Sutton Hoo and Canterbury

The second half of my parent's visit was a bit more British, what with all the fish and chips, tube/train trips and cathedrals. Of course, there was still a large element of history involved, no doubt about that! We spent two days in the city; two days venturing out.

The first day, while I worked (hence no pictures;), everyone checked out the Imperial War Museum and Kensington Gardens and Palace. Then the next day, my mom and dad and I began our long journey to Sutton Hoo, a Viking burial ground north of Ipswich. Despite the 1 1/4 quarter *unmarked* walk from the train station to the site, once we arrived, the facilities and actual burial mounds were fantastic. We ate a well deserved lunch, then toured the museum before taking to the walking paths all around the property. The weather held off, even was a bit sunny for parts of the time. Which translates to: It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. The long journey home? Not so much. But a great dinner at our local curry restaurant helped cheer everyone up in no time.

Our third day was spent in Canterbury and it seemed like the time just flew by.  Most of the day was spent touring the Cathedral which we thoroughly enjoyed, despite the all-day university graduation ceremonies taking place in most of it. We did, however, receive a discounted admission price to offset not being able to tour most areas. We also went in the Roman Museum which contains an entire section of Roman tiled floor unearthed after the devastating WWII bombing of the city. Some of the museum was a bit hokey, but seeing that enormous tiled floor and numerous, incredible Roman artifacts was amazing. Then we walked over to the St. Augustine's Abbey ruins quickly before returning back to the train station. See? It went by too fast!

For the final day of our British adventure - as we had our fill of historical sites - we chose to slow our pace and switch our focus to a more cultured activity: Tate Britain and the Courtauld Gallery. Both (as per usual) were outstanding. At Tate, there was this awesome contemporary installation containing a maze of adjoining rooms.. you just kept opening doors into further and further rooms. The last room reminded me of the loading dock of the Walker. Every one of the rooms was designed in a slightly off-beat, slightly foreboding but a semi-humorous note. Naturally, I loved it! And I went though twice because the first time I thought my dad had gotten lost in it.. and he hadn't so I had to walk my parents through for kicks, a second time. We then enjoyed a splendid walk along the Thames to the Courtauld Gallery which contains so many Impressionist masterpieces it's almost too much to absorb in one afternoon. But we did our darnedest.

the only sign to let us know we were
on the right track towards Sutton Hoo

walking to the burial mounds

the tide had come in by our walk back to the train station

Canterbury Cathedral entrance

St. Augustine's Abbey

at another local fav, on our last night

Thanks, parents, for compromising comfort and restful sleep to make it across the pond. Hope the actual vacation was worth the journey! We certainly loved having you here and will remember every minute of Normandy, Sutton Hoo, Canterbury and all the bits in between.