Experience 2: Lighting a Candle in Westminster Abbey

I didn’t get inside Westminster Abbey on my two previous trips to London. The first trip, we visited the day after Ash Wednesday and the Abbey was closed; last year, we simply didn’t have time. I’m happy to say we made time for this magnificent Abbey. One of the tour books I read said to allow an hour or so for our visit—in reality, we spent four hours at the Abbey and probably would have stayed longer but they were closing!

When we think about history in the United States, we think in terms of a couple hundred years or so. It is breathtaking to stand inside Westminster Abbey and realize that over a thousand years of history have taken place there. Founded in 960 AD as a Benedictine monastery, most of the church was built between 1245 and 1272 on the orders of Henry III. Beginning with William the Conqueror in 1066, most of the monarchs have been crowned here. The Coronation Chair (which appears to have graffiti scratched into the wood, which makes me want to research further) has been used in every coronation since 1308. Geoffrey Chaucer was buried at Westminster Abbey in 1400. There is so much history in this building, it is overwhelming to even attempt to contemplate it all.

Strangely, Westminster Abbey seemed both smaller and larger than I imagined. It is a tremendous space, but there are so many twist and turns it often feels very small and intimate. I jokingly said it reminded me of grandma’s house—so many knick-knacks, it’s overcrowded! The knick-knacks in this case are the various memorials, effigies, tombs, busts and statues that the Abbey has accumulated over the centuries. There literally isn’t any space left for anything else! Also, the Abbey is a “living church,” and services are still held there. It’s easy to forget this is a church that people attend regularly given the touristy appeal (not to mention the £10 ticket price!), but approximately every hour they ask visitors to pause while they say a prayer. It is a nice reminder of not only the age of the Abbey, but its purpose.

I had told my friend Jae before I left Virginia that I would light a candle and say a prayer at any church I visited in England, in preparation for our skydiving adventure with our friend Nick later this month. As Jay and I finished our tour of the Abbey, I paused in the Nave to light a candle and sit for a moment, absorbing the experience. Tears came to my eyes, the same reaction I had last year when I visited Bath Abbey in Bath, England. It is a humbling moment to sit in such a magnificent place and truly understand what it represents. The people who have walked those floors, who have prayed at those altars, who have been buried beneath those stones. It is English history, but it is also world history—and my history. On leaving the Abbey, the guidebook instructs you to look over your shoulder at the statues of the 20th Century martyrs, which were added above the west door of the Abbey in 1996. This recent addition only adds to the living aspect of Westminster Abbey; it isn’t some old, dusty place of forgotten history, it is still very much alive and relevant to modern culture.

We also visited the gardens of the Abbey, which are beautiful and serene. The gardens are in what is essentially the backyard of the clergy who reside there and the students who live in Westminster School’s dormitory. Like the Abbey, the gardens are rich with history, most of which I didn’t learn until got home and read the brochure I picked up. It is believed that these gardens are the oldest in England, having been cultivated for nearly one thousand years. It was a beautiful spot to visit, lush and green and in sharp contrast to the gray stone and marble of the Abbey.

We weren’t able to take pictures inside the Abbey (I think that's probably because the Abbey can get pretty crowded— if everyone stopped to take pictures along the way it would create an awful bottle-neck), but I have a few pictures of the outside and the gardens. It is a magnificent place I hope to visit again—after I do more research!


Do It Yourself

If you go to Westminster Abbey…

--Buy a guide, sit in one of the chairs near the entrance and read it. Though my temptation was to immediately start exploring, the guide offers some valuable information about where to look and what to see. I didn’t do the audio tour, but you might consider that, as well. It helps to know what you’re looking at while you’re looking at it rather than see it and read about it afterward.

--Observe the moment of silence and prayer that occurs every hour or so.

--Go early. One of my tour books recommended scheduling “at least an hour” to visit the Abbey. I would say allow at least three hours, especially if you’re interested in history, churches, architecture or the arts. Don’t be rushed by people who are determined to get in and out as quickly as possible. I found myself stepping aside on more than one occasion to let families of four or more move ahead.

--Don’t miss the gardens. It’s a pleasant place to spend an hour, cloistered from the rest of the world.

