Canterbury, the Final Day: Day 21

(written yesterday)

Today was my last day in England. Tomorrow we fly home. I am ready to go home; I miss Livy, our friends, and my home. I am also really ready to get back to work and school next week.

But I’m sad to be leaving, too. This is the longest trip I’ve ever taken, and, though I was afraid I would get sick of being away after 3 weeks, I loved being away this long. I feel like I got really settled into traveling. I got over the frenzied feeling of needing to see everything and relaxed into a pace that works for me. Aaron and I had lots of time together alone, which was awesome, and we also stayed long enough to want some time alone. Time alone in England ROCKS.

So today, I went to Canterbury on the train by myself. I walked to the cathedral and toured it with a guide. The highlights for me were the tombs of Edward the Black Prince and Henry IV. It was funny to me that they were buried right there next to each other when Henry IV, dreadful usurper that he was, killed off Edward’s son, Richard II, to get the throne. But I guess people don’t care who they end up hanging out with when they are dead.

It was cool to see the place where Thomas Beckett was murdered, but thanks to that douchebag Henry VIII, may harpies plague his spirit, the tomb, Beckett’s body, and everything to do with him was destroyed. Henry even dared to wear a jewel off of Beckett’s tomb on a ring. And guess who also wore it before it disappeared? Blasted Mary Tudor.

Speaking of Mary Tudor, have I blogged about our household gods? We have a space on the mantle where we keep images of historical figures we love. Right now, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and Einstein are up there. I’ve been looking for Isaac Newton for a long time; somewhere on the internet is a finger puppet of him, which would be perfect, but I can’t find a way to order one. On this trip, I bought a Darwin bust to add.

I also started a new tradition associated with our household gods. I bought too hated figures to put up there as voodoo dolls, with pins through their vitals. First, Mary Freaking Tudor, of course. When I stick her, I will think of Thomas Cranmer, an Anglican priest she burned (among the many people she burned) who wrote the beautiful Book of Common Prayer. I also got William the Conqueror, who will get a pin in honor of my beloved Anglo-Saxons. If you ever find that you need to buy me a present, here are the other figures I want: Newton, Asimov, Keats, Henry VIII (able to be either stuck with a pin or beheaded), E.M. Forster, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Chaucer, and Werner Von Braun, who needs to be hit with a V-1, but a pin will have to do.

Back to Canterbury.

After the cathedral, I went to the super-cheesy and oh-so-wonderful Canterbury Tales “Museum.” Basically, you get an audio guide and walk through scenes from the tales, while Chaucer tells you basic context about pilgrimages to Canterbury and retells some of the most famous tales. It was dark and the mannequins were creepy! I would not take small children there because they would be terrified. The Wife of Bath mannequin in particular was ghastly. As the audio guide tells the tales, lights shine on different parts of the scenes. You start in the tavern, move through the Knight’s Tale (with stained glass window projections of the brothers), the Miller’s Tale (with moving wooden butt that hangs out of the window at the right time), the Wife of Bath’s Tale (more stained glass looking projections), the Pardoner’s Tale (with creepy silhouette of the friend’s funeral that the 3 dudes see), and the Nun’s Priest’s Tale (with a movable Chanticleer that goes up a tree).

If you can imagine the animatronics of the Rainforest Café, combined with a wax museum, combined with the Canterbury Tales, you’ve got the right idea. After the stories, you see a scene of Beckett’s tomb in the Cathedral. This place was just awesome, and I wouldn’t have missed it for all the dignity in the world (which I had to check at the door and one other time when I had to ask for directions to the “museum”). It was the world’s biggest ball of twine for English majors.

In the afternoon, I took a walk through Canterbury, by the Norman castle, along the river, and back to the city center. I had hot chocolate and read for a while and then went to Evensong at the cathedral. The choir was very good, and I liked the arrangements better than any I’ve heard on this trip.

Now I am stuck on a delayed train somewhere between Canterbury and London, and these train people need to know that they are delaying my birthday dinner of Chicken Balti!!