For our mandatory Encountering London course, we take "field trips" (yes, I am a college student) to different places in London and the UK. Over the last two Fridays, we have gone to both Canterbury and Westminster Abbey. Seeing as I seem to spend all of my free time aimlessly wandering around old churches in this country, I, of course, enjoyed them both immensely.
In Canterbury, we were given a tour of the town before going in for our guided tour of the cathedral. It, like every other smaller English town I have visited, was adorable. My favorite building was a book store built entirely on a slight, resulting in the bright blue door being a parallelogram instead of a rectangle. Watching a tourist try and get in may have been the highlight of my day. Canterbury is also home to a particularly prestigious high school, so everywhere that we went there were pre-teens ambling about in their crisp school uniforms.
The cathedral was beautiful, but, unfortunately, you could not hear our guide at all. The main focus, of course, is the martyrdom of St. Thomas Beckett, but with the shrine gone (Thanks Henry VIII) there is not much to see in the way of revering the saint. One can feel the energy of all of the people there, though, hoping for a miracle. It is a very interesting dynamic.
Leaving Canterbury, we made for the white cliffs of Dover. It was amazing to be able to climb to the top of the heath, overlooking the crashing waves and the towering magnificence of the cliffs themselves. It was so enjoyable to get out of the bus and take in the fresh air for a change. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit Dover Castle. I'll just have to save that for another trip!
Not wanting to pay over $20 on my own when we were visiting for class, I had yet to be inside of Westminster Abbey. I hate how the city charges tourists through the nose to see these sites. Anywho, thanks St. Lawrence! The architecture of the Abbey itself is undeniably incredible: high Norman arches, flying buttresses, gilded bosses. All, I have realized, typical of these grand religious buildings. What really stood out to me, however, was the sheer number of relics located in Abbey. The Coronation chair, for example, has been housed there since 1066. I find it utterly mind-blowing that kings and queens of England are still crowned in that same chair sat in by William the Conquerer. It's crazy!
However, what was most exciting for me, an English major and literature nerd was (what else?) Poet's Corner. Although I know that they cheat and not everyone is buried there (don't worry, I got my pictures with Jane in Winchester!), it was still incredible to see the calibur of the names on some of these plaques: Lewis Carroll, Tennyson, Byron, Austen, Shakespeare, Keats. It was so crowded it was hard to see them all (and another place where it was not permitted to take pictures), but I just wanted to whip out a journal and start writing, in the shadow of all of these great masters of literature.
Lastly, I finally made it to Southwark Cathedral! This has been a site that has repeatedly eluded me, but I find it I did! Strangely, it was very commercialized - you had to purchase a "photo pass" in order to take pictures. What made this cathedral so unique, though, was the full length statue of Shakespeare located underneath the "Shakespeare window." This may be one my favorite pieces of stained glass, as it depicts characters or events from nearly every single one of Shakespeare's plays. Front and center, as one would expect, is a beautifully mad King Lear in the storm.
