Canterbury and beyond! Or maybe just Canterbury!

Weekend of November 21/22

Hey, I’m getting closer! Very soon it will be time to write about our big Ireland trip. 

Then I really haven’t done anything interesting during this term. 

I’ll probably do this next term too, write about the craziness that will be my spring break.

But more on that later.

CaNtErBuRy! 

We really enjoyed this weekend, and it was fun for Rebekah and me to have someone new to travel with. Namely my housemate (and classmate from Jewell!) Lora! She was really great, and Canterbury was a big deal for her, so she did lots of the research for places to stay. It was a first for her, and a first for my sister to NOT be involved in the planning. Rebekah let us handle everything (mwah ha ha ha). Evil laughter aside, good weekend all around. 

Well, except for how it started. Lora started our morning at a few minutes after six, by sliding down the last few stairs on our staircase. We finally decided it was just a mild sprain, and she was determined to keep the trips plans since we’d been looking forward to it for so long. So she and I finished packing our belongings and some sandwiches for the day and ran to catch the 7:15 bus right around the corner from us. Well, I thought it was the 7:15, turned out to be the 7:23. And everyone knows how I like to run early for everything, buses especially. So we stood there for ... awhile. Sorry Lora! 

After a very bumpy ride (pretty sure that bus was THE oldest in the fleet) we made it to Reading and practically ran to Rebekah’s apartment since we were cold and damp. After a little repacking (and a little using the facilities) we were on our way! 

We arrived in Canterbury about 11 am and went straight to St Martin’s church, the oldest church to still be in everyday use for worship. The church was really neat, especially realizing it was old enough to be there for Queen Bertha to have worshipped in! From there we unsuccessfully tried to find the Westgate Towers on the SatNav. Emphasis on “unsuccessfully”. This SatNav thing is kind of a hit or miss situation. It’s either fantastic, or lacking a little. 

So we gave up and went in search of the Tourist Info Center, a much more easily located building. After locating it and obtaining a free map of the city, we went to the Roman museum, munching the lunches I had packed along the way. 

The Roman Museum was definitely neat, there was a reconstructed marketplace exhibition and a lot of excavation (looked a lot like our trip to Bath!) After a little “reconnoitering” (I stuck that word in just for you Dad!) we headed again for the Westgate Towers. 

On the way we became distracted by the Thomas Beckett hospital, which was a place for pilgrims to stay when coming to the shrine for Thomas Beckett. The place still houses elderly men and women who don’t have the means to take care of themselves monetarily. After that we finally located the Westgate Towers, the original entrance to Canterbury. While we were there we managed to snag a double red phone booh photo together. It will go well in my themed scrapbook (which has turned into phone booths around Europe, check back for details as it develops). 

From there we headed to the cathedral so we would have time to look around before Evensong started. When we arrived, someone had just had a heart attack and they had the entire entrance to the Nave shut down because of ambulances. Eek. 

They were however letting people in through an entrance by the choir, so we wandered around and snapped photos, visited Thomas Beckett’s shrine (or the site of the former shrine) and then grabbed front row seats for Evensong. A truly lovely service, and we even convinced one of the wardens to take a photo of all three of us right before things got started. 

After that our parking had almost expired so we grabbed the car and headed out to the B&B. Again, the SatNav made a fail, but after a couple of phone cals we made it. After even more navigational problems trying to find a particular pub for dinner we finally gave up and went back to the hotel restaurant. There was a little confusion as I desperately tried to find something that was gluten-free, but disaster was averted when I finally managed to get through our waitress’ head what my problem was. The joys of eating in a limited restaurant with an allergy/intolerance.

After that we all collapsed, it had been a busy day. 

After breakfast on Sunday we headed to St. Augustine’s Abbey. 

The day was very clear and pretty, just a little nippy. Rebekah and I had complimentary admission because we’re English Heritage members (a fact I plan to abuse royally during my summer trip up to and through Scotland), but obviously Lora should have needed to pay an entrance fee. The guy manning the till ended up letting her in free when he realized she was with Rebekah and me, because we were members. So nice! There was also a free audio guide included. Woo! 

Highly informative. 

I may know more than I wanted to. 

Towards the end of the touring it began to grow more and more overcast and cold, so Rebekah and I wimped out for the last little pathway and went inside to try some Mead. 

After a quick run by the ruins of the old Norman Castle we headed home because it was pouring rain (welcome to England!). Once we were in Reading we split up and Lora and I headed back to Oxford, leaving Rebekah at her apartment.

What a great weekend. Pictures are available here!