Canterbury

November 20th my MA option took a day trip over to Canterbury, about an hour outside of London, to look at the Cathedral! It was a blisteringly cold day and I was lucky I'd bothered to bring my hat, scarf and gloves.

I've been to Canterbury once before when I was 16, when I knew nothing after art and was mainly interested in Becket and The Canterbury Tales. Ah what a trip that was. In summer Canterbury was chock full of fortune telling weirdoes, tourist trappy shops and weird spectacles like the "Canterbury Tales experience" complete with terrifying animatronics.

Winter is a better look on Canterbury, which was a quaint, christmas wonderland this time around. And, of course, the Cathedral was amazing again. The first time I was overcome by the beauty of the Cathedral as a cohesive building. This time, my better trained eye was able to piece apart the different centuries of construction on the church, the cathedral as a living creature adapted and transformed through time. We spent the day looking at the interior of the church beginning with the crypt and working our way up to what survives of the pilgrim's shrine. It was a great experience, though exhausting--an excellent way to apply the skills we've been honing in the classroom and at museums in a living, breathing monument.

I also ate a great hot dog.

And the 12th c monks probably burned down the old church so they could build this one.

 See anything wonky about this arch?