~Canterbury & Cambridge~

Day Trip #2

“It's that you each, to shorten the long journey,

Shall tell two tales en route to Canterbury,

And, coming homeward, another two,

Stories of things that happened long ago.

Whoever best acquits himself, and tells

The most amusing and instructive tale,

Shall have a dinner, paid by us all,

Here in this roof, and under this roof-tree,

When we come back again from Canterbury."

If you haven't already figured this out, our first stop was to

*Canterbury*

The bus ride was wonderful! You know why? Because I got to sleep the whole way. That hour and a half nap was MUCH needed. I don't sleep much here. I'm out playing all day and I save my homework for late at night. Which at first I thought that was dumb but then I realized, I'm only in London these 2 months so I am going to take advantage of it.

We first stopped at St. Augustine’s Abbey where we walked around some beautiful, beautiful ruins. Not too many words for this so I will just tell you this story with pictures.

From L to R: Jessica, Whitney, Emily, me, Sally, Megan, Lauren, Amanda, Courtney

L to R Sally, Nicole, me, Whitney

We spent a while wandering for a while, admiring everything in sight. Then we headed over to theCanterbury Cathedral. We had a guided tour through this cathedral and our tour guide was very strict but also very informative. I think I might just be an expert on it now. Thanks Frank! We learned all about Ethelbert and Bertha, but mostly Thomas Becket. These stories fascinate me. I wonder how it would be to live the life of a monk or a priest. At times when I'm walking through these cathedrals and abbeys and I see them walk by I often fall behind the group because my mind starts to imagine what it would be like. But I quickly jump back to reality and catch up. One thing I dislike more than rushing is being left behind.

Our tour lasted about an hour and then we walked around the cute town.

Next Stop: *Cambridge*

We got there at 3:30pm and the professors told us that the colleges closed at 4:30 so we were all in a rush to get there. Surprise! The colleges closed at 3:30. Oops! We were all really bummed until we learned that the boy’s choir was singing in Kings College Cathedral at 5:30 and we could go into the college and then cathedral to listen. :) I was extremely happy about this. Seeing as we had some time to kill, we walked around for a bit and then we went Punting! Ok, best idea ever! It was so much fun! Our punting guy was named Ollie and he was hilarious! He was a chatterbox and had some funny stories for the 10 of us girls to enjoy while floating along. We had a grand old time and we got to see all of the colleges since the river goes through and around them.

The Boys choir was amazing! Along with the older boys, there were little, tiny, barely 6 year old boys with the most clear and high voices. It was peaceful and spiritual to listen to them.

As I walked around King's college I imagined what it would be like to go to school there. It felt somewhat like a fairy-tale.

We headed home on our bus and made it in at about 9:00pm. We went to dinner and then ice cream. Going out for ice cream here is an almost every night occasion. :)

Side note: (This just made me laugh so I had to add it) Our conversations tonight consisted of the normal subjects girls usually discuss when getting to know each other. Need I say more? After the what's your major, where are you from, and what school do you go to questions, everyone had to go around and say whether they were dating someone, just broke up with someone, how their last relationship was, and who has a relationships blooming. haha A lot of the girls here have missionaries out. So they bonded over that a little I'm sure. As for the rest of us we went around telling past and current stories. We all got some good laughs for the happy stories and some gloomy sighs for the sad tales.

And that my friends, is the end of my most extraordinary day.