Canterbury Tales and family connected

The morning sunshine heralds a beautiful day ahead - well, at least for the next two hours. We amble downstairs for breakfast where we are greeted by Tim...ah, he is the relief Chef. Austin has today off and after the incredible dinners he has prepared for us, we forgive his absence. However, Tim prepares our hot breakfasts, presenting me with two gloriously poached eggs and Michael a hearty 'full English'!

With breakfast out of the way, we make our way onto the main street to watch the scheduled Rememberence Day March prior to the service. And I stress here the march and service were scheduled. It's 10:35 so I make my way to the church, while Michael heads down to the High Street in readiness for the march. I wait and wait at the church, 10:40 has passed when the march was to commence - but, there are no sounds of a band or presence of the local Constabulary. Anyhow, Michael returns just as perplexed stating that "there's nobody around for the parade?". It is somewhat of a mystery as Michael had asked at the post office earlier about details of the parade, and was told the ceremony was to commence at 10:40.... Anyhow, we entered the church and paid our respects to the fallen in our own quiet way.

We admire the church's architecture and fixtures. It is indeed a wonder at the history of many of Englands' houses of worship, and here at St Mary the Virgin is no exception. There is a list of all the Vicars, Rectors and Provosts who have ministered at this church from 1228 to the present. Within the churchs' eastern transept is a monument commemorating a family of note - the Oxinden's - the monument was erected in 1682! And in the true spirit of christianity, the Anglican Parish shares its church with the local Catholics who celebrate Mass here each Sunday.

Time is marching on so we return to the Dog Inn to get the car and head for Canterbury. Now, the Dog Inn is one of two once identical buildings that stand side by side on the road from Wingham to Canterbury - and they date back to 1286! By this time the clear skies become shrouded by clouds, and no sooner are we on our way it is evident that rain is imminent. Canterbury is only seven miles (11 kms) from Wingham and we travel along the narrow roads which ribbon through the countryside.

Arriving at Canterbury our first stop is at the ruins of Canterbury Castle, and although the rain has begun to drizzle, this does not stop us from exploring this celebrated monument. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror marched hastily through Kent to Canterbury. In October 1066, Canterbury was the first town to submit without resistence. To consolidate his power, William ordered the construction of royal castles at Dover, Canterbury and Rochester. These castles were initially built from timber upon the 'motte-and-bailey' configuration and only much later the castles were rebuilt in stone.

All that remains of the castle today is a section of the perimeter wall and the keep. However, in the 'minds-eye', one can visualise the enormity of the structure. Eventually rebuilt with three storeys and enclosed within a bastion wall, the importance of the castle diminished by becoming overshadowed by Henry II's larger fortification at Dover. Regrettably, Canterbury Castle was relegated as the a prison for the County of Kent administered by the Sheriff and in the most recent times lost a lot of its mystique when it was used as a coal store and gas works.

The rain has begun to fall in earnest, I return to the car and leave Michael to continue drooling for a while longer. Want to kow more? Click here.

When Michael finally returns, we leave the castle to find a carpark closer to the Canterbury Cathedral. After wanting me to drive through restricted areas, and us having to continually turn back, Kate and Frances eventually guide us to an available parking bay at the city walls, which is not far from the Cathedral. Feeding the ticket dispenser gives us a maximum stay of three hours and so we set off to see what we can see. Walking through the streets of Canterbury is like entering a time portal, with buildings dating from the 13th century occupied by artists, artisans and bakers displaying their wares in shop windows. Michael is enjoying the ambience as he is swept along by the imagery of his beloved Canterbury Tales.

Finally we arrive at the Cathedral precinct, and enter the precint's main portal at a cost of $13AUD each. However, the entry fee is worth every cent as the Cathedral is indeed a magnificent structure. I'll let Michael take over from here, so he can enlighten you...or put you to sleep?

I am just passionate over medieval architecture, in particular places of worship - moreso if the style is Gothic, Perpendicular Gothic or Gothic/Renaissance. At the danger of me rambling, may I recommend this link for the Canterbury Cathedral.

