Canterbury, Uk - February 2008
Caitlin Al-Najjar (aged 12) / Deanna Stewart (aged 9)

Caitlin’s story:

We had set off in my mums work car. It wasn’t that flashy, just right for a group of five: Me, Deanna, Rosie, Doggy and Mum. It took us a while to get there because the traffic was so bad. It said to follow a black dot, so we did. And it led us to where we didn’t want to go. So instead, we just used our instincts. Anyway; we got there in the end. When we arrived, there were a few parking lots. We went to one just nearby us and parked.

When we got out, we decided to walk around. We had seen the castle on the way and were ideally going to go there first. But then we saw Canterbury Cathedral, and decided to go there. Me, mum and dad went to Canterbury a long time ago. I could hardly remember the Cathedral, except for the gift shop which sold kaleidoscopes. But that’s all.
So we went into the Cathedral. They had Family tickets: Two adults and three children cost about 19 pounds, An adult and three children cost 15 pounds. They also had student tickets and senior tickets, but no children tickets [which we found to be quite a pain at the time.] After paying, we went in. We decided to visit the cript first, because it was shutting in about 15 minutes. The time then was about 2:00 or something, I can’t exactly remember when. So we decided to walk around.

It was a nice Cathedral, very big and it had carvings in several places. But the Stain Glass windows were really something. Blue, red, green…The windows were very nice. Once we even saw the sun shining through one.
After viewing the cript, we came outside and viewed some praying areas. We had to be very quiet while we walked through here. Me and Deanna both took pictures of statues.

We then left the Cathedral, after wandering around for about an hour or so. We decided to view the gift shop, and see what it was still like. The prices were ASTONISHING. Nearly everything was overpriced. Some little toy doll was nearly 4 pounds. A ruler; two pounds. A chess set cost 69 or something pounds. Me and Deanna only had 2 pounds to spend, and being wise, we definitely didn’t spend it there. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell kaleidoscopes anymore. We left shortly after.

After that, Deanna kept insisting that there was a Build-A-Bear-Workshop because of all the bags that had the logo on that people were carrying. I kept saying that there wasn’t. We ended up having an argument about it. We were then dragged into a Coffee shop to get some lunch.
At the Costa Coffee shop, we all had some lunch. Me and Deanna had a chicken and bacon sandwhich, except mine was toasted. Rosie had a meatball sandwich. Doggy and mum also had something, but I cant remember exactly what it was. Deanna had some water, but it was sparkling. Deanna hates sparkling water, and so she didn’t drink much of it.

After that we went down the street. There was a man who could make balls come out of his mouth. We tipped him. We went into some clothing shops, then Deanna complained that she felt sick and dizzy. So I was sent outside to look after her while all the adults went into the shop.
Me and Deanna saw a puppet shop, and asked Doggy if he could take us in it. He said he would, and so we all went in. There was this dice there that was called the mums dice, and on all the sides it said things like: Cook, clean, have a cup of tea, have a relaxing bath, and things. I wanted to buy it, but I didn’t have enough. Instead, me and Deanna brought two rubber chickens that when squeezed, would make some goo come out of its butt. Deanna also brought a paper whacker and annoyed us all by wacking it near our ears.
We then stopped by another coffee shop and had some snacks. It was at that time that Deanna’s rubber chicken broke. The goo splattered everywhere. Deanna then put it in her pocket and let the rubber chicken dry.

It was then getting late. We decided to head back and try and find a place to eat. We were walking down the path and when we arrived at the car park, we turned around to find out that Doggy wasn’t behind us. In desperation, we ran to the tunnels in which we came from, and looked around for him. I spotted him, and pointed him out to the others. But by the time they turned around, Doggy had disappeared again. Rosie tried calling him, but his phone was switched off. We decided to wait for him, and in the end we saw him again. We then went to the car in peace; checking every few seconds that everybody was together.
Rosie said that earlier she had spotted a nice looking carvery near the edge of town, and so, following her directions, she led us there. Me and Deanna were starving and we decided to play Eye Spy to pass the time away. When we arrived; we all ordered a Carvery. It was very delicious, and I nearly finished all of it. Then me and Deanna both ordered Ice Cream Sundays. Then with full and round bellies, we travelled home.
And that’s my day, in a Nutshell!

PS: We never solved the mystery of BABW [Build-A-Bear-Workshop]. We couldn’t see the shop anywhere, though, so I guess I won the argument.
PPS: The best parts of the day were doggy spotting and the Cathedral.
Fin.

Deanna’s story:

This is Canterbury cathedral.

The cathedral is a holy place. The cathedral is alive with history. The friends of the cathedral are fans. The friends are a group of people who look after the cathedral.

Caitlin, Helen, Doggy, Rosie and I took lots of photos of flags ,a dragon, glass windows, a ship, an eagle , a Roman and the cathedral itself.

I thought that the glass windows looked really fantastic.

After we went to the puppet store and I brought a paper whacker. I and my cousin brought a rubber chicken each.
We then went to the Costa coffee shop and Rosie had spicy meatball Panini. Helen had a chamomile tea while Doggy had an espresso. Caitlin and me had chicken and a bacon sandwich but Caitlin had hers toasted .

I loved it.

For more information about visiting Canterbury click here
For more information about Canterbury Cathedral click here