Same as It Ever Was

So I've spent the last couple days climbing stairs, gaping at ancient buildings, dodging youth hostelers, and cleaning the Underground soot out of my nose. I'm here with Stephanie, another student on the French Romanesque & Gothic Art and Architecture course (we've got to find a shorter name for it--FRoGGA? Is that politically incorrect?) and we've been running ourselves ragged. With just a few days to cover London, I've been scrambling to "get it all in," even though I told myself beforehand that there's no WAY to get it all in, and you have to give yourself permission to chill. Anyway, I had even less time than Stephanie because British Airways asked me to stay a day late in Seattle and accept a fat wad of cash (an amount which I don't want to disclose, because I don't want to admit how quickly it's going away) and a night at The Westin hotel & spa in Seattle. Okay, it seemed like a good idea, and it still was, but I have to say that I've never been at a hotel that got so many things so mixed up. But that's another story for another day. I'll be in a better space to write about my experience when they refund me the 75 dollars they charged me for a surprise after I'd made sure my bill was clear (for the fourth time, for various reasons). ANYway. It's been runrunrun.

Today I went to Westminster Abbey not once, but twice. The first, Stephanie and I went on a walking tour (which I've discovered is a very good idea when affordable) and learned a lot about the place, which is always nice when you're dealing with very old buildings. Saw the oldest door in England. It's very grand, glorious, and impressive, but my favorite part was probably two arches near Poets' Corner, where they removed some memorials a while back and discovered very faded medeival paintings on the wooden panels. Beautiful. There were more extremely faded ancient paintings in the smaller area off the main nave, whose name escapes me right now, except that it's part of the 13th century structure. I'll post pictures when I get the chance. I am so in love with medeival, pre-Gothic stuff. Simpler lines, and of course, the patina and the rub and the washing away of time. Somehow faces reposed in grace and haloed with gold or even more poignant when you can barely make them out. It's as if you're seeing them through time, as if time is a barrier but not totally. I don't know; if you, gentle reader, get the woo-woos or the heebie-jeebies when you see old buildings or ancient art, then you'll understand. If you don't, that's okay. Chalk it up to empathic nonsense.

The little cloyster was cute too. Like I said, I'll be posting the pictures, but for now, I have four minutes of internet remaining and only 5 hours of time in which I might sleep before we have to get up and catch our bus out to Canterbury. Side note: a horse's canter is, in fact, named after Canterbury, not the other way around (or other way round, if you're British).

Hmm...what else...I've gazed upon the outside of the Tower of London twice but didn't get a chance to go in. Saw a church that Shakespeare worshipped in. Stood in the area where Chaucer's house would have been when he was tax collector at a city gate. Went to Evensong at Westminster this evening. Took a boat ride on the Thames. Walked the river at night. Gotta go before the computer does it for me!