Archive for category Churches
In search of Nessy …
Posted by in Churches, Sacred Sites Trip on April 25th, 2009
Its been a day or so since my last update and once again the days in between have involved quite a bit of driving. Since picking up the car on Monday Ive driven over 1000 miles (around 1600 kms) - seems a little excessive when I think about it in those terms.
The drive through the Lake district was by far my favourite. The peaks and lakes in that area are really magical - classic old villages and really friendly people.
I stayed the night in a place called Keswick and spent most of the night sitting quietly in the pub tapping into their wifi.
The next day I headed for Edinburgh - on reflection I wished Id stayed another night in the Lake District but I couldnt resist the urge to keep driving. I think it was a bit of a mistake because I under estimated the size of Edinburgh and spent close to 3 hours trying to find the YHA - by the time I did I was pretty exhausted.
It seems again that I underestimated the effect that the retreat had on me and I wasnt quite prepared for entering a busy city again. I found Edinburgh to be a mostly noisy, busy city with dark ancient architecture. Ive heard that on a sunny day Edinburgh can be brilliant but on a grey day it can be very bleak - I caught it on a grey day.
I did however walk up the royal mile to the front gate of the castle. The castle sits very impressively on a tall piece of land that juts out in the middle of the city. Its really amazing to see the juxtaposition of relatively modern buildings being overshadowed by a medieavel castle. I was unfrotunately to late to go inside so I had to be content with looking at the view across the city.
The next day (this morning) I headed off towards Roslyn chapel which is a few miles south of the city. You may remember (if you saw the atrocious Tom Hanks film or read the book) that the chapel featured in the plot of the Da Vinci code. There is certainly a link between the chapel and the Knights templar but most of the story in the book was a hollywood fabrication - surprise surprise.
Id have to say that walking into this church was like a great experience. I instantly had shivers down my spine and felt my heart opening as I walked further into the space. Its a very beautiful little chapel with incredibly ornate sculptures and decorations that are very organic and rich. I spent almost an hour there just sitting in the chapel and climbing the scaffold that sits around it, protecting it during its restoration.
The rest of the day was spent driving from Roslyn up into the highlands to the hostel just on the south end of Loch Ness. This was a really incredible drive. The mountains up here are once again very bleak and some of them (including Ben Nevis) are still snow capped. Its like driving through valleys of sleeping giants - incredible round and occasionally sheer ridges rising up out of mostly flat plains.
The plan is to stay here for two nights and then drive south to Iona. Hopefully Ill be able to upload some photos soon so you can see what this country looks like.
Hope you are all well - Ant.
Wells Cathedral
Posted by in Churches on April 21st, 2009
I did a little bit of backtracking today and went to a really sweet town called Wells. Its around 40 minutes drive south west of Bath (where Im staying the night again) and is home to a really amazing cathedral and Bishops palace. I decided to spend the 5 pounds on the cathedral rather than the palace and I think it was certainly worth it.
The site itself has been home to a cathedral for at least 1500 years although the current cathedral is only a mere 800 years old. Its great to be able to walk into a space that commands a presence like this - I felt instantly at home and in awe of the place. In contrast to St Pauls I think think this cathedral does the “Oh god you are so big …” in a much more down to earth manner. Its history is evident everywhere - with ex Bishops in their sarcophagus and other benefactors entomed underneath the cloistered hallways. I think the best way to get a sense of place into a church is to bury their members under the floor - do you think it might catch on in Australia?
As always the stand out was the lady or Mary chapel. Its simply amazing how the Mary chapel in each church or cathedral Ive ever visited outshines the rest of the building with its humility and intensity. THe St Francis Mary chapel in Melbourne is my favourite thus far - I think no body does it like the Catholics do it.
I finally downloaded some images from the iPhone to the laptop so take a look at the few I shot of the chapel. Ive been balancing using the iPhone with the camera and I think ill try to take more shots with it in the following days. Check out the other posts as well to see some of the images Ive uploaded. Actually none of the images of Wells are very good on the iPhone and I was expressly asked not to take photos without a permit … so this is kind of the best I could do under the circumstances and the existential guilt that I faced by taking it.
The Cathedral and Palace are on the edge of the town square. I know its pretty obvious but a good town square really anchors a place. There was such a good feeling in the place that I wanted to just to sit and chill but alas my parking time had run out.
Day 1 or was it day 2?
Posted by in Churches on April 13th, 2009
I guess keeping track of the day when you fly through time zones is always going to be a little messy but the first day was kind of long. The flight to Abu Dhabi was around 12 hours of dark as we were following the night across the globe, but it was pretty good. The second leg was a little harder even though it was around half the time - mainly due to three crying babies and the fact that Id had my pick of the inflight movies by that time.
Its been around 18hours that Ive been in London now and its really quite an amazing place to be for the first time. Everything is very familiar (the iconic taxis, buses and phone boxes) and the backpackers Im staying at is as can be expected very international. Im really looking forward to getting into deepest darkest England and into places that tourism isnt that obvious (if that is possible).
Last night I walked for an hour or two around the Bank area and St Pauls Cathedral trying to extend the day to fit in with the local time - for the most part it worked quite well and I managed to take in some astonishing architecture and walk through what I assume were pretty quiet streets given that it was Easter Sunday.
I spent some time in a small chapel called St Agnes where there was a string quartet and a singer producing some amazing medieval music - haunting. I then went and had Eucharist at St Pauls Cathedral. Its been a long time since Ive been to a church that has been so focussed on father, heavenly father, lord and jesus that it was quite a shock. I found myself actually not joining in with much of the prayer - because it was so absolute, so male, so external.
The building itself is really phenomenal. The mosaics are all so complex and rich and yet the power of the place is incredibly simple. An immense amount of space to feel small, humble but heard and held. The incense was particularly helpful in transporting my senses beyond the still moving sensation of still being on the plane.
Today Ive got around 5 hours of London before I jump on the train to Taunton to attend the conference …. hmmm what am i going to see?