As with most of these monuments built before the Reformation, one has to remember that the pioneering architects/engineers designed the buildings on parchment and only aided by quadrants, line-of-sight and plum bobs! The work of the masons, sculptors, scriveners and carpenters who contributed to the Cathedrals' construction is truly mind-blowing.

The Cathedral was filled by visitors and a small company of proud volunteer guides who were most eager to answer, with enthusiasm, any question pertinent to their Cathedral. I soon discovered the knowledge which these guides possess, when I made enquiry as to one of the stained glass windows. Only several of these windows are original from the 12th century, which somehow were spared from the destructive force of the Reformation!

Fortunately, photography was permitted ( except when visiting the crypt) so the camera worked overtime snapping images of the exterior and interior. The Cathedral also boasts its own 'Compass Rose' installed into the floor of the central nave in 1988. As with most Cathedrals, at intervals throughout the day a benediction is given by a member of the clergy. Today was no exception, as a Friar (with the aid of a PA system) requested everyone to stop and listen to the benediction - a time for reflection whatever ones persuasion...yes, even for us non-believers.

We could have spent further hours here - it is such a fascinating place. It was here that Thomas Beckett was murdered, and that the first French Hugenot service was held here hundreds of years ago and continues to this day! There are amazing stained glass windows, a beautiful cloister and chapter house, a peaceful crypt where you can see the remaining pillars and wall of the Norman church that once stood on this site and dates back to 579 AD. There are tanglible links with Australia too in the form of stitched kneelers int he front row and a memorial to Lt. Col Sir George Gipps, Governor in Chief of New South Wales. And today, on Rememberence Day when we were reading in The Times this morning about the release of the records of the British Flying Aces including Major Edward Mannock VC, here we are standing in front of his memorial! Its a small, small world.

Gosh, and there was so much more - you had better check the link before I too carried away! From here you exit through the souvenir shop where we stop to buy a few small reminders - we have to be careful because we are getting very very close to our weight limits for the air trip home!

Michael wants a quick look at the City Walls so I return to the car while he makes a dash for the stairs. The walls are surprisingly intact, and yet are now a part of the modern city. Traffic enters through a number of the original gates, the Dane John gardens dating back to the 12th century and has existed in their present form since 1790 and have recently been updated to include a thematic chidren's maze. A monument now stands atop a Roman burial ground that existed before the construction of the city walls in the 3rd century and now serves as a vantage point for views across the city.

I pack away the souvenirs we bought and get some little treasures out for Anna and Gary then get in the car and programme Kate. And that is when I see a traffic warden making his way towards our car, checking wether parking tickets have expired - and in response Michael is running full pelt from the other direction. Michael manages to get here first. Just! Mind you, we still had 1 minute left on our ticket!

Its 4 pm and fast heading for dark when we leave Canterbury for Bracknell to have one last visit with Anna and Garry, Curtis and Nathan. Its a two hour drive on the M26 - one of the major ring roads around London. Traffic is heavy as we are just coming in to rush hour, but for the most part we are able to do a respectable 70 miles per hour. I have reset Kate to measure in miles - can't be bothered with all the constant calculations from km to miles and back again. Feels odd though and my perception of distance is not so good - luckily for me, 100 yards is close enough to 100 metres and I can judge that pretty well!

We arrive at their house in Binfield just after 6:15. There is great excitement all round - Anna has kept her job (when all 6000 were given notices re planned redundencies for 1500 and no assurances), they have sold their house to a cash buyer and their offer on the house of their dreams just up the road has been accepted - all in the space of about 3 days! We took the champers!! Gary has picked up McDonalds for the boys and once they are settled upstairs, we order Chinese and spend a couple of hours sharing it and the stories of our respective highs since we last saw them in June. It has been lovely sharing a bit of time with them this year. Its heading for 10 pm when we finally say our goodbyes for the year and head off.

Our trip back to Wingham is much quieter than the trip over. We are able to travel at a constant speed and make the trip in about an hour and a half - even if it is in and out of light rain!

