cathedral and the town.
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When the opportunity to overnight in Canterbury on my was to Dover arose, I decided to stay overnight on the cathedral  grounds at the Cathedral Lodge.
.   I think I expected monks or brothers to be in residence as they are during my stays in convent hotels in Italy where I have met travelers and nuns from all over the world.     http://hometoitaly.blogspot.com/2013/03/italy-try-convent-instead-of-hotel.html         But this is not the case at the Cathedral nor the lodge on the grounds.  The hotel is a professionally run conference center and hotel.    http://www.canterburycathedrallodge.org/?gclid=CKnF2P6Zl7gCFc0WMgodRiIABA

A short walk from the train station atop the city wall or you can leave your car in the car park outside the main door.   The friendly staff quickly checked me in and even helped me with my bags to my room since I was in the older building without an elevator:     A nice large room with windows overlooking the town.  
A full breakfast as only the English can do, is included with your room.   Wifi is available in most rooms and in the library on the first floor.   A truly lovely stay.

Since I had returned to Canterbury to see the town and the church, I started with the high (main) street that was busy with shoppers and the weekly market.   I am a travel shopper.  I shop stores, markets and particularly grocery stores to see what local life is like.  



Because I was staying at ‘the Lodge’ I had full access to the Cathedral for my entire stay.     There was no choir practice that evening so I sat in on the organ practice.   The deep sounds resonated off the walls and the soaring ceiling.   Walking in the main nave I tried to imagine a service here hundreds of years ago.      Living in a country that only goes back a few hundred years,  I enjoy visiting towns and buildings that whisper me.  All the footsteps of the generations that walked in the streets and lived their lives….. 
One overnight was NOT ENOUGH time to experience the town, meet some of the locals or enjoy all the English culinary treats:   a Sunday roast, pub grub and high tea.
I shall just plan to return.

All solo travelers are not 20 somethings:  
I met India at the check in counter at the Lodge and she kindly agreed to a short video to explain why she would not consider traveling solo……I found this interesting since everything you read is that solo travel is for backpacking, hostel stays, young travelers who want to go around the world.

Since I research and write about mature solo travel I thought this was enlightening.

http://www.canterburycathedrallodge.org/?gclid=CKnF2P6Zl7gCFc0WMgodRiIABA

Value vs price 3 weeks on Holland American

Sea Travel out on the deck

Value vs Price is one way I evaluate which long term trips I will take each year.  
Not having the resources of other travelers I consider all my options before I select 
where I will travel on 30 day trip.     My preference is to travel for long periods even if it is only one trip a year.  

To be a traveler not a tourist  I approach itineraries and locations differently than most other vacationers.       In addition to the cost of a trip, the return I receive from visiting a new country, staying in a small town, learning a skill or meeting the locals is part of the equation. 

In  place of my usual 6 weeks in Italy each year I opted to explore Northern Europe, the Baltic, an area I had never visited.    Traveling by ship  to visit 7 countries in 3 weeks was a good use of time if not the most economically way to travel.  
   

Holland America’s Baltic cruise from Dover, UK to Norway, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Denmark and Sweden gave me a small overview of countries I might wish to return to.      But did this sailing offer Value for the Price?

Although solo travelers did not seem to be the target market for this company, I did find some surprises that my other trans Atlantic crossings did not offer.    And in future posts I shall share the single feature HA has that other ships may not be able to compete with:   the incredible crew and staff on the Ryndam.

     There was limited information, before sailing, about what classes would be offered, so it was a pleasant surprise to find Microsoft based programs would be taught.   Each day, even port days,  four or more classes were taught in the Digital Workshop by Craig Lewes, the ships’ Techspert.

   Computer Classes: 

Craig Louis, Techspert

Meet Craig Louis the Techspert teaching Microsoft on the Ryndam.     With a high level of  energy.                                                                 
 Craig taught more than 70 classes during the time I was aboard.   

For an hour every day he offered an ‘ask Craig’ event where passengers asked questions on cameras,
Microsoft programs or solutions to some of their computer problems.    

