Rochester, about 30 minutes away, was the sometime home of Charles Dickens, which fact is made obvious by every shop or cafe naming itself after one of his characters/book titles/himself. We went there on Sunday because the town was having a Dickensian Christmas Festival. Wisely taking advantage of the city's free park-and-ride, we cruised into Rochester proper (a place we'd never been to until today) to see the streets packed with people, especially those festively dressed in Victorian costumes. For those of you that know of my (Erica's) passion for Victorian/otherwise costumes, I didn't wear a costume though I would have liked to if I had any with me. Especially adorable was the copious amounts of elderly British couples dressed together, walking hand in hand. That will be Zac and I someday!
On other notes, the city boasts a beautiful cathedral, the second one built in England after Canterbury Cathedral, and right next to it an old semi-ruined Norman castle. The cathedral and castle are right next to the high street, which was festively decked out with lights. The festival had food booths (including hot mulled wine and mince pies), some craft booths, some street entertainment, and a parade (Victorian people, Victorian firemen, and of course bagpipers. What would a parade be without bagpipers?) Zac and I both enjoyed a cup of mulled wine and shared a mince pie (sweet and with raisins, not made out of meat like both of us assumed).
See the photos here.
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