Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral

As I'm finishing more and more of my tutorial papers, I'm realizing how few I have left and how soon the end of term is. The urge to do some traveling has gotten to me in the last week and therefore on Friday I bought a last minute ticket to Canterbury.

Yesterday I woke up before daylight (around 6:30am.) and had some tea and toast before leaving my apartment for the train station. This was the earliest I've been out of the apartment and there was something spooky, yet exciting as I walked in the dark with only the sounds of birds waking up. It wasn't until I was on the train half-way to London that the sun had fully risen.

Buttermarket Square

I arrived at London Paddington Station and then had to take the tube to St. Pancras to catch the train to Canterbury. I was all set to take the Circle line eastward, but when I got to London there were notices everywhere saying half the lines were closed for the weekend. So I stood in front of the tube map for the next 5 minutes trying to figure out a different route. And it was no problem. Because I'm awesome at navigating the tube. I'm also cocky when I travel alone, apparently.

St. Augustine's Abbey

Once in Canterbury, I headed straight for the Cathedral. I spent the whole morning making a loop around the inside, exploring each part. I saw where Thomas Becket was murdered, walked through the crypt, saw the tombs of Henry IV and the "Black Knight," and walked through the quoire. As I was walking with my backpack on around the church, I felt like a pilgrim and for the rest of the day I viewed my trip as a pilgrimage to Canterbury.

Walking down St. Peter's

After spending the whole morning at the Cathedral, I was ready for food, and treated myself to lunch at a pub called The Old Buttermarket. There I had a chicken and mushroom pie, while I enjoyed the great company of myself.

After lunch I explored St. Augustine's Abbey (the remains), and St. Martin's Church (which I ducked in when it started to rain). Then I continued walking around the City Centre, looking through shops. By this time it was about 4pm and the sun was starting to set. I figured there wasn't much use in sightseeing when there was no longer light in which to see the sights. So I decided to head for the train station and make my way back to Oxford. Here's the great thing about traveling alone: I can make decisions easily and everyone is happy.

The journey home was long and I was exhausted from walking all day. When I got home I ate leftovers, put on my pjs, uploaded pictures, and then watched Love Actually on my computer before falling asleep.

It was a fantastic Saturday! ...But then disaster struck when I woke up. I woke up to find that the extra bedroom in my apartment is now being occupied by the other Olivia. Apparently she got scared last night and thought she saw a mouse in her apartment downstairs. And apparently this was enough to send her upstairs to our apartment and sleep in our extra bedroom. And apparently this was enough to lead her to email Penelope saying she could no longer sleep downstairs and would be moving into our apartment. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS LOCK YOUR DOOR AT NIGHT!!!!!!!! Not from burglars, but from neighbors who have no idea how a proper human acts. I woke up to a Facebook message from Olivia asking if she could move in, then walk out of my room to find she already has. So now what happens? Do I accept this, saying, "no problem, move on in, welcome to the fam, gurrrrl!" or am I allowed to feel protective of my home and my space and confront her about how I am not ok with this new arrangement?

UPDATE: I plucked up the courage to confront Olivia. She now resides back downstairs and my third bedroom is back serving its original purpose: my laundry drying room. I walked to the store to cool off from the drama of the morning and am now back in my cozy home with some new crumpets!