Snowy Canterbury looks like Hogsmeade

This morning Kevin and I were going to go to EMP (Early Morning Praise) at church but we slept past our alarms at 5:45. We have tried to go many Wednesday mornings and have failed every time. Maybe it's because its snowy, icy, below freezing, and a 30 minute walk into town. We'll try again next week.

Thanks to the fire alarm testing, we woke up at 8ish and headed into town. We started our day at Whetherspoons which is the pub chain all around England. It's actually pretty good for a chain. I ordered the traditional breakfast. Two eggs, two bacon rashers, two lincolnshire sausages, toast, grilled tomato and fried mushrooms. I was quite stuffed and ready for a day of Christmas shopping.

Because of the snow, our main street, High Street, resembled Hogsmeade from Harry Potter.

We went from shop to shop to shop. At Canterbury Bookshop, they sold really old books and since everything was 50% off, I kinda went crazy. Those sales do make you buy more. I found a book published in 1772...4 years before our country became a nation.

I also found several prints of birds, mammals, and fish from the 1700's-1800's.

It's interesting because these prints were how people knew of animals. There were no real zoos or pictures to see them. A lot of the animals on the prints look nothing like there living counterparts. They may have had a stuffed animal for reference if they were lucky. That's how people studied zoology back then. Crazy.

We went back to Whetherspoons for lunch and I got fish and chips. I know "How English."

As we walked by the cathedral, we saw they had set up a 30 foot tall Christmas tree and a nativity scene. They both looked so tiny next to the GIANT cathedral.

We sat in our favorite Starbucks by the Cathedral for awhile to defrost. Then we made it back home slipping and sliding along the way. I decided to make apple pie because we had apples and an extra crust in the fridge. Ok, so I cheated a little. Our great friends, Dave and Josh came over to help us with the pie...I hope they came to hang out with us too.

This weekend, Kevin and I are going to Rome...hopefully. We have everything planned and booked but the UK is facing a massive snow storm. Gatwick Airport will be closed until Thursday morning which is fine because our flight isn't until Saturday but we're praying that things won't get worse. With that happy thought, it's time for me to get some sleep. Good night.