You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
-Levitcus 19:34
I arrived in Canterbury greeted by the heavy rain at 5am Friday morning. The bus from Paris departed at 11pm and included a ferry ride into Dover (if you know me then you know how freakin exciting that was). First stop and first one off the bus, it was Paris all over again: I had no idea where I was or where I was going. Luckily the Youth Hostel wasn't too far up the rode. I arrived and sat for an hour in the rain under my umbrella (the picture was straight out of a movie...) until a staff person let me in the warm up. After I checked in, I crashed till the afternoon.
Now, mind you, I was supposed to be in Taize and had gotten to Canterbury three days early. The week earlier, Mark (my current CouchSurfing Host) sent me a message seeing I was going to be in Canterbury and said I could stay with him. Knowing this was a possibility I only booked one night at the Hostel. So I basically spent the day doing laundry and getting organized. Mark and I got intouch with eachother and I've been staying in his flat since Saturday night.
Mark is an Anglican priest here in Canterbury. He is the Priest-in-Charge for three different churches. In Canterbury, there is pretty much an Anglican church every few blocks not including the Cathedral. So, he keeps pretty busy. Despite this, he and I did go see a community production of "Bernarda Alba" and enjoyed good conversation just tonight. Mark is also gay so as far as personal stories and the church goes we could relate to eachother. He's got a really, really, great flat. I've had a room and bed to myself right in the center of the City Centre. He also gave me a key to his place!
Canterbury was originally a two day stop, but I'm glad I've spent the five days here. Walking the grounds of St. Augustine's Abbey was amzaing, if just for the fact that an audio tour was included in the admission. Canterbury Cathedral was all that I imagined it would be. When Henry VIII abolished the monastaries and overly Catholic buildings in England, the Abbey was destroyed. However, since the Cathedral was the established Seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury it was spared. I think the best prize in Canterbury though is St. Martin's. A section of it's wall dates back to the forth century being built by the Romans. It was here that St. Augustine and his men set up there base with the permission of the King and made efforts to re-evangelize Britain. Without a doubt this is the epicenter of where Anglicanism started. Other highlights include seeing Canterbury Castle which was built by the Normans, the Royal Museum, and the Masonic Museum.
Canterbury has definitley been an expected highlight of this trip so far. Just being in the center of where it all started has been just amazing. Canterbury is very small and is very walkable. It's picturesque with its ancient streets and buildings from the 1500s. It's freaking adorbale, really.
Once again God watched out for me. I got to Canterbury earlier than explected and had a place to stay, and when my CouchSurfing host for Monday through Wednesday never fell threw in contacting me I was able to stay with Mark. So I write this on my last night in this town. Mind you, I've caught a bit of a head cold and I spent most of the day doing laundry and preparing to leave tomorrow and just resting in general. It's two weeks since I left the States. This is the longest I've ever been from home and to be honest I am starting to feel a bit homesick. Granted, Canterbury runs at a much slower pace than frantic Paris allowing me to have mor time to process my thoughts and let my mind wanter. I've grown attached to this place, really. And just like when I left Paris I now have this anxiety of leaving for London in the morning starting over in a new place. My pilgrimage in Canterbury is coming to an end and I resume the trip tomorrow. But like the Canon told me at my Pilgrimage blessing today, the Pilgrimage onward both back home and to that Heavenly country have also began.
Things of Interest
-This past Rememberance Sunday I went to St. Mildred's (the Anglo-Catholic parish in Canterbury). The numbers were low as most people went to the Cathedral for this sort of Holiday. Mark remarked that most people seem to be more loyal to the Cathedral than there home congregation in that regard
-Archbishop Justin Welby was just in the area a few days before I got here.
-I was taking a break by the Castle wall when a peice of flint stone broke off when I sat by it. Coolest souvenier ever.
Canterbury has definitley been an expected highlight of this trip so far. Just being in the center of where it all started has been just amazing. Canterbury is very small and is very walkable. It's picturesque with its ancient streets and buildings from the 1500s. It's freaking adorbale, really.
Once again God watched out for me. I got to Canterbury earlier than explected and had a place to stay, and when my CouchSurfing host for Monday through Wednesday never fell threw in contacting me I was able to stay with Mark. So I write this on my last night in this town. Mind you, I've caught a bit of a head cold and I spent most of the day doing laundry and preparing to leave tomorrow and just resting in general. It's two weeks since I left the States. This is the longest I've ever been from home and to be honest I am starting to feel a bit homesick. Granted, Canterbury runs at a much slower pace than frantic Paris allowing me to have mor time to process my thoughts and let my mind wanter. I've grown attached to this place, really. And just like when I left Paris I now have this anxiety of leaving for London in the morning starting over in a new place. My pilgrimage in Canterbury is coming to an end and I resume the trip tomorrow. But like the Canon told me at my Pilgrimage blessing today, the Pilgrimage onward both back home and to that Heavenly country have also began.
Things of Interest
-This past Rememberance Sunday I went to St. Mildred's (the Anglo-Catholic parish in Canterbury). The numbers were low as most people went to the Cathedral for this sort of Holiday. Mark remarked that most people seem to be more loyal to the Cathedral than there home congregation in that regard
-Archbishop Justin Welby was just in the area a few days before I got here.
-I was taking a break by the Castle wall when a peice of flint stone broke off when I sat by it. Coolest souvenier ever.
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