Thursday
We had another field trip today,
this time to Rochester and Penhurst.
First on the agenda was Rochester, which is near the town Dickens was
born and he set many of his novels there including Ryken’s favorite, the
archetypal novel, Great Expectations. In the novel, it is the town where Pip,
Miss Havisham, and Estella live.
Upon arrival, we had some medieval class time and explored Rochester
Castle, which is a ruined castle.
Beautiful. I felt like I was in Ever
After at the ruins scene. It
was fun to poke around in all the crooks and crannies, and the view from the
top of the town, the Medway River, and the Cathedral were beautiful.
Next, Dr. Ryken led us through Ivy
Park and took us to the Satis House, which is the basis for Miss Havisham’s
house. To my surprise, the house
in on the street and immaculate.
There were no gothic ruins or climbing ivy or a crazy old woman still in
her wedding dress (The Wishbone adaptation of this novel forever immortalized
in my mind’s eye how I picture Miss Havisham.) A few of us toured the garden of the house, which was
breathtaking. There were hedges,
roses, a green house, and lily pond composing absolute beauty. There were several elderly gentleman
and ladies looking at the garden.
One woman said: “this flower isn’t my cuppa tea. It is too fleshly.” I was excited to hear British idioms
being used!
The town was most charming and I
could easily picture Pip or Pumblechock ambling about. I hoped to spy the Miss Havisham’s
Wedding Store that had been seen on early trips. To my disappointment, I did not see it, but I did see a
store called Estella’s accessories and a Tiny Tim’s Tea Room (extra points for
alliteration!)
Our last stop was the beautiful
Rochester Cathedral from the medieval ages. It had painted on the wall a “Wheel of Fortune” (this has
nothing to do with the game show).
The Wheel of Fortune was a common motif throughout medieval
literature. You may be on top of
fortune, but then the wheel will turn and fortune will suddenly be against
you. Lady Fortune is blind, so
everyone is affected by her whims of turning the wheel. It was interesting to see this belief in
a church juxtaposed against faith in God’s sovereignty.
Next, we went to Penhurst, a
beautiful estate that was once owned by Sir Phillip Sidney. Ben Jonson wrote his poem “To Penhurst”
about the house and many other famous writers such as Edmond Spenser stayed
here. The royal family also has
had events here. Only some of the
staterooms are open to the public and the rest are still owned by the
family. The rooms were huge and
ornate. It reminded me of Downton Abbey, especially seeing
pictures of the staff!
After seeing the house, I ambled
about in the true highlight of the estate: the gardens. Why Jonson barely mentioned them in his
poem is beyond me (I’m not a huge fan of the poem or 18th century
literature in general). There were rows after row of hedges each containing
different flowers. It was
breathtaking, and the best garden I have seen so far. Dr. Ewart told me on one trip he saw the gardeners trimming
the grass by hand. The upkeep of this place must be so
much work. After wandering about
and taking it all in, I laid down by the lily pond and simply relaxed.
The ride back to London was a bit
rough. The weather was gorgeous
today, with an unusual high of 75 degrees (I actually got sunburned which I
didn’t know was possible in England). Unfortunately, the coach’s air
conditioner broke. To say the
least, it was a long three-hour drive back into the city. When we returned, I went to my new
favorite café to chill out: Costa Café! It is better than Starbucks! You can purchase a nice sandwich for
very little money and their muffins are FANTASTIC. They all have cream inside
them. After eating a sandwich, I
took my Earl Grey Tea and my muffin to a nice park and enjoyed the beautiful
night while the pigeons ate the crumbs that I dropped. All in all, an enjoyable evening to
recharge for another adventurous day on Friday!
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