--Let me know if you find my favorite inscription, about the woman who was well-endowed both mentally and physically!

Experience 1: A Day in Cambridge, England

My first couple of new experiences happened while I was away on a trip.

Back in March, I was trying to decide how I wanted to spend my fortieth birthday. I’ve been making a big deal out of this birthday for a couple of years now and I felt a little guilty because I didn’t want my friends to think they also had to make a big deal out my big four-oh. I was sitting in my American Literature class one evening, daydreaming about what to do about my birthday when it hit me: I wanted to wake up in London my birthday. So, that’s what I did. My husband Jay and I left for London on May 4, arrived at Heathrow on the morning of May 5 and by May 7, I was over my jet lag and had a wonderful birthday in my favorite city.

I’ve been to London twice before (March 2003 and again in March 2006), so that in itself is not a new experience. However, in the midst of familiar experiences (visiting the Tower of London, having tea at Claridge’s, seeing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace) I did experience some new things on this most recent trip, the first of which actually happened on my birthday: Jay and I spent my birthday touring Cambridge, England. About twenty of us took the hour-long train ride with our London Walks guide, Simon, and arrived in a rainy Cambridge around 10:30 in the morning where we were met by Chris, who drove us around the city by coach (bus).

Our first visit was the American World War II cemetery, outside the heart of the city. Seeing the rows of white marble crosses reminded me of Arlington National Cemetery (a place I have not yet visited), yet this burial ground is in England. The steady rainfall seemed an appropriate backdrop for such a somber setting. Shortly after our visit to the cemetery, we made our way into the center of Cambridge where Simon began one of our two walks for the day. We walked around this lovely little town, appreciating the medieval storefronts as well as the stories about the numerous colleges that make up Cambridge University. There are 100,000 residents of Cambridge and over 30,000 bicycles, which seems impossible to believe until you actually visit Cambridge and are nearly run over by a couple hundred of them in a few hours!

It was the exam period for students at the Cambridge colleges (which extends from April to June), so we were unable to tour the college grounds, but we did get a feel for the city. Simon also told us that Cambridge is a “city” despite the fact that it doesn’t have a cathedral, which is a prerequisite to be a city. It is hard to refer to Cambridge as a city when it has such a small-town feel to it. There are many shops and restaurants and, obviously, a very young demographic, but there are also endless green spaces and waterways. Students make money by taking tourists “punting” on the River Cam, which involves guiding boats along the river by using long sticks. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go punting, due to both a lack of time and the unpredictable weather.

After a short break for lunch (at Michaelhouse Café, which is attached to a Medieval chapel), we went on our second walk. The afternoon walk included a tour of King’s College Chapel. What a beautiful church! The stained glass is the original medieval glass, which was removed and stored in the basement during World War II and returned to its rightful place after the war. The ceiling of this gothic chapel is even more incredible than the stained glass. It’s hard to comprehend how it could be built with modern technology, so it is an amazing architectural wonder when put in historic context.

Cambridge is strange blend of old and new, brilliant minds of the past inspiring brilliant minds of the future (which may be why Bill Gates has a facility in Cambridge). I will remember Cambridge for its Medieval buildings, brightly colored bicycles, throngs of students and tourists, beautiful trees and the abundance of purple Wisteria in full-bloom and the other-worldly feel of this village-like “city” only an hour outside of London. It was a wonderful way to spend my 40th birthday and the perfect first-of-forty new experiences!


Do It Yourself

If you go to Cambridge…

-- If you only have a day to see Cambridge, consider going with a tour group. London Walks offers several day trips to various parts of England. The Cambridge day trip included two walking tours and they get a group discount on train tickets. When you only have eight to ten hours, it’s nice not to have to worry about transportation or waste time trying to figure out where to go.

-- If the weather is nice, go punting! It looked like fun, but between the off-and-on rain and budget constraints, we opted to wander a little.

-- Stop at the market. There are many famous markets in London, but the Cambridge market reminded me of the farmer’s market in Chicago—fresh bread, herbs, locally grown produce and homemade bath products. I bought a pint of the most beautiful strawberries from one stall and a strawberry-scented bath ball from another. Yummy!