The city wall

After Monday afternoon and this morning walking on narrow sidewalks through town we discovered the city wall. It’s wide with a paved walkway along the top. So, we’ve graduated – at least between here and the bus terminal – to strolling the wall.

An alluring feature of “our” section of wall is the park just to the wall's inside, the Dane John. I understand that it once was a dank place where prisoners were kept and where sewage was stored until it could be transported away from town. Now it is a gathering place for young people, families and the elderly, complete with a war memorial commemorating a date in the very late 19th century, fountains, ample seating, a tea room (which is what I could call a concession stand), a wondrous wooden maze which the children seem to adore. In fact, today was a Family Fun Day in the park and it was filled with people, activities, food.

This afternoon, after visiting the exhibition hall at the university during the morning, Tal stayed in our room for a rest and I went out to the Dane John and to the ruins of Canterbury Castle across the street from the hotel for an hour and a half with the camera. Later, as we set out for dinner with friends, we walked the wall all the way to the back of the grounds surrounding the cathedral and enjoyed some quiet in the voluptuous summertime gardens.

Pictured here is a view of the back of our hotel from the castle (our windows are the three on the upper right) and a view of the castle (through the hotel's gate) from one of our windows.