Continuing the tradition of posting about things that happened over a week ago...
Last weekend (August 3) we went to
Rochester with Katherine. It's across the Medway river from the industrial park where I work. The walk from Strood rail station to my office is pretty bleak, so it was nice to see that there is more to the area than junkyards and
Diggerland.
Rochester has an impressive old castle/fort and cathedral, both dating from the 12th century (earlier if you consider the Roman walls incorporated into the buildings.) I could see both tantalizingly close from across the river on my journey to work but this was the first time I saw them up close. Rochester High Street was cobblestoned and lined with old timber and brick buildings mainly dating back to the Victorian era. There's a distinct Dickens theme to the store names as he lived here for 12 years.
We didn't go inside the castle but it was pretty impressive from the outside, still solid-looking despite the crumbling stone. There was a special market in the castle grounds that weekend selling goods from Normandy. We bought some food including a quite foul-tasting sheep cheese. I also bought two bottles of french beer, which convinced me once and for all that
the French cannot make beer. The strong brown "La Bell Siska" that we tried was almost as foul as the sheep cheese. I "mistakenly" left the bottle of stout, who's name I can't recall, at Katherine's for her to try. If she dares.
