Canterbury Tale

Saturday I traveled to Canterbury with two friends from school--H and Cassie--for a day trip. We caught an early morning train and arrived around 10:45 in the morning. Our first stop was Westgate Tower, through which we entered the main part of town.

The tower has a small museum inside, which had some interesting information (including a murder hole!). But the best part is climbing to the top and taking pictures of the cathedral. You can see one of my photos at right.

We decided food was necessary before we did anything else. As we roamed the streets, we came across a fudge shop that was offering free samples (toffee fudge--yummy!). Though we told the man working there we would be back, I don't think he believed us. Apparently he doesn't know the three of us that well. We lunched at a place nearby called Goodchilds, and after lunch we went to The Canterbury Tales.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Canterbury Tales (which should not include Lindsey or James!), it is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer. Each tale is told by a one of the pilgrims traveling in a group from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Five of these--the Knight's Tale, the Miller's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Tale (my personal favorite), the Nun's Priest's Tale, and the Pardoner's Tale--are told inside the attraction through various devices. It's a bit cheesy, but it was fun to hear some of the tales again. And I love that the attraction mentioned what having a gap between your two front teeth (like the Wife of Bath) used to mean. Bonus points if you know! (You can't play, Mom.)

We strolled around for a bit because I had been told parts of the cathedral would be closed until 2 pm, though unfortunately this intelligence would later prove incorrect. Finally, it was time to visit the famous Canterbury Cathedral!



[Note: I did not realize until we were just leaving the cathedral that you can buy a photo permit. Thus, I linked to a few photos I found online.]

We wandered around the cathedral, inside and out, for a couple hours. There's just so much to see and admire. The gothic style dominates the main part of the building; the vertical lines draw your eyes all the way to the ceiling. Incredible. Obviously, one of the highlights was seeing the spot where Thomas Becket was slain. He was murdered in 1170 by four knights in response to Henry VII's famous words, "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" (though it is doubtful the King intended Becket to be murdered). The spot is now marked by the Altar of the Sword's Point.

After spending so much time at the cathedral, we were cold and hungry. After a brief stop by the fudge shop (the man looked so surprised to see us again he gave us a fourth slice of fudge free!), we found a fitting place to have dinner--Thomas Becket pub. We ordered some warm food, filling food (fish 'n chips, stew, etc.) and just relaxed. It's amazing how exhausting sightseeing can be sometimes.

When we left the pub, it was completely dark, and the cathedral looked even more amazing. I managed to get some night shots, which I think turned out amazingly well. Example:



And thus ends my Canterbury Tale!

p.s. Here is the link to my photo set from Canterbury.