Day Four, London, 5 March 2010

The scrim has descended again, but that's because I read email before writing today's journal.

Christ lifts up the sinking Peter

I didn't go to Morning Prayer this morning.  There are a bunch of people here making a Cursillo, and they want to be by themselves.  In fact, I had to leave early to get to Victoria Station by 8:45, so that I could catch my tour to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath.  I don't normally do this kind of thing, but this was relatively low impact (no heavy guide) and it got me to the places I wanted to go.  I get there early, it's quite a walk from the Underground to the Coach Station and its 4º C outside, and quickly get a cup of coffee and a Cornish Pastie.  

It's not a bad group of people, excepting a trio of young Americans who trumpet their ignorance of history and culture, and are constantly late.  We make our way out of London on the M1 to Windsor, and I tour the state apartments (no photography allowed) and St. George's Chapel (same there, as well).  The one thing that impressed me at Windsor were all the Holbein drawings and paintings.  I saw many things that I recognized from books.  Windsor, since it is a working palace, is too clean.  It doesn't have that patina of time such as you see at Sans Souci, or at Versailles.  And there are ushers everywhere, all very polite.

In the chapel, I realize what a complete fusion there is of Church and State here.  It was most evident in the choir of the chapel, where heraldry outplays any Christian symbolism hands down.  We saw this in Switzerland, as well, where cantonal, or national symbols replaced Christian symbols.  The Germans didn't seem to fall into this pattern - perhaps because there was no Germany.  (One exception might be the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche in Berlin - where Hohenzollerns seem to mix into the Byzantine symbols and devices that they seemed to love so much).  I was surprised at how many chantries there were.  One was filled with chapel chairs, extra candles, kneelers, and other liturgical equipment.  If it were my chantry, I would have been pissed.

Stonehenge

I grab lunch to go - we're going to eat on the bus as we make our way to Stonehenge.  I had imagined this in some other part of England, for some reason, and was surprised at the approach one makes from the northeast.  The guide tried to quiet our expectations.  I'm certain he's heard more than once that "it's so small."  The approach was impressive, it hovering over the roadway, completely approachable.  Walking around the ruins, I found it to be soul-stirring somehow.  There were sheep grazing all around it, which seemed appropriate and a relief.  In spite of the fact that there were numbers of people there, I did feel as though I could experience it by myself.  

Dignus est agnus

After buying a book and a wonderful cherry shortbread, we are on our way again - this time to Bath.  As we leave the Stonehenge site we begin to see all of the other pre-historic archaeological sites that accompany it.  There's talk of pulling it all together into one National Park - I hope they do - I hope I can come back when it's done.

Bath Abbey from the Roman Baths

We park by the Abbey, and I realize that there will be dessert following the baths - a church!  The baths are OK.  Having been to the ruins of a bath on Massada, and similar ruins in Rome, this seems a bit tame, but enjoyable.  The air is full of mist and sulphur as we walk around the ruined baths, and there are some quite nice archaeological treasures - especially a gilded bust of Minerva.

Minerva - the bust from her temple in Bath

The church is calling me.  It looks like a fine piece of Perpendicular Gothic.  Built in the late XIVth Century, and having supplanted a ruined Norman building, this is late on the gothic scene.  And the ceilings!

Fan Vaulting in the nave at Bath Abbey

The church has the nickname, "The Lantern", because of all the marvelous light that suffuses the place.  There is a wonderful Klais Organ (Bonn, Germany), but no one is playing it.  There are "stewards" all over the place, ready to answer questions, and there is a "prayer trail" inviting visitors to try and worship.  And there is a bookstore.  I succumb to a copy of Common Worship - Daily Prayer, which has enthralled me during my stay at St. Katharine's.  

I meet a couple from New Orleans, and we talk about the church and other places that we have visited, as we await the return of our bus.  I sleep my way back into London, and come home very satisfied.

Now, to work on my ego.