Saturday in Bristol

Today was a "free" day, which means there was nothing on the schedule for us to travel to with the exception of Evensong at 3:30..  A good idea, as all the work and play we've been doing for the past several days is starting to catch up with us!  Most people who have never sung in a choir or spent much time serving for a worship service don't realize how much work goes into it - before the service, during the service, and afterwards.  All our voices are holding up, which is good, but the bodies and minds need rest. We were all on individual schedules and activities today, so I can only tell you about what I experienced before Evensong; hopefully once we get stateside the rest of the group will update the blog with experiences of their own.

I decided to visit the Harbour Festival again - I just couldn't stay away from all that delicious food!  After a late start to the day and preparations for the service, I hit the Festival around lunch time.  It was PACKED with people.  Last year, the Festival brought 400,000 people to Bristol and made 9 million pounds - I'll say that's a success!  After the Festival, I finally had a chance to spend some quiet time in the cathedral - it is a truly beautiful space.

Here's our "work area":

This is MY view from the center of the aisle:

LOVE IT!!!!!!

Soon thereafter, it was time to prepare for Evensong.  The choir has truly done a marvelous job - we sing a different set of service music every evening - including the concerts, we will sing 31 different pieces of music, not including the hymns for the services.  This is an ENORMOUS amount of music to sing, and a large amount of music to sing WELL.  The standards for worship in at the cathedral are high, just as they are at Christ Church, and we constantly work to improve ourselves so that we can become better ministers than we were the day before.  This residency is no different.

Evensong went very well this evening, and the choirs have adjusted well to their new surroundings and the slight differences in the liturgies here at Bristol.  After the service some of us visited the Harbour Festival again before coming back to the hotel for dinner.  Although it was a low-key day (except the Jogging Crew was up bright and early!), several people decided to take advantage of some local theater productions in town.  Hopefully, we'll all be well rested for the services tomorrow!

This will probably be the last post till we get to London on Monday - tomorrow is a big day!  Choral Eucharist and Evensong in the space of a few hours - keep us in your prayers as we prepare!

Friday in Wells

On Friday we travelled to the city of Wells to visit the cathedral.  STUNNING. 

We learned from our tour guide that the difference between a city and a town is that a city has a cathedral.  Wells (named for the natural spring wells on the property of the Bishop's palace) is a fairly small city with lots of charm.  We were taken on a tour of the cathedral by 2 lovely guides who were very informative. 

One of the most distinctive features of the cathedrals are the scissor arches which were installed due to the stress put on the building when the tower was erected.

The baptismal font is from the original cathedral and is over 1000 years old - the choristers were encouraged to feel the tops of the arches on the font to see how the builder tried to change them from Norman to Gothic.

The cloisters were also beautiful.

After the tour we had a bit of time to find lunch and explore the town.  Some people shopped, some found a good pub for lunch, some continued to explore the cathedral.  Afterwards we returned to Bristol for Evensong.

We rehearsed quite a bit before the service before taking a rest before the liturgy began.  The choristers had fun taking some refreshment in the cafe with our friend, Plastic Baby Jesus.

The choir sang well once again, treating the congregation to Kenneth Long's Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in F set for trebles.  Our women and trebled did a spectacular job on this piece, while the men added their lovely tones for the rest of the service music. All in all - a great service.

After evensong we headed down to the dock for the Harbour Fest before dinner - quite the party scene!  There were tugs of war on boats, lots of music, food...a true festival.  We even indulged in a little body art:

Don't worry - it's not permanent!
 
We returned to the hotel for dinner after a bit, then a small group went out to Queen's Park to check out the night life of the festival.  It was a heavenly feast of food - stalls and stalls of sweets, cheeses, paella, noodles...just fantastic!  More than a few plans were made to return on our free Saturday before AND after Evensong. 

Saturday is a free day for everyone before Evensong at 3:30 - we'll get some much needed rest before the weekend liturgies.

Onward we go!

Thursday at Longleat and Evensong

"...and we heard the screaming all night.  Screaming and screaming.  Then they would laugh - a cackling, maniacal laugh that sent chills down the bones...nevermore, nevermore..." 

No, friends, this is not some dark poem you studied in middle school.  It's the seagulls.  Every night, at least for those staying on a certain side of the hotel, is filled with the sound of screaming seagulls all hours of the night.  The stories at breakfast in the morning are quite amusing, I have to say.  Who knew this group was such a violent bunch! 

Beyond that,  all is well!  We spent the morning at Longleat, home of Alexander Thynn, the Marquess of Bath.  The home was built between 1567-1580, and is filled with wonderful art, tapestries and furniture from every imaginable period.

 A "leat" is an aqueduct or waterway built to supply water to a watermill or mill pond. While we didn't see any waterways by the main house, there certainly could have been on this vast property.  The landscaping was designed by a man named Capability Brown, who was well know for "redesigning" countryside to fit the aesthetic needs of the homes, including building and excavating new hills and planting very mature trees and greenery. 

 It is a truly gorgeous estate - sorry, no pictures allowed on the inside.  The Lord Bath, the Marquess' son, is quite the eccentric - the art collection features some of his own work which is, shall we say, interesting.  The estate features a safari park and other "attractions" for families.  Opening a large manor home to the public is becoming more common as the aristocracy struggle to maintain these monstrously large properties and homes.


