Having a day to myself is a precious commodity and I now find myself with the entire weekend to do whatever I wish! I decided it was time to take a pilgrimage. Literally. Since my company has to pay for my food and lodging anyway, I might as well go see something worthwhile. So, I filled the car up myself with gas and drove to Kent which is in the Southern part of England.

My first stop was to Canterbury Cathedral. I have seen a few cathedrals in Europe, but Canterbury has to be the finest I have had the priviledge to tour. It is absolutely the greatest example of gothic I have ever seen. The windows are beyond description and a mere photograph does not do justice to the shapes and colors.

Canterbury is also the headquarters of the Anglican Communion since it is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. That means that all American Episcopalians hold this place dear to their heart.

Canterbury is not a difficult city to find and I wasn't the only pilgrim to come here today. However, it is a very medival city which makes the streets incredibly narrow and winding. They are barely capable of handling the tourist traffic, much less automobiles. For this reason, the city has built parking lots on the outskirts where you can park for a small fee which includes the price of a shuttle ride. It is a fine system and it works well.

The Cathedral is currently undergoing renovations and they are having a big pledge campaign to help foot the bill. The work is painstaking and laborious, but they are doing a fantastic job. The part next to the scaffolding which is finished looks like new masonry. They say this cathedral costs over $23,500 a day to fully operate and only a portion of that comes from public funding. The rest has to come from pilgrims such as myself.