Zagreb and that blasted 'spider' crew

It was just after 11 am when we left the Hotel Paradise - the large room with separate lounge room and bar was very nice. We all had a tad of privacy. Breakfast was good but predictable. Michael is craving a good old Aussie breakfast now - cereal, poached eggs and toast, FRESH orange juice and his brand of coffee!

We can't get in to our next booking at Hotel Stella until mid afternoon, so we drive in to Zagreb city. And if we ever thought that there was difficulty in parking anywhere else, Zagreb 100% takes the cake. We find that all the street parking is for 1 hour only. And even on a Saturday afternoon, the 'spider' team are alive and well and very very active. We see them on the prowl and later, actually watch them remove a car from a spot - aha, so thats how they do it. Now we know how our car was moved in Dubrovnik!!

Anyway, Frances finally finds us a spot about half a kilometre away from the Cathedral (but it will mean that Michael has to come back to feed the ticket machine!) and we set off to take a look through the Upper Town. You see Zagreb is divided into the Upper and Lower Town by a mighty cliff of about 66 m. Oh, it can be climbed by stairs - that would make about 440 steps - not likely for me thanks very much. So we just explore the Upper Town and will leave the Lower Town until tomorrow.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary holds an impressive place at the Kaptol - one of the higher points of the upper town. Its twin spires tower over the city and can be seen from many vantage points. Construction of the cathedral began in the 11th century but over the years has been adapted and added to many times adopting new styles as they became 'fashionable'. An early gothic facade was added in the 13th century, but the gothic facade that it primarily shows today dates mainly from the early 19th century.

Anyway, whatever, it is beautiful and like many of the large churches in Europe, it too is currently undergoing major cleaning and restoration works - thankfully only on the outside, so we can have a good look around inside. Probably the most stunning thing about this church is the back wall where there is a statue set of the crucifixion. But behind it there is a piece of text that covers the entire wall that is in a language that we have not seen before! It does seem to have some familiar looking letters, but lots that are not. Turns out that it is a text called Glagolitic text and has been used in parts of Croatia for millenia! The exact origins are not known, but it was in use before St Cyril visited the region while preaching Christianity in 860! They also have a saintly resident effigy lying in state - its Bishop Stiepan, the 13th century bishop who had a chapel built next to the church and dedicated it to his patron saint to give thaksfor the deliverance of Zagreb from the Tartar invasion.

As the Virgin Mary is the Patron saint of Zagreb, there is a tall column that a gilded statue of the Virgin sits atop and four angels - Faith, Hope, Innocence and Humility stand beneath her column. At its base is a four-leafed clover shaped fountain complete with bronze reliefs of a face around the base - all crowned with dying wreaths in a somewhat pagan look. And the Cathedral is surrounded on three sides by renaissance walls built to safeguard it from attacks from Ottoman Turks between 1512 and 1521. There are small huts built into the inside of the walls that still stand. These are some of the best preserved renaissance walls in Europe.

We wander down the street opposite the Cathedral straight in to the Dolac markets. These daily markets are one of the landmarks of Zagreb. There are heaps of fresh fruit and vegetables and down on the lower section down the first of all those steps we can also see the flower sellers. There are some junky bits, but not nearly as much as we have seen in many areas. Everyone is very busy and if only our markets at home could be like these ones - fresh farm cheeses - hard and soft, figs fresh and dried - some tied with bay leaves in garlands, mounds of walnuts freshly shelled and never bitter. Ah, the tastes, and the smells! THIS is what markets are all about!!

Down behind the Dolac market is St Mary's Church - it looks a little forlorn with its leaves buried forecourt where the moss is already growing. We wander around to the front and the only reason we even got to look inside was because there was a veritable army of lady parishioners cleaning it with a vigour that was amazing. I think that they were all trying to be the one who cleaned the hardest and fastest - gosh, they can come do my cleaning any old time! This church is much more sombre than the cathedral (maybe fittingly) and had only its original lights fitted with electric lights, so that it is still very sombre. Baroque in decoration, we can only get a quick glimpse.

