May 19, 2018
Today was a free day so we went to Canterbury. Evans really wanted to see the Cathedral. It is about an hour and a half train ride – if you get on the right train. We went exactly where we were told to go and got on the train at the exact time we were told to expect it. Only, they didn’t mention Canterbury in the list of places that train was going. At the absolute last possible second, we jumped off that train and, with help and a bit of a wait, found a train that WAS going to Canterbury.
The good news is the delay meant that we were able to watch almost the entire royal wedding on my phone using the train’s WiFi. The train was not crowded but I was still concerned about disturbing someone. One woman walked by and when she saw my phone, she said, “Is that the wedding LIVE?” Then she sat down and watched it with us. She was so excited. It made if even more fun.
Being on a train and all, it did freeze at times and we missed most of Bishop Curry’s homily, but the response to it has been epic. Score one for the American Episcopal Church.
Canterbury is an interesting blend of ancient and modern. There is a wall still there from Roman times and the pub where we had lunch was gluten-free. It was heavily bombed during World War II and also saw its share of other wars in the last 1500 years, but it is still standing.
The Cathedral was as impressive as Westminster or St. Paul’s. What made it different is that it is very much a working church, that just happens to have been an active congregation for over 1400 years. Kings and queens are buried there. Archbishops from the sixth century are buried there. It has been attacked by English Kings, Renegade knights, reformers, and puritans. It has survived civil and world wars. It’s been bombed, burned, and battered with stones, clubs and swords. The monuments and shrines have been defaced by differing political and theological factions. And yet, they were singing Evensong when we arrived – just as they have done for over 1400 years.
Thomas a’ Becket was martyred there and his tomb later destroyed by King Henry VIII. But, in 1986 Pope Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie knelt together at the place of his martyrdom and prayed for the peace and unity of God’s church. A modern memorial now marks both that travesty and that grace-filled moment of two men of God trying to find a way to bring God’s people together again.
Just like Westminster, there was too much to take in, but it was an amazing and inspiring day.
Late in the afternoon, we stopped at a pub that has been owned and operated by the same family for over 150 years. I ordered an English version of a Moscow mule – vodka and ginger beer – not realizing that in pubs, ginger beer is also alcoholic. That went well.
We inadvertently explored some of the dodgier parts of Canterbury on our way back to the train station, but with the help of some very dressed up young people (always pick the best dressed strangers for help in questionable neighborhoods) we finally arrived moments before the train did.
A late dinner at a tapas style Italian restaurant was the perfect end to a great day. Tomorrow we leave London and head to Stonehenge and Bath. On to the next adventure.