On Wednesday morning I woke up early, quite pleased with myself - my laundry was clean, my bags repacked, and breakfast eaten, with plenty of time to take the Underground to Victoria Station to catch my train. As luck would have it, though, I accidentally got on the wrong train at my transfer, which took me back to my original station - ugh! By the time I dragged my bags back up the stairs and over to the other platform again (of course there was no lift (that's what our British friends call the elevator)), I lost about a half hour. I caught my train at Victoria Station with less than a minute to spare - literally! I'm convinced my Sewanee angel held the train for me...she's a fantastic and helpful travel partner, you know!
So I settled in for the train ride to Canterbury. I tried taking some snapshots along the way, but between the bug spots on the windows and the speed of the train, none of them really turned out. I arrived at the Canterbury East train station in no time at all - just an hour and a half from London. Gathering up my bags, I began the walk to the cathedral, constantly looking up for the tops of the towers. They finally appeared! How long I've waited for an opportunity to come to Canterbury, and I finally made it!
Some streets in Canterbury
The square in front of the Cathedral gate.
The Cathedral gate camouflaged in scaffolding.
I checked into the Lodge, unpacked my bags and got my room organized - all by a little after 1pm.
Some shots of the Lodge
A garden area to the side of the Lodge
The view from my room.
The Lodge had lunch waiting for us as we Canterbury Scholars trickled in, so I sat down for a sandwich and then promptly made my way over for my first look inside the cathedral. I can't remember the last time I kept goose bumps for such a long period. This place is holy and sacred and mysterious and beautiful and pregnant with historical significance. Everywhere I turned was a beautiful window or carving, or a monument to a significant person I have studied in Church history.
Since I had a few hours before evensong, I decided to do some exploring through the streets of the city, of course scoping out places for afternoon tea and used bookstores to shop in. I'm surprised how many coffee shops I saw - catering to the tourists, I suppose.
I made it back in time for my first evensong in the cathedral. Since it was Wednesday night, only the men sang, but ahhh, what a beautiful sound! Sung evening prayer feeds my soul like nothing else!
After evensong we had dinner in the Lodge, and I finally began meeting my fellow pilgrims. And thus the adventure of the Canterbury Scholars begins!
No comments:
Post a Comment