From here we head down some of those stairs to Tkalčićeva Street where we meet Marija Jurić Zagorka - a local suffragette and author who wrote a series books titled The Witch of Grić based on the witch trials of the 17th to 18th centuries that Empress Maria Teresa later abolished. She stands in the ground beneath a lovely sundial that is the only part of the rendering on its wall - the rest has crumpled and fallen. In fact, there are lots and lots of statues throughout Zagreb, paying homage to all sorts of locals - minor and major, who have impacted on the lives of the community. This street was the separation point of property owned (and I think still is) by the church and that owned by the secular community.

The meter needs a feeding again, and so we head back to the car, passing through part of the remains of the medieval walls into Ribnjak Park which was the original site of the Bishop's ponds where the priests caught their Friday fish! Now it is a green space with a lady trying to train a very enthusiastic dog and children on a playground.

From here we walk past the Franciscan Church where it is said that St Francis himself lived for a time. Like most of Franciscan buildings, it is much simpler than other churches. There is a florist tying garlands on to the pews for a wedding later today and one of the monks is sweeping. He willingly lets us take some photos including this mural which depicts St Francis being welcomed into Zagreb. A church has been on this site since the 13th century and this church, rebuilt in the 17th century was damaged in a great earthquake in 1880 but repaired.

Back at the car, we are pulling out of the parking spot with another car is inching in behind us - yep, parking sure is a pain here. The other 'attraction' we want to have a look at today is the city's main cemetery - Mirogoj. It crowns the top of a hill and is known for its beautiful park and its amazing wall topped with multiple cupolas at its entry. Well, it takes us well over an hour to find it. Sure it crowns a hill. But so do many many mature trees! And that big wall - well, it is on the other side of the hill, so can't be seen from below. By the time we find the correct road in the honeycomb of narrow winding ones that go up into the hilly area, the light is fading fast. We do see the cupolas along the top of the wall and the impressive entry facade, but decide that a good look in the light of tomorrow is warranted (now that we know where it is!).

One suprise today has been the amount of rubbish and debris that is sitting on the streets of Zagreb. We are not sure whether there is one of those annual council clean-ups happening or what. A lot of the debris appears to be from offices while there is also rubbish from renovations. And there are lots of people scavanging and there appears to be a rather healthy trade in lumber - with Romany people seeming to be the most active sellers.

Once we get out of the city area, we come upon more of that high density housing that we have become accustomed to seeing in Europe. While there are smaller apartment blocks on the CBD fringe, it is not too far out that they mushroom to those huge soul-less blocks that see thousands of people living in very close proximity to each other, relying on public transport and the provision of close by shopping facilities. Gosh, I know that I could never live in these. And they are suffering the same fate of many of the buildings in Zagreb - decrepit, grey, broken and falling plaster. It combines to make it look very very grubby. Other areas are pristinely clean and we see a whole parade of Canadian and Croatian flags flying. We rack our brains trying to work out what the link is and find out later on the news that the Governor General of Canada is visiting - ahhh, politics - should have known it would be something like that!

After 1.9 kms walked this afternoon, tonight we are staying at the Hotel Stella. Funny shaped room, but it means that Donna has a little space of her own! They do not have a restaurant and have recommended a the Turk Restaurant a couple of kilometres away. Despite it being Saturday night, they are not very busy. None of us are really hungry so we just order mains. Michael and I shared Teleće pečenje s police krumpir (Roast veal with roast potatoes) while Donna had Teleće Turopoljski odrezak (Veal escalope Turopolje style – mushrooms in cream sauce) and we shared Pirjano povrće (Braised vegetables) and Šampinjoni na žaru (Grilled mushrooms). And if Donna's meal last night was a highlight, then this was the opposite for her, although the Roast Veal Michael and I had was moist and delicious in a light tomato based gravy.

The mad scientist of an architect

It had dawned overcast but not raining and quite a bit warmer than the last couple of days. Still, there is a bit of a breeze so I continue to wear a long sleeved top - don't want the head cold that Donna has so generously shared to develop any further. After a light breakfast of muesli with banana and an apple, we head into Vinjerac to have a drive through look at the town - that takes all of 3 minutes! It is a lovely looking little fishing village that has grown to accommodate those summer people who have discovered it with its magnificent Adriatic coast location.

