I'm not going to try to tell you exactly how much my visit to England has meant to my life because frankly I don't even understand it yet. Honestly, I don't think that any single week in my short history has as of yet been as vital to my understanding of the world. I've stood in buildings that are 800-1,000 years old, seen documents and rooms that held the thoughts of men whose actions changed the world so greatly, that their effects can still be seen in everyday life in America. And, perhaps most importantly, I've seen how important breakfast--specifically a Full English Breakfast--can be to starting your day off right. :D
Just a quick run through of where we've been, almost more for my benefit than yours. We arrived in West Sussex at Gatwick Airport on Monday morning and left right from there to Windsor Castle which is the main home of the queen when she's in London. The architecture and design is so grand, old, and elaborate, that no words or even pictures can describe it. For the first time in my life, I stepped into a building that was built 400 years ago by hand. I saw tapestries. Real tapestries. Have you ever seen one of these before? They're magnificent!!! The guilding of the rooms, the elaborate ebony, ivory, gold, chestnut, cedar, silk, silver, and marble art that compose the structure are really beyond words. There is not one thing on our continent that can compare with the experiences.
Anyways, from there we went to the Natural History Museum in London where we began a panoramic tour of the city. In those few hours, we visited Buckingham Palace, Big Ben clock tower and the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, Scotland Yard, Trafalgar Square, Old London or the Square Mile, Harrod's, Piccadilly Circus, etc. Any major attraction in the city, we've seen it. We went back to our hotel, and Trev and I crashed. We'd been up and traveling for roughly 24 hours at that point. :D
The next day, we took an excursion to Canterbury Cathedral, which is the seat of the Church of England. The building was 600 years old, and took over thirty years to build BY HAND!!! Again, there's no words. One observation: sadly, there is now a Starbucks Coffehouse built into the wall of the churchyard. Seattle will prevail! :) Next, we drove back to London to Southwark cathedral where such men as Shakespeare and John Harvard attended church, and sang an informal concert there.
Upon returning, myself and some friends hopped the tubes and did our own informal tour of the city, including stopping in some of the parks, eating out, hitting up a public house (pub), and swapping stories on the London Bridge. In the words of the famous British author Samuel Johnson, "When a man tires of London, he tires of life: for everything life affords can be found in London."
In that vein, we left London for Winchester and Salisbury cathedrals, which were both magnificent displays of architecture and acoustic engineering. At Canterbury, the former principal organist, who runs the musical bookings, said we were the best young choir to have come through there, and he's been there for more than a decade. In Winchester, we got similar compliments from the vicar in charge there. From there, we went to Stonehenge. A bunch of big rocks in the middle of a field. Wow. :$
We stayed the night in Swindon, got up in the morning and drove to Cardiff with a stop in Bath where we sang in Bath Abbey and visited the Roman Baths there that were almost 2,000 years old. The town was gorgeous, but I got crapped on by a big pigeon. Luckily, the barber was walking by right as it happened, and it had happened to him just last week, so he had me come to his shop and he cleaned me all up. :D Cardiff is a magnificent town in Wales, where we sang at an exservicemen's club. That was not as interesting, but certainly fun.
We woke up and toured Cardiff Castle, which was very, very pretty. There were peacocks out in the yard, and they are absolutely gorgeous animals, but quite mean. ;) That evening was the U.K. Football Association (Soccer) finals at the stadium that was right behind our hotel, so the city was packed with fans prepping for the World Cup which is in Berlin in about 25 days.
We went from there to Bristol where we sang in the excellent acoustics of Bristol Cathedral. The princept there, who is in charge of the music for the whole of that diocese, said that Concordia College had done a formal concert there the day before. For those of you who don't know, Concordia is a renowned choir from the North Central part of the country, and our conductor Bill Owen went to college and sang as part of that choir twenty years ago. The princept said that they had nothing over us. What a compliment!!!
Leaving Bristol, we traveled onward to Cambridge where we arrived last night. The town is lovely, but the steam room in the hotel was even more welcoming to this weary traveler. ;) We sang at the Eucharist service this morning at Great St. Mary's, which is the town's Anglican Church. I took my first formal communion, and was very moved by the content of the sermon and the solemnity with which they took their communion. The wine was tasty, too. :D
So, now after eating lunch at the Eagle Pub down the street from King's College, I am writing this blog to catalogue my experiences here for my future reference and your present enjoyment. With a stomach full of lamb, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding, I express these sentiments with great conviction: you cannot experience fully what it means to be a member of the human race as a community until you visit Europe--and specifically England. Life's short and then you die, but it's things like this trip that make that little time here more meaningful as you begin to see the scope of humanity's work over the years. Absolutely marvelous.
