Its so pretty, oh so pretty! (Canterbury in General)

Member Name: CAFCGirl

Product:	Canterbury in General
Date:	10/12/08 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relatively clean, and pretty!

Disadvantages: Tourists,pigeons,nothing special

Ahhhh Canterbury..... is it really that lovely place that Woolfe would have us believe?!

Simply the answer is No, and I think I can say that because I live there, and I work there....

What is lovely about Canterbury?
Its quite quaint. There are some sweet little side lanes off the main high street, housing some smaller retailers and some independent shops and niche retailers.
Cobble lanes and old hanging signs are a throwback to the glory days, of Chaucer, of Dickens and of Olde England.

It is relatively clean in the high street and main roads serving it, there are refuse bins which are rarely ever half full, and there is also a periodic gum buster man clearing up the chewy mess of others.

Of course, there are some historical tourist attractions, the Cathedral (the hub of pretty much everything in Canterbury), the Canterbury Tales, St Augustines Abbey, The Greyfriars, and Canterbury Castle ruins to name but a few.

Whats not so lovely?
The sheer numbers of over zealous and intoxicated students, vommiting outside kebab shops.... and the inevitable job hunt that they go on, from about mid august up until end of october.
Now I think its great that they all want to support themselves and earn some extra cash whilst at uni, but what is highly irritating as an employer is that they want to work when its suits them, but yet want a month off at Christmas, at Easter and three months off for the summer!

Also not lovely is the grubby half baked attempt at a street market, which takes place twice a week. The high street isnt tiny, and admittedly the market doesnt run the entire length, its just the standard of the market.
Considering its a historical city and people enjoy the quaint atmosphere of Canterbury and then twice a week this atrocious, poor quality knock off Nigel market appears, selling nothing but poor quality goods, sad looking pleather bags, and some sweatshop creatings masquerading as "fair trade" wooden instruments.

Adding to the retail aspects, there is Whitefriars...
What can I say about Whitefriars!? Its atrocious, appaling and against everything that once was good about Canterbury!
Located at the top end of the high street, containing big name high street retailers, such as Next, Zara, H&M, Boots and River Island. With all those names, wheres my gripe I hear you ask? Well quite simply its the lay out of the place, the look and the ambience. It just lacks any definition, every shop is a grey block, with a flat glass front with its name on, take away the actual logo's and you wouldnt know which shop was which. There is no attempt to replicate or even give a nod of the hat to the historical ambience of the City.

Another not so lovely element is the tourists. now dont get me wrong, I love tourists, I love their general chatter, how everything is new and exciting for them, how they all want a photo of everything and most importantly I love the money they bring into the economy.
What I do not like is the sheer numbers, and their inability to understand the great British institution that is "The Queue".
British people queue, we create a line, and we wait for our turn, we dont bombard people from all sides with questions in broken english and expect the answer immediately.
My biggest bug bear is when you are trying to travel anywhere between Burgate, Sun Street, and the Cathedral Square. You take your life in your hands, and if thats not bad enough, they feed the pigeons!

After all that though, I dont plan on moving.... and I wouldnt work anywhere else, because Canterbury is significantly better than other places I've been to.

But what I really really hate is how Canterbury sees itself. The city is small fry compared to other great British cities, yet it seems to believe its the centre of the universe, that its two universities are second only to Ivy League colleges in the States (and even then secretly Canterbury still thinks its better), and then there is the Cathedral and the supporters of said Cathedral, yes it may be the cornerstone of the faith of many, but do we really have to be bombarded we the need to save the cathedral roof at every turn?! You have to pay an extortionate fee to visit (much more than any other!) yet they are still cant afford the upkeep!!!

Canterbury, you're a small fish in a big pond, and just accept it and move on....

Summary: Nice for a day but I wouldnt want to live there (forever)!