Nina's Blog - Tuesday 21st May 2024

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 11:41

I'm in Canterbury now and I already have mixed feelings about the place. I'm in an excellent independent café in a picturesque side street in the centre having a lemon meringue and one of the best mocha coffees in ages.


But getting here was irritating.. I tried to be good and use the park and ride. It would have been cheap and I wouldn't have had to drive in the town. But the entrance has been deliberately made narrow, presumably to keep out commercial vehicles. When I realized that the tyres on both sides were scrubbing on the kerb I decided that I'd rather not risk it. So I drove into the centre followed signs for a car park that turned out to be full, drove on to the next which turned out to be locked and disused, drove on a bit more and found one that wasn't open, had spaces, and with an entrance wide enough to drive through.

This car park costs almost as much per hour as the park and ride does per day.

The effect is to discriminate between rich and poor. Only those who can't afford a big car can use the park and ride, while those with plenty of money and big cars are encouraged to drive them into the narrow streets.

The other irritating thing is that the place I've booked to stay in is asking for ID. But it's a self check in place so this has to be delivered as a digital image. They asked me to send it in the Booking.com chat but I can't see how.

If I had known they insisted on this I quite likely wouldn't have booked it

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 22:54

The saga about getting to my apartment in Canterbury continues: I wandered around Canterbury for a while visited a couple of charity shops and bought a Wodehouse book in one. Then I connected to a shop WiFI to check for messages, got a message saying that the landlord has an email address to which I can send a picture of my ID and they also sent me information about where to park my car, supposedly ten minutes walk from the flat. But the postcode takes one to the road behind the building, it's a good job they also sent a couple of pictures of the surroundings. So I finally got my car parked in the tiniest parking space I have seen for quite a while. The space must be less than four metres long, too short for every car I have owned except for the two Minis (real ones not the BMW travesty).

I timed the walk to the apartment, could be done in ten minutes if you can walk briskly and have no luggage. More like fifteen for most people I know, perhaps even twenty for anyone with luggage or who is less sprightly.

But I still haven't got the code for the lock box with the door keys. Eventually that arrives and I walk back to my car to fetch a bag of clothes, etc. Didn't time myself this time but I'm sure it took longer carrying the bag, I get into the apartment which is quite big. Plainly decorated and furnished but it all looks to be quite reasonable. Bit I can't find anything to tell me what the WiFi password is or even which access point to use. So I walk over the road to the Wetherspoon's and use their WiFI to send yet another message. I go for a walk while waiting for a reply. The reply says where the router is and that the SSID and password are on the bottom of it. That works.

I thought I might watch some television but it's a streaming only device. That means that if I want to watch the BBC I have to create an account with the BBC, create a profile on the TV itself, lie to the BBC to say that I have a TV licence.

Why don't landlords of places like this create a handbook and also why don't they set up the TV properly. It shouldn't be necessary to extract this kind of information one drop at a time.

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 23:15

After failing to get into the park and ride I didn't immediately drive into the city, instead I parked in the shoppers car park opposite and wandered past Morrison's and Hobby Craft to use the WiFI. I took a few pictures of today's outfit. I changed out of the long dress because it's not really suitable for wet weather. Here is what I changed into
Taken in Zara. I go into Zara whenever I pass one just in case they happen to have anything similar to the Zara skirts I already have. They never do so all I get out of the visit is a picture or two taken in the big mirrors that they have.

Zara stores are strange places, they all look temporary and as though they are selling off remaindered items. Very unwelcoming.

I walked around in the rain quite a lot. Did 13 000 steps today, some in flats but mostly in heels.

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 09:21

Booked my accommodation for the next three nights. Going to stay in the centre of Canterbury. I think I've only been to Canterbury once, just passing through to somewhere else many years ago.

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 08:28

Phew, it's a bit quieter now than it was for the last half hour. I'm sitting at a table near the children's play area because I couldn't find a power socket anywhere else. It was full of French school children making a racket. Every time I do this journey I'm surprised again at the din that some groups of children make, the further I get from Scandinavia the noisier they are.

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 09:32

I think I mentioned that I bought a 'new' compact camera to replace my Canon that has a faulty lens cover. This one came with a nice old fashioned camera case.

But who designs these things? The charging port is a micro USB port on the right hand side of the camera, at the top, but the case covers it so that you have to remove the camera from the case to charge it or to transfer pictures. The case could easily have been made with a cutout just there.

I'm tempted to cut the case so that I can bend it out of the way of the port. But I hate damaging well made things; even if they are in some respects badly designed.

I love the way you slow travel. And I also love boat trips, it's been a while for me... Have you arrived already Nina ?

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 08:34

Today's breakfast is sliced wholemeal with ham and Italian salad. Just using up what I brought with me.
I think I'll go and get a hot drink soon!

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 23:25

To expand on the topic of parking: the final bill for parking my car in Canterbury today was 11.70 GBP

Tuesday 21st May 2024, 23:12

In amongst all the walking about after parking the car I want to a backstreet pub called the Cherry Tree and had a pint of Hopical Storm, bit of a waste of effort in my opinion. Drinkable but dull.