Day 2: Leeds Castle

This morning we woke up early (or at least it felt early to me, England is 5 hours ahead of New York) to walk to church. The ward is really small but they have a cute little church.

After sacrament meeting, we hurried to the train station to catch the train to Leeds Castle. We *barely* make it on the train, but it all worked out.

The grounds of Leeds Castle are breathtaking! It is called "The Loveliest Castle in the World," and I agree!

Beautiful gardens

We finally glimpse the castle itself!

Fun fact: The last owner of the castle imported a lot of exotic animals so it used to have zebras and llamas running around and that kind of thing. The black swans were imported from Australia and remain there today. They have become a symbol for the castle.

The inside of the castle is as lovely as the outside.

Woodworking in the chapel

Old battlement for the castle

Wanna play "Spot Shannon?"

They had a maze. Jeff and I solved it in 10 minutes!

From the center of the maze

In "The Grotto" under the maze

Next we saw the bird show on the grounds. 

They gathered ALL the children together for the owl demonstration. I wonder what the backup plan is if no children made it out alive?

A spitfire was flying above us

Well, why not. Gotta be goofy sometimes.

That night Julie's roommate Julia and her boyfriend Simon made us a delicious eggplant parmesan bake. So friendly and welcoming! I hope we weren't too much of a nuisance. 

Day 1: Canterbury

Jeff and I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary a little early in England and Iceland. I wrote everything in my journal each night, so I am pretty much going to just transcribe that here with the pictures!

Today Jeff and I flew from JFK to Gatwick Airport in England, then took a cab to my aunt Julie's apartment in Canterbury. It was an overnight flight, so we were so tired! But we refused to take a nap. We freshened up, Julie made us some scrambled eggs and toast, then we headed off for adventure!

First we walked to St Martin's church, which is the oldest Christian church in the English-speaking world, originally built in AD 597.

Touching a 6th century wall! Amazing! (There was a sign that said "please touch." I promise we aren't breaking any rules!)

Then we walked to St Augustine's Abbey, which is mostly in ruins because it has been torn down and rebuilt a lot. A lot of it is from the AD 1000-ish era.

We walked to Canterbury Cathedral. A lot of it was under construction, but we could see some of the beautiful stained glass windows. We also went down into the crypt, which had several small chapels. We couldn't take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Outside we walked around the gardens and cloisters. We could hear the choir practicing evensong, which sounded breathtaking.

A ginormous tree on the cathedral grounds.

We walked to "The Parrot" to have dinner. It is the oldest pub in Canterbury, built in the 1400s. It was yummy! Thanks Julie for making the reservation!

We passed out from exhaustion after we got back to the apartment. A good first day!