Dear readers:
The friend of mine who's hosting me and Kallista was teasing me the other day, about how cute it is when Americans get excited about European history... since American history goes back about the length of the blink of an eye, by comparison. But today, I think it was legitimate for me to have been so enamored with the history of Canterbury.
The town is medieval. Medieval, I tell you!! 800-900 years old! And did I mention: Canterbury Tales? The Anglican Church? "The Canterbury Scene" of really good 1970s progressive rock musicians? (Was disappointed that there wasn't a museum dedicated to the last item on that list, by the way.)
Anyways. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for a historic river tour!
Went to the Greyfriars historic Franciscan chapel after that -- and the lovely gardens in the surrounding area. (One of my favorite parts of the day. Very meditative.)
Then: Canterbury Cathedral!
How amazingly majestic. As were the cloisters...
... and every other part of it. Stunningly beautiful. I took millions of pictures. We made sure to listen to choral evensong, too, and, of course, it was flawless.
Before evensong, we were meandering through the Cathedral, and I looked up, innocently, only to be struck dumb by this:
Absolutely breathtaking. The fact that I had no idea it was there, made it even more phenomenal. Reminded me a bit of the ceiling of the Muhammed Ali mosque in Cairo. Same appeal, same sense of the immensity of God in the universe. The only difference was: the ceiling in the mosque was high to amplify sermons and calls to prayer, whereas apparently the above served as a trap door, for easy access to the cathedral bells.
Not much time for more news -- just that tomorrow night is my flight to Rome and I'm incredibly nervous -- so I'll end with a quote, relevant to the ceiling, and to the connection between beauty and spirituality that's so easy to find in places like Canterbury Cathedral:
"Mughal ceilings, let your mirrored convexities
Multiply me at once under your spell tonight."
- Agha Shahid Ali
A bit of modern history -- i.e. a recent poem -- to complement the above 900-year-old art.
More tomorrow!
- Beth
The friend of mine who's hosting me and Kallista was teasing me the other day, about how cute it is when Americans get excited about European history... since American history goes back about the length of the blink of an eye, by comparison. But today, I think it was legitimate for me to have been so enamored with the history of Canterbury.
The town is medieval. Medieval, I tell you!! 800-900 years old! And did I mention: Canterbury Tales? The Anglican Church? "The Canterbury Scene" of really good 1970s progressive rock musicians? (Was disappointed that there wasn't a museum dedicated to the last item on that list, by the way.)
Anyways. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for a historic river tour!
Went to the Greyfriars historic Franciscan chapel after that -- and the lovely gardens in the surrounding area. (One of my favorite parts of the day. Very meditative.)
Then: Canterbury Cathedral!
How amazingly majestic. As were the cloisters...
... and every other part of it. Stunningly beautiful. I took millions of pictures. We made sure to listen to choral evensong, too, and, of course, it was flawless.
Before evensong, we were meandering through the Cathedral, and I looked up, innocently, only to be struck dumb by this:
Absolutely breathtaking. The fact that I had no idea it was there, made it even more phenomenal. Reminded me a bit of the ceiling of the Muhammed Ali mosque in Cairo. Same appeal, same sense of the immensity of God in the universe. The only difference was: the ceiling in the mosque was high to amplify sermons and calls to prayer, whereas apparently the above served as a trap door, for easy access to the cathedral bells.
Not much time for more news -- just that tomorrow night is my flight to Rome and I'm incredibly nervous -- so I'll end with a quote, relevant to the ceiling, and to the connection between beauty and spirituality that's so easy to find in places like Canterbury Cathedral:
"Mughal ceilings, let your mirrored convexities
Multiply me at once under your spell tonight."
- Agha Shahid Ali
A bit of modern history -- i.e. a recent poem -- to complement the above 900-year-old art.
More tomorrow!
- Beth
I'm sorry. Just call me an American, but my jaw has dropped and I am just gawking. Wish I could have heard the fine singing, the rhythmic lapping of water and the warm calls of "pip pip!", "talley-ho!" and "Peace of the Lord be with you!".
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