 

After our visit to Longleat we returned to Bristol to get ready for Evensong.  There were a few different customs to learn, including how one vested for the rehearsal before the service, but the choir adapted admirably.  We were fortunate to have plenty of time to warm up and receive instruction from the 2 vergers on duty - they pretty much run the place so that the clergy can focus on doing what they are supposed to be doing.  A nice perk.  The cathedral provided a light snack for everyone before the service.  We met the Dean of the cathedral - charming chap - and one of the canons before the service began.  Tim Olsen, our resident organist, provided excellent leadership on the organ for the service.  The choir was nervous at first, but sang well throughout and was enthralled by the glorious sounds that rang through the space.  And that Tommy Richmond - WHAT A SOLO.  It will be such a sad day when his voice changes... :(  Sorry, but no pictures here either - not allowed in the church.  Kind of refreshing, really, to see a sacred space treated with such reverence...

After evensong we enjoyed the hospitality of a local pub just down the street from the hotel - we are getting to know all the local establishments QUITE well.  Then another great dinner at the hotel - boy, we really lucked out.  We're all going to have to get up with the Jogging Crew (Janet Greer, Larry Richmond and Doug Swift) before this trip is done - they've been jogging around Bristol for exercise in the mornings around 7 am...a wee bit too early for most of us after pubbing. 

The young choristers are doing well, but starting to get a little tired and a wee bit car sick from all the windy roads!  But lucky for us, there are enough drugs and homeopathic remedies on this trip to create a small apothecary.  All will be well!  Or, at least, well drugged...

We look forward to our next service tomorrow!

Sorry - no food pictures today, either...we'll work on it!

Wednesday in Bath

Today we began our work with our first concert in Bath.  After a sumptuous meal for breakfast, we boarded the bus and rode the 12 miles or so to Bath - the second most visited city in the United Kingdom next to London. The city is a wonderful example of Georgian architecture, most of whose structures were built to serve the aristocracy and those with aristocratic hopes as they came to "be seen" at the baths. 

We arrived at the Abbey excited to begin our work!  As we entered the cathedral, the man minding the door announced, "The Choir has arrived" in a most distinguished, British accent - and the fun began!  The abbey was truly beautiful.

We entered the abbey and awaited our instructions before beginning our rehearsal.  We were lucky enough to be allowed 15 minutes to find our voices in the room before the concert started.  A good crowd was already gathering.

After rehearsing for a bit, we began our concert.  Apparently we had anywhere from 80-100 people sitting down to listened - superb!  The choir sang fantastically, and clearly enjoyed the sounds they were creating in that fantastic space.  Kudos to all!

After the concert we quickly changed our shoes and ran off to a tour of the Roman Baths - truly fascinating.  Even in ancient Rome, this was the place to come, be seen, make deals, find a spouse...the "Las Vegas" of its time, as our guide John told us.

After the tour of the Baths, we went our separate ways for lunch.  Larkin, Angus, Daniele and myself went to the Pump Room - ooh la la!  A very elegant meal complete with beautiful napkins,smoked teas (a new one for me) served in a beautiful room.

Afterwards, we were treated to a walking tour of the city.  Some of the highlights - The Circus, where the richest of the rich lived:

 The Royal Crescent:

 We then took a tour of the assembly rooms, where people came to socialize and meet interesting people.  Several of us took a tour of their costume collection, which included some fabulous outfits from movies such as Young Victoria, Elizabeth, Shakespeare in Love and Gladiator. Kate Greer was kind enough to let us "play Barbie" and dress her in some period costume...

Afterwards, we had a bit of free time before returning to Bristol for dinner and a free evening.  After another sumptuous meal (we are truly blessed in that regard), a group decided to go see the Harry Potter movie - we needed a low-key evening before our residency began in the morning.  I think the adults were more frightened than the young choristers...

Tomorrow our residency at the cathedral begins - pray for us as we continue our ministry!

How could I forget???!!!

Perhaps our most devoted member of the group, Plastic Baby Jesus.  He thoroughly enjoyed his visit to the SS Great Britain...more of his adventures to come.

Tuesday in Bristol

Today we enjoyed a short walking tour of Bristol to get ourselves acquainted with the area we'd be working in.  This included a walk past the cathedral where we'd sing later this week.  We couldn't go in because of rehearsals for graduation ceremonies for the University.

The Bristol Cathedral Choir School is shares a history with other prestigious institutions in Britain for having a private school which supplies choristers to lead worship in the cathedral.  There is only one in the United States - St. Thomas (Episcopal) in New York. 

After the tour we split up to explore the city.  A group of us decided to visit the SS Britain, the world's first ocean liner made from steel and propelled with screws.  The ship has been restored and turned into a fantastically realistic museum. 

We took a ferry ride to get to the ship.

We had a great tour of the hull underneath the water:

and a great view of the restored hull up top.

The inside of the ship featured some pretty realistic scenes of what life would be like for crew and passengers of all types - lots of fun. 

After touring the ship we trekked off to find lunch at Lloyd's No. 1 Bar just across the water from the SS Great Britain, where we enjoyed fish and chips, mushy peas and Pimms - yum!

We spent more time exploring Bristol before returning to the hotel to rest up and have a brief rehearsal before dinner - we haven't sung together for almost 3 days!  We are all looking forward to our concert at Bath Abbey tomorrow at 11:30.  Our work begins soon!

Monday night - our first dinner at the Grand Hotel in Bristol - a fantastic meal with fantastic company!

Passing time at the airport...

Tommy shows off his funky new bag made for him for the trip by Vanessa and Virginia - we haven't seen it since...

 

Mother and daughter traveling abroad together!