Castles, Cathedrals, and Canterbury

The last few days here have been soooo busy but so much fun. We’ve seen so many incredible things and my love for this place really does grow every single day. The beauty of some of these places is just completely breathtaking, and it’s hard to even comprehend the brilliance of them. I honestly don’t like to take pictures because they just don’t do the beauty of these monuments justice. They are so much more amazing in both beauty and feeling when you are actually in the place. But of course I take pictures anyway…just for you guys (mom). Here’s a quick recap!

 

St. Paul’s Cathedral. My favorite place so far. Absolutely gorgeous inside…but no pictures allowed. Other than this fabulous one:

Anyone recognize these? Take away the odd contemporary art piece at the bottom, and we have the stairs used both in the opening scene of Sherlock Holmes, and the staircase leading up to Dumbledore’s office in Harry Potter (you can imagine how happy this made me.)

This is at the top of St. Paul’s. We climbed a tiny rickety spiral staircase of 531 steps to get there. Yes, I am terrified of heights. Loved every minute of it…

The British Library. A picture with our cute lunch sacks from Apostrophe. While making this pose, my English teacher, Professor Bird, yelled at me to “stop looking so sexy!” Sorry, Penny.

Outside of the Banqueting House, the first Classical building in England. Up until that point, everything was made out of wood. This is the site where Kind James I was executed. It is also the site where I wish I could have my wedding reception.

Of course, we had to stop for some pictures with Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

Yesterday we had our first day trip. First, we made our way to Dover Castle, where we explored the castle itself, along with underground tunnels that were used in secret during WWII. The majority of the operations run here were performed by women.

Next, we stopped at St. Martin’s church, which may have been my favorite stop yet. It was the first Christian church in England, established when Queen Bertha came from France to marry King Ethelbert. She brought along with her a small party of Christians, and they built and worshiped in the exact building that we stood in today. Even though it’s just a plain little church, I loved being able to sit in a building that has so much history, and means so much to the people here.

And then Canterbury Cathedral. The perfect example of a place where pictures just don’t do it justice, but I took them anyways.

The end. Cheers!