The Cathedral

For reasons unexplained, Canterbury Cathedral receives no state support (this is how it should be, but this is England: how does the seat of the state church not receive any subsidy?). I could have used Sean's resident card to get in for free, but I knew they needed the money and was glad to pay the 5 pounds 50 pence entry fee.



Friday was a good day to go, because they had decided to remove the chairs from the center and open the space up, to let others see what it would have been like hundreds of years ago, when it was used as an open market (what would Jesus have thought? I wondered). The interior was typically amazing.






This was a much better use of my money than Shakespeare's Birthplace, and I say that as a fire-breathing atheist and (now chastened) Shakespeare enthusiast.

Canterbury, continued

I spent most of Thursday just exploring the city, not with any real purpose. The day started with a traditional English breakfast at a local cafe, which was very good, very filling; I don't understand why English food gets the bad rap it does. After Morgan gave me a whirlwind tour of the city, I went with her to the University of Canterbury, which whatever the quality of education (and it sounds like they have some top-notch departments) has some incredibly ugly modernist buildings, as it was only built in the 70s. Apparently the architect's previous project had been a prison. The library is one of the better buildings.



The school is quite a distance away from Sean and Morgan's apartment, taking a good half hour to walk there, uphill. Compare this view from outside their door:



to this, from the entrance to the school.



After getting back I decided to do some walking around. I wanted to go to the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, but it was closed for some reason. So instead I decided to follow the city wall for awhile. I actually found a rock that had fallen out onto the ground and considered taking it as a souvenir, but then judged that to be rather touristy, and possibly illegal. It was next to a main traffic artery and so I didn't take my chances. I went along the outside up the northeast end, and eventually found myself back at the apartment. Just before that, I came across this house, which for obvious reasons is always being photographed:



After that I went back to the Dane John, a little park named presumably in reference to the city's 11th century viking conquerors. Among other landmarks it contains a monument to those who died in the Boer War of South Africa.



That night Morgan prepared for us a hardy meal, made all the more amazing by the fact that it was made up of leftovers.



Later that night I rode one of their bikes back up to the University to see Slumdog Millionaire, an amazing and even heartwarming movie which I highly recommend.