On Saturday May 25, I went to Canterbury and Dover. They're both charming towns.

Canterbury: The old medieval wall still surrounds the city and is in surprisingly good condition.

Canterbury Cathedral: This is one of the altars in the cathedral. Creepy and cool.

Canterbury Cathedral: Like thousands of pilgrims, I too have now been to the great cathedral. Of course, it didn't look like this when they went. I felt like I should have been quoting Canterbury Tales when I was there.

Canterbury Cathedral: This marks the spot where Thomas Becket was killed.

Canterbury Cathedral: If there was any doubt, they've made it clear, this is where he died.

Canterbury Cathedral: This candle was a memorial to the martyred saint and was there from his death in the 1100's until Henry VIII made them take it away in the 1500's. Now it's back.

Canterbury Cathedral: This is the altar where St. Thomas's bones were kept. Pilgrims would kneel at its base and pray to the saint. Of course the bones were destroyed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution, but the alter is still there.

Canterbury Cathedral: The tunic, gloves, and shield of The Black Prince.

Dover Castle: The keep was built by Henry II and the the castle was continually built and used all the way until WWII when it was used as a shelter and hospital.

Dover Castle: The Great Hall. They've added furnishings and decorations so tourists can feel like they're stepping back in time. I bet a lot of schools go on field trips there.

Dover Castle: Huzzah! I'm the king, with my friend Sara. What this doesn't show is to the left, there was a creepy hologram with actors in costume talking about the "court gossip." It was disturbing.

Dover Castle: The view from the top of the keep. The grounds are extensive with lots of buildings that had been added over the years.

Dover Castle: A nice view of the White Cliffs of Dover from the castle. You can also see France across the Chanel. It must have been scary during WWII to see how close the German army was. Dover was a huge base because they had to be ready for invasion and lots of bombings. They built tunnels below the castle to shelter people from the town.

Last month I went to Italy for the first time.

 Venice: Rialto Bridge

 Venice: Boat ride with Carol Edwards

Venice: our hotel

Florence: the medieval wall - The gates of the city were closed at night. If you were outside the walls when they closed you were on your own until they opened the next day.

Florence: Pitti Palace courtyard

Florence: View of the city

 Tuscany: The bell tower of the Duomo in Pisa - better known as the leaning tower of Pisa

Tuscany: the medieval town of Siena

Tuscany: the pretty country

Rome: "The Mouth of Truth" featured in the movie Roman Holiday and Only You

Rome: Colosseum

Rome: St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican