White Cliffs and Wychurst
"There is a cliff, whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep: Bring me to the very brim of it, and I'll repair the misery thou dost bear... "
Steve and I stood at the edge of the White Cliffs of Dover reading out Gloucester's and Edgar's speeches from King Lear. He had spent the morning exploring Dover castle and I had met up with him after my class. Steve was a bit loopy, having spend a sleepless night on the bus coming over from Amsterdam, and he told me all about his travels with his Bode friends in Paris and Normandy. It was a lovely hike, we didn't quite make it to the lighthouse at the end because it was getting late but it was really exhilarating to be standing on the edge looking all the way down into the sea.
That weekend, we had a party at Wychurst with the rest of de Bec. The fires were lit, the drinks were poured, and everyone showed up in their fancy kit. I've made a dress for myself, it's a simple white linen underdress and was hastily done so by the end of the night a bunch of the seams were ripped - I need to stop trying to sit cross-legged in a dress. Later in the evening, I finally wore an overdress that I made back home, it's completely not authentic, but it looks cool so who cares. There were a bunch of games around the tables, chess, cards, Risk and we had made a pub game mainly about LOTR, Harry Potter, History and Mythology. Oh - and fire arrows. We had started with normal arrows, aiming at a shield but it got dark and there was an obvious solution. Matt made an impressive shot, both with an arrow and javelin, through a hole in the shield, so we were regaled with his accomplishment frequently throughout the night. A group of us went skulking around in the night to play manhunt but the torches wouldn't stay lit and it was too black to play otherwise. It was a wonderful night around the fire with good food and friends.
The next day was a long training session and we had a huge turnout. I got to wear my pretty new chainmail, which I have no idea how I'm going to get it home, but will manage somehow. There was a bit of an incident during the last VIP escort of the day. I was making a dash for it again but Steve had other ideas. Long story short, chainmail makes you really top heavy and a 6'2 guy barreling into you makes your face connect with the ground real fast. There are some cuts on the side of my face, looks pretty bad-ass, but now my school friends think I'm crazier than before. During the week, Steve and I had a walk around Canterbury, which is slowly becoming warm again, and the cathedral which is just as lovely as ever. Friday was the end of term and it's all gone by so fast. I've loved all my classes, done well, and now just have exams to worry about. But before that, Steve and I are going to Budapest, Vienna and Prague for 2 weeks to do a bit more travelling before he goes home to Canada.