The Aparthotel Buratovic sits just outside the city centre with lovely views over the water and the Velebit Mountains across the inlet. Their facilities are great and I imagine that they would do a roaring trade in the summer months. There are a couple of other guests here as well so they do some trade in the colder months which must be good for the family.

We took a drive over to Nin - only went there because of the remnants of the Roman salt flats but instead found the most significant archaelogical site in the Adriatic corridor. You drive to the town which, for all intents and purposes is an island, over a causeway that has been developed over one of the salt flat ridges. The salt flats themselves are well, flat and shallow. The walls are more earthern than constructed of stone as the ones at Ston. And it was then that we got a bit of an eye-opening.

The town of Nin, like many in this area is walled. Here, the town has spilled out of the walls to the shore on the opposite side of the inlet and a bridge with three narrow arches (really just for water flow - no boat would get through!) connects the two sides. There is a lot of reconstruction work happening and as we drive around the outside of the wall, there are lots of pieces of the original wall still standing, some being braced and one piece being worked on - well, the men were there, sitting and contemplating the wonderful view, but hey why shouldn't they!

We park the car and walk back to have a look at the surviving City Gate. This one dates back to the 16th Century but when we walk in, there is the remnants of a much older one dating back to the 1st century and the roman occupation. There is hardly a soul around. The old town has been well restored and underfoot is all that beautiful white stone polished by the feet of the millenia. Some of the buildings have ben constructed using the rubble of previous buildings in the area. So we see bits of carved portals inserted into building walls and decorations from previous royal properties now having the pride of place above new entry ways and doors. We walk a little further into the town, heading for the campanile (bell tower) - still deserted, they was one older man sitting against a wall - the only person we saw while we walked through the main area. Much of the old town has been restored or reconstructed and it looks like someone really cares about the town and its place in history.

We pass the sign to the 'Smallest Cathedral in the world' and really need to check this out! The church was called the Church of the Holy Cross and dates back to the 9th century. And yes, it is t-i-n-y. It has been de-consecrated but an the archaelogical dig around the building exposed a whole world of interred bodies in the adjacent necropolis. Very interesting. Across the road from the cathedral was a Statue to Grgur Ninski (Gregory of Nin), a 10th century bishop who defied the Pope and introduced the Croatian language into the church here. Rubbing his toes is said to bring good luck, so we rubbed away (hmmm - don't know if it worked - it has been raining ever since!)

Back around in the main square, the Museum was closed but when walking through their courtyard looking at the capitals, column remnants and grave steles, the curator kindly opened it for us. It was so much more than we could have anticipated with items dating from 100,000 BC (pre-historic times) through the modern day - 1600s. There are examples from every age of occupation including three boats and remnants dating back to the 11th century! With the timber still fully intact on one of them!!! Lots of the displays relate to burial sites and the materials that they found in with the bodies - jewellery, earthenware and girdles. All too soon we had been right through the displays. We also learn that the seawall also sheltered a necropolis with hundreds of bodies that were later discovered. And in the watercourse that separates the town from the salt pans there is another old Croatian boat.

From Nin we are heading into Zadar and stop en-route so that Michael can have a walk over to the very unsual and interesting St. Nicolas Church in the Prahulje field. Legend says that seven kings were crowned in Nin. After the coronation each king would go on horseback to this church and present himself to the nation vowing to defend his homeland.

And so, in to Zadar - the Cathedral and St Donats are still closed we are told come back at 4. Went back, still shut. We strolled the back streets and by chance happened upon the open doors for restoration works into the Fransican monastery and its quite beautiful cloister complete with deep well. We are sure that the boss was berating his worker for leaving the door open so that people could get in - but now that we were there, we are determined at least to have a peek outside. The buildings are locked up tight - and there is supposed to be an amazing library of manuscripts somewhere here behind those closed doors.

