Thursday, September 17th, 2009: Canterbury, England

Somewhat apprehensive about the drive to Canterbury, I discussed possible routes with Monika and we settled on taking the major roads rather than a secondary rural road that went due North from Hythe to Canterbury. That proved to be a mistake as the major roads were just chock full of little towns, each with one or more traffic circles. The tortuous flow of traffic combined with high levels of traffic congestion made the relatively short drive take an hour or more.

The one bright spot was that I parked in the next town over from Canterbury and we all took the free shuttle bus into Canterbury proper. The shuttle bus left us off at the edge of the main tourist area that includes the historic district and cathedral. Thus, we ended up closer to the things we really wanted to see than if we had driven all the way into Canterbury and tried to find parking there.

We walked down the main commercial street in the historic district and then cut over one block to get to the cathedral entrance. There we paid for our tickets. After much discussion about the extra cost, we also all finally decided to shell out for a guided tour of the cathedral.

The tour started right after the noon prayer in the cathedral, which I enjoyed hearing. Our guide began herding us around and telling us stories about different parts of the structure. We started in the nave of the church, which to my eyes resembles a beautiful forest avenue of tall, petrified tree trunks with their branches intertwined high above. Then we moved outside to the North side of the church.

Our guide told us that the cloister was typically used for transcribing books and was usually located on the South side of the church for warmth. Being on the North side at Canterbury, the monks must have had many a cold day sitting and copying pieces of scripture. Our guide also directed our attention straight up at the ceiling, where many of the rosettes had been carved in the faces of real people or possibly caricatures of them. I had never seen those on our previous visit to the cathedral, so I was glad that we had taken the tour and had them pointed out to us. I was just sorry I didn't have the chance to show Lois where the stained glass panels of little angels playing the violin and harp were located.

On the East side of the cloister was the Chapter House with some really beautiful panels of stained glass at the back. Since the Chapter House was a general assembly area where the monks gathered each day to hear a chapter of the orders for their monasticism read, it was not really consecrated ground and the stained glass panels reflected that. Besides the typical collection of saints, many of the stained glass panels had to do with kings and queens including the ubiquitous, as well as iniquitous, Henry VIII.

We re-entered the cathedral right at the point where the shrine to Thomas a Becket is located, adjacent to the spot where he was murdered by some of the King's knights at the suggestion, if not the outright order, of the king at that time. Since after being murdered Becket quickly became a saint, pilgrimages to Canterbury to feel his bones became popular and supported the cathedral in grand style until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

We continued to the upper sections of the cathedral including the high altar, flanked on one side by the tomb of the Black Prince and on the other side by yet another of England's bloodthirsty kings. A candle is kept burning as a memorial to Thomas a Becket and I think that is fitting for a man who fearlessly faced down three armed knights and bravely accepted his martyrdom. You just have to admire someone with that kind of bravery.

After pausing in the gift shop to purchase the necessary mementoes to mark our pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral in the modern manner, we walked back into the very scenic old section of the town. We had a quick bite to eat at a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop and wandered down the pedestrian mall as far as the river, marvelling at the 400-500 year old buildings. Phyllis's left knee was starting to give out by that point, so we headed back to the shuttle bus and thence back to the car, stopping off occasionally to do some shopping.

I drove back to Hythe for the evening, but this time I opted to take that small rural road that led directly South. It was, as I had expected, quite narrow and of the 1-lane variety in some stretches, but the traffic density was so much less and that more than made up for the paucity of pavement. The drive took only about a half an hour (less than half the time that the morning drive had required) and I felt far less stressed out at the end of it.

The one curious thing I learned while driving the narrow 2-lane sections is that the more I slowly and cautiously crowded over to the left to give an oncoming car room, the more they would barrel down the middle and try to squeeze me even further to the left as they went roaring by. But if I acted like a crazy jackass and crowded the middle and barelled straight at an oncoming car, then they would slow down and pull over to their side, which gave us both room to pass safely. Have any other folks had that counter-intuitive experience on rural roads in England, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland?

Parking back in front of the Stade Court Hotel, Monika, Lois, and I walked to the northeast along the big, broad, paved beachside promenade in the general direction of Dover. That promenade was very nice indeed and I wondered how far it extended. In contrast, the beach itself was just a bunch of small pebbles and it looked deucedly uncomfortable to walk on. It was well past the summer season and we did not see anyone swimming, but we did see some kayakers having fun in the gentle surf although they were wearing wetsuits, I think. Returning to the hotel, Monika and I had our usual simple supper while Lois and Phyllis tried to have dinner downstairs in the pub. I say "tried" because while they did manage to get a part of their meal after a longish wait, they finally ended up leaving in disgust after waiting over 45 minutes just for a piece of cake for dessert! I was glad not to have that frustration and instead to be able to relax with a good book after our light snack and then simply go to bed.