Trip to England!

Last winter... January to be exact... I recall thinking that it would be great to take a tour led by Esther de Waal, one of my favorite writers on Benedictine and Celtic spirituality. I knew she used to lead tours to historic Benedictine and Celtic sites... but was she still doing it? Time to do an online search!

Half an hour of internet detective work led me to a week-long "Benedictine Experience" Esther would be leading at Canterbury Cathedral in England in July 2013. I quickly signed up! Would anyone in the family like to go with me? My daughter was open to a summer adventure, though she knew nothing about St. Benedict or Esther de Waal.














This explains how - early in July - the two of us headed for England, with the double purpose of exploring London and participating in Esther's workshop at Canterbury Cathedral.














The old city of Canterbury, about an hour away from London by train, has pre-Roman roots.

Its famous cathedral welcomes more than a million visitors annually. It was originally built by Benedictine monks around the year 500AD. The building as we see it today dates back to 1070, when the cathedral was rebuilt after a fire.














Our week would include living at the cathedral lodge (a modern building), attending services in the cathedral daily, listening to lectures, doing personal study and exploring, helping out at the cathedral grounds... and more!














(For the next few days, I'll share some of these adventures!)