As you may have noticed by my last few posts -- I was all over the place during end of April and mid parts of May. I will sum up all the feelings like so: I was having the scary--scary--scary realization that Amos and I were going to be in charge of a home. What?!!! Don't get me wrong, both he and I were flipping out over the idea of living in a house together; moreover, we were pretty excited that we were going to be able to decorate our own place. A dream come true for two lost goofballs in this world.

I also knew that deep down that we'd both dive into the home projects, construction filled days, watch fixer upper television programs, and subscribe to Architecture magazines in order to make it all work out. This also meant we would have to put travel and creative work aside to focus on the house. So, being the Y-generation folks that we are, we decided to deal with this anxiety by traveling before pitching a tent in Los Angeles, so to speak. You've seen all the images from my trip, and it was wonderful. I got to see my cousin in Istanbul, visit my dance friends in Paris, and even skipped around Canterbury for a couple of days. As for Amos, he also did his own "alone trip" via the highway in the states. He began his adventure at a friend's wedding in Oakland, then went through Eureka to Portland, up to Seattle and Vancouver. He road tripped it all the way to Chicago to meet up with me. My man is pretty hard core. 

Before leaving Europe, I jumped on a train to visit my good friend Mara who was at the time living in Canterbury, England. This woman will someday win an Oscar for directing or acting, or something spectacular like that. She is patient and full of amazing stories worthy of sun sets with a glass of wine and a bonfire. In her last week studying for her final paper, she took a couple of days to relax and show me this wonderful and historical town. I read "The Canterbury Tales" during my English studies in school. I loved the stories because although they were written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stories were accounts of what people talked about during their pilgrimage from their small towns to this amazing Canterbury Cathedral. Some stories were religious in nature, and some were very sexy. I recommend the book. 

As my Peruvian feet walked through the town, I wondered who had chosen to rest on this building, or by this creek during their pilgrimage. 

Aside from it's impressive historical sights, Canterbury had an amazing quality that I truly wanted to cherish and bring back home with me. Canterbury was full of greenery: trees, bushes, canals seemed to embrace the homes, movie theaters, and also the University of Kent. During our brunch at "Tiny Tim's" a bee came into the restaurant and people kept eating because frankly - the bee had every right to be part of the atmosphere. The endearing appreciation of nature was something I truly appreciated from visiting this town.

We took a boat tour on one of the canals and came across a nest within two bricks, a tree that grazed our faces, and various types of birds and bugs. One of my favorite parts was going under the fairy bridge. Apparently, the tree by this bridge releases small white flakes during the tree's mating season and the locals tell the children that fairies are dancing outside. What a beautiful tradition! 

We also stumbled upon children dressed up as knights and lords during our visit to the Canterbury Cathedral. We saw a twisted tree that was at least 500 years old - and on and on it went. Nature, magical stories, and of course our visit to the very fun and educational The Canterbury Tales Museum. 

Thank you Mara, for showing me that tall grey vertical structures can look warmer and welcoming with a beautiful garden beside it. 

Time to think about plants!