Where We Wander Through Two Incredibly Old Buildings. There Seem To Be A Lot of Those Around Here.
An early alarm and quick breakfast at the buffet – we have a FULL day today.
First up was an hour drive to Leeds Castle. Truly ancient, the first its first iteration was built soon after the Norman invasion.
For a bit more detailed history, click on this link: https://leeds-castle.com/her-castle/history-of-the-castle/
From 1086 up until the early 1900s, it was used by seven queens (and sometimes their kings). Henry VIII made it into a fortress. It was renovated and expanded many times through the years. It seriously looks like something out of Downton Abbey.
Eventually it was sold to a wealthy American woman, Lady Baillie. She made 20th century updates (internal heating! Electricity!). She was known for throwing parties with early 20th century Hollywood stars. She left the estate to a charitable foundation that maintains the castle to this day in 1930s style.
The tour of the castle interior was handed off to a castle tour guide (Charlotte).
Neither one of us thought to take photos of the interior. Some rooms were staged with mannikins meant to show how life was like. Yeah, no, it was just creepy. In a couple of rooms were giant dog sculptures? mannikins? it wasn’t clear what these things were until we saw a photo of two Great Danes – apparently Lady Baillie’s favorite dogs.
And there were birds decorating every wall in almost every room. Apparently she loved birds.
Here are a couple of views of the castle grounds:
Also on the grounds was a dog collar museum that Andy went to visit. A tad peculiar.
Next we were back on the bus on our way to Canterbury.
The walk from the bus to the center of town was a bit rushed – fortunately it was flat (nothing resembling a hill anywhere), so I was able to do it, albeit alllll the way in the back of the group.
We had lunch in a conference center on the cathedral grounds. After we picked our seats, I went off to the bathroom; I came back to find a plate at my seat. Andy told me he got us the “vegetarian option” – as in, vegetarian sausages. It took me a few minutes to put 2+2 together as to what it was we were eating: it’s called “Bangers and Mash” (sausages and mashed potatoes). Definitely not photo-worthy. The vegan sausages were a bit chewy. Yay, English food!
After lunch, we walked over to the cathedral, where yet another different tour guide spoke to us for about 10 minutes (max) about the cathedral’s 1400 year history. Similar to Leeds Castle, the first version of the cathedral was built right after the Norman conquest, somewhere around 1100 CE.
One of the more famous incidents in its history was the murder of Thomas Becket, the one time friend and confidant to King Henry II. They had a falling out, Becket escaped to France for a bit, came back, then pissed of the King again. The story is: the King grumbled about Becket being a bit of a nuisance, which two knights took to mean they were now ordered to kill Becket. Which they did, inside the cathedral. Ooops. That’s not what I meant! said King Henry II. Sooorry, too late….
The spot where Becket was murdered is called “The Martyrdom”. He was canonized in 1173 CE.
There are many stained glass windows. However, during the reign of Henry VIII, after he split with the Catholic church, he plundered the monasteries and ordered Catholic imagery to be taken down; not all the stained glass windows were replaced over the years.
The cathedral is undergoing renovations, so all the permanent seats were removed from the interior, and part of the exterior is covered in scaffolding.
We had some free time in the town before we needed to head back to the bus. None of the shops interested us.
Somehow the walk back to the bus wasn’t nearly as exhausting or as long as the way into the town. Maybe because there were three buses worth of Viking travelers all walking back at once, which slowed us down a crawl, or maybe we went back a different way? In any case, the walk seemed much, much easier.
We arrived back at the cruise terminal right at the dot of 5:00 p.m. We had time to rest up and refresh before heading to the little Shabbat celebration in what we refer to as the “Hanukkah room” (after celebrating Hanukkah in the same room on the Viking Orion back in December/January). I think we maxed out at 10 people, maybe? People seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, so unfortunately we didn’t stay long.
We had our reservation at the Italian restaurant, Manfredi’s. In order to get a reservation for earlier than 9:00, we reserved a “shared” table. Which turned out great. We met two other couples (two friends traveling together and a married couple), and had The Best Conversation. We were pretty much given a strong hint it was time to go.
We’ve had many excellent conversations this trip!
Tomorrow: A day at sea to catch up with ourselves, and then on Sunday: the Isle of Man
Maryland Meshugas 