Whitstable Weekend
After all the travel and happy chaos of the Christmas period, Matt and I decided a quiet weekend away was the perfect opportunity to recharge our batteries and enjoy a bit of a digital detox weekend. Having spent a day wandering Whitstable previously, we decided to head back this time for a long weekend. We were incredibly lucky both with the weather and with our accommodation - an adorable cottage only a few minutes walk from the train station and the waterfront. Perfection!
Obviously, a trip to the English seaside in January has it's associated perils... primarily the potential for freezing temperatures and driving rain. While the rain stayed away for the most part, we were very happy to have our winter coats with us! Another weapon against the cold was this adorable little fireplace in our cottage. How cute is that? We happily spent our evenings reading and watching movies curled up next to the fire - it was exactly the sort of weekend we were hoping for.
The journey from London was pretty straightforward with a direct train. Taking a little more than an hour from St. Pancras station, we brought a little picnic with us and had a simple dinner on the train. Once we arrived at the cottage, we unpacked our things and settled in next to the fire with glasses of Prosecco (provided by our lovely Airbnb host).
Whitstable is situated on the northern coast of Kent and has been the site of oyster production as far back as the Roman era in Britain. Home of an annual oyster festival, it's safe to say the oyster is certainly king in this town. On the beach, you can easily spot the remnants of the trade with piles of shells everywhere. However, these shells are owned by the Whitstable Oyster Company, who recycle the shells by returning them to the seabed so that the next generation of oysters can use them.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend that we would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quick and easy break from busy London life. The town of Whitstable is small but offers lots of small shops, beautiful seaside views and tasty restaurants (more posts to come!). I was also able to pick up some supplies for my newest hobby: knitting things extremely poorly. Who could argue with a weekend like that? Plus I got to spend quality time with this handsome guy (which was the best part of the whole weekend of course!).