Many of his classes were standing room only.   He presented each program with a clear and concise outline.    I particularly enjoyed his dry sense of humor ‘deadpan’ response to some questions.*  I asked Craig if I could do a short profile on this blog and he sent me the following:

“ I  started with HAL back in June 2003.  So this year is my ten-year anniversary!     I originally  started with Club HAL doing the kids programming and then, because that job was only seasonal back then, I switched to doing administrative work for the Entertainment Department.

That position was abolished and replaced with new ones shortly after.            I became a Senior Assistant Cruise Director (doing a lot of stage and mic work, theme nights, bingo, supervising the Cruise Staff.   

That job lasted me about two and a half years before I went back to doing administrative work for the Entertainment Department on Grand Voyages, which I ended up doing for four years. I then took a hiatus from the company to finish my university degree (Bachelor is Sociology and Economics) and was asked to come back to HAL as a Techspert.”                                                                                                  

                                                                                                

“I started in August of 2010. I can honestly say that I think it's the best job on the entire ship!

I just get paid to travel around the world and geek out a bit every day.         I find the greatest thing about this job is that everyone who walks through the Digital Workshop doors is there to learn. I think because of that, and because the workshops are complimentary, everyone is just in a good mood.

It's a different environment than other places on the ship where people may complain about one thing or another. On top of that, I really love how our older generations are getting into technology and really embracing it.

It's always great to see the faces of the guests light up when we do something like panoramic pictures of photo fusing. There are no negatives that I have found with my actual job. The only negative of the lifestyle is being away from my friends and family for extended periods of time.

Oh! My other favorite part would be all the funny questions guests ask me; granted, they're just funny to me because they'll use awkward terminology or have very irrational fears - does that make me sound mean?      There are just those funny moments, like when a guest starts talking to the computer instead of using the mouse or touching the screen... “*

Solo Lunch

All solo travelers on this trip were invited to meet for lunch one day for a meet and greet.   This was a great way to find the other solo travelers among the 2000+ passengers.  However, nothing additional was planed during the 21 days.   HA could consider offering designated tables for solo travelers for the entire trip.    It would be optional for travelers. 
Port tours for solo travelers could also be offered.    

Next,  Food on Holland America 

Morris dancing in London

My At Home In London  location in Hampstead was only a few blocks from the river walk.   This pedestrian path went from my Hampstead location east towards central London and West.     I hiked parts of the path on both days I stayed at property #305.   Had I stayed longer at this location I would have spent far more time on the ‘walk’ even trying to take the route to Richmond.     There were pubs along the route that were full of locals every night, spilling onto the lawn.  
As I walked the 1 or 2 miles from Hammersmith town center I heard music, not bag pipes but something I recognized and singing.   Then I saw men dancing……  something like a skipping  version of the American square dance.  

My host suggested it could be Morris dancing……..have you heard about Morris dancing?

From Wikipedia I found the history of Morris dancing:

today, there are six predominant styles of Morris dancing, and different dances or traditions within each style named after their region of orign. 

• North West morris: more military in style and often processional, that developed out of the mills in the North-West of England in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Border Morris from the English-Welsh border: a simpler, looser, more vigorous style, traditionally danced with blackened faces.
• Longsword dancing from Yorkshire and south Durham, danced with long, rigid metal or wooden swords for, usually, 6 or 8 dancers.
• Rapper from Northumberland and Co. Durham, danced with short flexible sprung steel swords, usually for 5 dancers.
• Molly Dancing from Cambridgeshire. Traditionally danced on Plough Monday, they were Feast dances that were danced to collect money during harsh winters. One of the dancers would be dressed as a woman, hence the name.
• Cotswold morris: dances from an area mostly in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; an established misnomer, since the Cotswolds overlap this region only partially. Normally danced with handkerchiefs or sticks to accompany the hand movements. Dances are usually for 6 or 8 dancers, but solo and duo dances (known as single or double jigs) also occur