This morning we took it easy and had a leisurely breakfast. Kerstin, the Lady of the B&B is great! She is flexible and accommodating for us. She also puts a quote for the day on her front door - a new one each day. One of them that I liked especially read "You have 2 ears and 1 mouth, use them in that proportion". another one: "who would you like to spend one more day with?" They're just thought provoking messages - fun conversation starters. She is a wonderful hostess and if you're ever able to visit Kent, try to get a reservation to stay at the "Old Manor House".
After breakfast we drove a few miles to Lullingstone Roman Villa which is an archeological dig revealing the foundation of a large house built in the Roman style dating from 100 AD. The Roman empire reached all the way to Scotland in the first century so this house could have been a residence for a Roman official. At any rate, it is very different from the style of house of the native Brits which was a round stone house with a thatched roof. There is a very nice visitor center and then you enter the completely covered display through a door and immediately you smell dirt - like you're down on your knees digging in your garden. It also reminded me of the smell of my grandma's root cellar - very earthy. The Roman house is quite large - probably 2 story - with complete Roman bath section. the upper floor was probably used for a Christian church while the basement was probably used for a pagan cult. The proof for the Christian house church is the fact that the archeologists found plaster paintings of 6 men with their hands raised in worship to God. In the lower floor, they found a painting of a water nymph so attributed this to a pagan water cult. No one knows if the pagans worshiped during the same era as the Christians or if one predated the other. They also uncovered a large mosaic in the floor of the dining room that depicts a scene of the Roman god Jupiter abducting a woman, so they had a knowledge of Roman folklore.
After breakfast we drove a few miles to Lullingstone Roman Villa which is an archeological dig revealing the foundation of a large house built in the Roman style dating from 100 AD. The Roman empire reached all the way to Scotland in the first century so this house could have been a residence for a Roman official. At any rate, it is very different from the style of house of the native Brits which was a round stone house with a thatched roof. There is a very nice visitor center and then you enter the completely covered display through a door and immediately you smell dirt - like you're down on your knees digging in your garden. It also reminded me of the smell of my grandma's root cellar - very earthy. The Roman house is quite large - probably 2 story - with complete Roman bath section. the upper floor was probably used for a Christian church while the basement was probably used for a pagan cult. The proof for the Christian house church is the fact that the archeologists found plaster paintings of 6 men with their hands raised in worship to God. In the lower floor, they found a painting of a water nymph so attributed this to a pagan water cult. No one knows if the pagans worshiped during the same era as the Christians or if one predated the other. They also uncovered a large mosaic in the floor of the dining room that depicts a scene of the Roman god Jupiter abducting a woman, so they had a knowledge of Roman folklore.
Leaving here, we drove about 45 miles to Canterbury to visit the cathedral. Canterbury is a picturesque medieval town with many little shops and pubs surrounding the huge cathedral. Canterbury cathedral is the seat of the Anglican church. It is the home base for the archbishop of Canterbury who is the head of the Anglican church worldwide. The cathedral was built during the 12th century when Henry II was king of England. Henry, thinking he could control the church if he appointed an archbishop who was his friend, made Thomas Becket first archbishop of Canterbury. However Thomas was a holy and devout Christian and did not kowtow to the king. So Henry had Thomas killed right in the cathedral. After his assassination, people started coming forward with stories and testimonies that they had been healed when Thomas prayed for them. Following these testimonies, Thomas was made a saint almost immediately. A shrine was erected and placed in the cathedral where many pilgrims came to pray. Fast forward 300 years, Henry VIII breaks from the Catholic church and makes himself head of the church of England (Anglicans) and has many of the Catholic churches, monuments and shrines destroyed including Thomas' shrine. The cathedral was spared however and made into an Anglican cathedral. Today when we visited, there was a graduation ceremony for Christ Church of Canterbury University. I don't know why they have graduation in September - but it prevented us from seeing the nave ( the main part of the sanctuary) as this is where the ceremony was taking place. But, once again, we were able to listen up close and personal to pipe organ music while we toured the rest of the cathedral. Really beautiful and majestic. |
On our drive home we saw this sign on our exit ramp for the round-about coming up - it has 7 exits! The round abouts are not all like this - they can have anywhere from 3 - 8 exits. That's what's so confusing for an American driving here - being sure you take the correct exit off the round about! We have also encountered very scary drivers in the round abouts. If you're going too slow for them and you're in the outer lane (most have 2 lanes going round), they just cut right in front of you to take their exit - that has happened a few times to us and we can't believe these drivers get away with that - and they don't hit anyone.
Here are some English slang terms for your further education
Lift - elevator
Car park - parking lot
Boot - trunk of a car
Bonnet - hood of a car
Dual carriage - 2 lanes on each side of the road
Rubbish - garbage
Loo - toilet
Lorry - panel truck
Bin - trash can
Ruck sack - back pack
Caravan - camper trailer
Well, that's enough for today - we'll keep in touch!