I wonder if you can still see the bloodstain?

Sunday, my mother and I attended church at St. Paul's on Onslow Square, a small Anglican congregation. I very much enjoyed the service and especially the coffee and biscuits that were served after the service. It was my first time attending an Anglican service and I look foward to going back next week.

After church, we went to the markets, hitting Petticoat Lane, Spittalfields, and Brick Lane. Spittalfields was by far my favorite of the markets (especially after the confusing chaos of Petticoat Lane) and I got a super cute black dress there.

After the markets, we went back to the hotel and rested. I've been stuggling with hayfever my entire time here and we've been pretty much on the go since we got here, so it was nice to just chill for a couple of hours.

Yesterday, we went to Canterbury to see the cathedral there. While we were in Canterbury, we finally had our first pasty of the trip. I had a tomato, cheese, and basil one. Yum! I also really enjoyed the fact that their was a heart on it.


This is the cathedral. Isn't it beautiful? The cathedral is on the exact site of the first cathedral built in England, instituted by St. Augustine himself. The current building is the oldest example of Gothic architecture in England.


This is the "Welcoming Jesus", the first figure that you see when you walk into the cathedral. I felt quite welcome there.


This is the pulpit in the Nave. I thought that it was really beautiful.


This is the stained glass window at the end of the Nave. The bottom 14 panels are from the 1100's and are the oldest examples of English stained glass in all of England. Somehow they escaped destruction by both King Henry VIII's men when Henry abolished the Catholic church in favor of the Church of England and the Puritan destruction later.


This a picture of the coats of arms on the top of the cloisters. Royalty who visited the abbey were persuaded to donated their coats of arms for people to see and noblemen were able to have their coats of arms installed for a sizable donation. The cobweb covered shield that you can barely see at the bottom of the picture is the coat of arms of St. Thomas Beckett.


This is the doorway that Thomas walked through when he went back into the cathedral after the first confrontation with the knights of Henry II, as recorded in T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral. It was really cool to see the places that I had just read about.


This the monument to St. Thomas. The dark stone on top of the two small white pillars is the actual spot where Thomas was murdered. It is called the Stone of the Broken Sword because when the knight chopped Thomas' head off, he wielded the sword with such great force that the sword actually broke when it hit the stone. The cross above is part of the memorial and the two swords on wither side, along with the shadows they make when the sun hits them represents the four knights who attacked Thomas.


We also attended Evensong at the cathedral, which was gorgeous. Then it was time for a two hour train ride home.