In Christ,
Utzy
Phil. 1:21
Just a quick run through of where we've been, almost more for my benefit than yours. We arrived in West Sussex at Gatwick Airport on Monday morning and left right from there to Windsor Castle which is the main home of the queen when she's in London. The architecture and design is so grand, old, and elaborate, that no words or even pictures can describe it. For the first time in my life, I stepped into a building that was built 400 years ago by hand. I saw tapestries. Real tapestries. Have you ever seen one of these before? They're magnificent!!! The guilding of the rooms, the elaborate ebony, ivory, gold, chestnut, cedar, silk, silver, and marble art that compose the structure are really beyond words. There is not one thing on our continent that can compare with the experiences.
Anyways, from there we went to the Natural History Museum in London where we began a panoramic tour of the city. In those few hours, we visited Buckingham Palace, Big Ben clock tower and the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, Scotland Yard, Trafalgar Square, Old London or the Square Mile, Harrod's, Piccadilly Circus, etc. Any major attraction in the city, we've seen it. We went back to our hotel, and Trev and I crashed. We'd been up and traveling for roughly 24 hours at that point. :D
The next day, we took an excursion to Canterbury Cathedral, which is the seat of the Church of England. The building was 600 years old, and took over thirty years to build BY HAND!!! Again, there's no words. One observation: sadly, there is now a Starbucks Coffehouse built into the wall of the churchyard. Seattle will prevail! :) Next, we drove back to London to Southwark cathedral where such men as Shakespeare and John Harvard attended church, and sang an informal concert there.
Upon returning, myself and some friends hopped the tubes and did our own informal tour of the city, including stopping in some of the parks, eating out, hitting up a public house (pub), and swapping stories on the London Bridge. In the words of the famous British author Samuel Johnson, "When a man tires of London, he tires of life: for everything life affords can be found in London."
In that vein, we left London for Winchester and Salisbury cathedrals, which were both magnificent displays of architecture and acoustic engineering. At Canterbury, the former principal organist, who runs the musical bookings, said we were the best young choir to have come through there, and he's been there for more than a decade. In Winchester, we got similar compliments from the vicar in charge there. From there, we went to Stonehenge. A bunch of big rocks in the middle of a field. Wow. :$
We stayed the night in Swindon, got up in the morning and drove to Cardiff with a stop in Bath where we sang in Bath Abbey and visited the Roman Baths there that were almost 2,000 years old. The town was gorgeous, but I got crapped on by a big pigeon. Luckily, the barber was walking by right as it happened, and it had happened to him just last week, so he had me come to his shop and he cleaned me all up. :D Cardiff is a magnificent town in Wales, where we sang at an exservicemen's club. That was not as interesting, but certainly fun.
We woke up and toured Cardiff Castle, which was very, very pretty. There were peacocks out in the yard, and they are absolutely gorgeous animals, but quite mean. ;) That evening was the U.K. Football Association (Soccer) finals at the stadium that was right behind our hotel, so the city was packed with fans prepping for the World Cup which is in Berlin in about 25 days.
We went from there to Bristol where we sang in the excellent acoustics of Bristol Cathedral. The princept there, who is in charge of the music for the whole of that diocese, said that Concordia College had done a formal concert there the day before. For those of you who don't know, Concordia is a renowned choir from the North Central part of the country, and our conductor Bill Owen went to college and sang as part of that choir twenty years ago. The princept said that they had nothing over us. What a compliment!!!
Leaving Bristol, we traveled onward to Cambridge where we arrived last night. The town is lovely, but the steam room in the hotel was even more welcoming to this weary traveler. ;) We sang at the Eucharist service this morning at Great St. Mary's, which is the town's Anglican Church. I took my first formal communion, and was very moved by the content of the sermon and the solemnity with which they took their communion. The wine was tasty, too. :D
So, now after eating lunch at the Eagle Pub down the street from King's College, I am writing this blog to catalogue my experiences here for my future reference and your present enjoyment. With a stomach full of lamb, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding, I express these sentiments with great conviction: you cannot experience fully what it means to be a member of the human race as a community until you visit Europe--and specifically England. Life's short and then you die, but it's things like this trip that make that little time here more meaningful as you begin to see the scope of humanity's work over the years. Absolutely marvelous.
In Christ,
Utzy
Phil. 1:21
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