I have been to ... Rochester, Kent

Yesterday was our thirty-eighth wedding anniversary, and Sue and I decided that as it was going to be a hot day (it reached 35°C during the afternoon), we would like to go somewhere that we have not been able to visit since the start of the pandemic.

After a lot of discussion (including the possibility of going to the Kent coast), we decided to go to a Rochester in a Kent. We parked in the Cathedral Gate car park, and then went for a walk along the High Street.

The exit from the car park is in Northgate, from where the ruins of Rochester Castle could clearly be seen.

From Northgate, we turned left and walked southwards along the High Street.

On our right was Rochester Cathedral, which was built on the site of a former Saxon priory by Gundulf, the first Norman Bishop of Rochester (he was appointed in 1077).

Some distance further along the High Street was the French Hospital Alms Houses in La Providence. Not far from the Hospital one can find the Huguenot Museum.

Once the High Street reaches Blue Boar Lane, it becomes Eastgate. Although many of the buildings in the centre of the city now have Georgian frontages, some have architecture harks back to an earlier period of history.

The southernmost end of Rochester High Street, looking northwards.

Although the city was empty (it is usually full of tourists during the Summer months), a few shops, pubs, and restaurants were open. We looked for somewhere to have lunch, but our favourite restaurant – Mama Mia – was only taking diners who had prebooked, and the others were either full or had menus that did not appeal to us.

In the end, we drove on to Chatham Maritime, which is a residential and outlet centre that has several restaurants. We were able to get a table at the Villagio restaurant, and had a great lunch of antipasti, pizza (Sue) and calzone (Me) (both served with salad), and ice cream.

After lunch, we drove home ... and just managed to miss getting stuck in a massive traffic jam that affected the M25 and A2 as a result of an accident earlier that afternoon. By the time we got back, our house was like an oven inside, and we spent some time opening all the windows to try to get a breeze through the house to help cool it down.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading, and drinking lots of cold drinks, and enjoying what remained of our anniversary.