From here, we could hear intermittent blast of mournful music and remembered that there was something written in Donna's book on Croatia about a Sea Organ in Zadar, so we went to investigate. This was amazing and like nothing any of us have ever seen or heard before. If you would like to hear what it sounds like, this is best video I could find (we didn't have the video camera with us!) - but it was much more active today with choppy water and a stiff wind. The water and wind belted out a lively tune that chased up and down the organ keys! And if you look up behind the steps that lead into the waters of the Adriatic, you will see the marble and timber seating that is reminiscent of a keyboard!

Not only was there the Sea Organ on the waterfront, there was also a very new monument titled 'The Greeting to the Sun'. Set right out on the point where Zadar juts out to welcome the Adriatic into its embrace, this innovative work is by the same architect who designed the Sea Organ. It encompasses a huge disc comprised of lots of solar cells that put on a light show at dusk in sympathy with the sea organ. Too bad we only found out that little bit of information tonight - because we could have gone back to see it. Bugger.

Around the outside diameter of the 21m disc is engraved with the names of the saints after whom the city's churches were named and the delination and time of the sunset on their date of birth at this place. It connects outer space (galaxy) with past space (history) with present space (here and now) with wet space (sea organ) and with deep inner space (bloody mind boggling)! The architect must be crazy to have all that in his head space and making these connections!!! That little gem all came from Donna! Maybe he had a couple of cans of Mad Bat under his belt! And leading away from the installation there is a solar line with all the planets bar Pluto (Michael walked way up the promenade but couldn't find it - although as it is to scale, it could be miles away.)

Now being 4:20 pm we returned to the Cathedral to try to have a look at St Donats but the man on the door was adament that it was closed. After asking some youngsters in the seminary across the square they suggested in broken English to try closer to 7 pm. So off to have a drink before the museum opens at 5 pm. The Archaelogical Museum of Zadar is closely connected to the one at Nin - primarily because this is where much of the finds were made. Many of the items referred to at Nin are on display here in Zadar and we can take photos to our hearts content here! Michael drools over the statue of Ceasar Augustus on display opposite the entrance door. Most of the collection mirrors the set out at Nin, so we don't spend quite as long here - oh, and the roman collection is still being set up - we did see lots of segments of mosaic floor leaning against a wall!

Michael goes around to check and finds the Cathedral open! It is quite plain and unadorned, but does have some truly beautiful altars. We only have 10 minutes before it is closed (I think it was only open for the Rosary that is being said by some local parishioners). We can't get into St Donats - it appears that it is only opened for concerts after I do some net research. This is really disappointing, especially for Donna, as this was the initial purpose of our visit to the City. It is architecturally very interesting and partially constructed from the ruins of the earlier roman forum on which site is stands.

Dinner at Seafood Restaurant Foša around at the marina that is set in the last remaining piece of the former moat around the city.
Appetiser - a prawn and salsa
Entrees:
Blue Fish Platter - svježe sardine na krevet od krumpira i zelene salate od graha (Blue Fish Platter - fresh sardines on a bed of potato and green bean salad) Michael
Dimljeni losos sa krem sirom i losos kavijar (Smoked salmon with cream cheese and salmon caviar) Donna
Teleći terrine s Pistacija u svitak Dalmatinski pršut s biser luk u Acetto Balsamic (Veal terrine with Pistachio in a roll of Dalmatian ham with pearl onions in Acetto Balsamic) Maria
Mains:
Lignje na žaru Jadranu krevet dalmatinskog stila blitva lišće (Grilled Adriatic Squid on a bed of Dalmatian style Swiss Chard leaves) Michael
Baby biftek s tartufima služio na krevetu u pire od krumpira s tartufima sos (Baby beefsteak with truffles served on a bed of mashed potatoes with a truffle gravy) Donna
Žaru Adriatic Dory sautéed s povrćem (Grilled Adriatic Dory with sauteed vegetables) Maria
Desserts:
Rožata - puding od karamela (Rožata - caramel pudding) Michael
Voće minestrone sa Sorbet od limuna (Fruit minestrone with lemon sorbet) Donna
Limun krema s javorov sirup (Lemon cream with maple syrup) Maria
We finished with coffees before waddling back to the car via a short stop to admire the city walls by the lights of night!