My Canterbury Tale

So this morning I took a personal pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. I woke up early, caught the train, and then the other two trains, and finally made it to Canterbury around lunch. I was a little frustrated because on the underground there was a whole lot of German high school students who were screaming across the train at each other. I walked around Canterbury for a while, relaxed, and had a Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriaki sandwich, which may sound unimportant, but I've been craving it for a long time. It was so good.

After that, I went to the Cathedral. It's actual name apparently is Christ Church Cathedral, but everyone calls it Canterbury Cathedral. Another interesting fact is that the great gate into the Cathedral is bordered by a Starbucks. I got there, walked around, loved it. They had a really amazing modern stations of the cross in the crypt that I went through, and I stood in the place where Thomas Beckett was murdered, also the spot where Archbishop Robert Runcie and Pope John Paul II knelt together in prayer. I also saw the candle that marked where Beckett's shrine used to be, before it was destroyed by order of King Henry VIII.

Interestingly enough, this was also the destination of many pilgrims, as noted in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the pilgrims were on their way to the shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.

I walked around the Cathedral, enjoyed the chapels and the cloisters, and the crypt. The Kent Youth Orchestra was playing, so there was a nice sound in the background the whole time.

After walking all around the Cathedral, I walked around the outside, and enjoyed the ground. It then started looking like it was going to rain, so I headed back to the train station. Only a few minute after I had gotten to the train station, the downpour began, so I had good timing and stayed dry. Yay! After a long train ride home, I got to relax all evening. I felt a lot better, having had some time to myself, and now, there's less than a month before I come home! For a little while that is.