Inside Salisbury

One of the great things about being a choir in residence is how much private time we get to spend inside the cathedral, and in areas that say "staff only" - the song room, vestry, and cathedral school to name a few.  Here are a few shots inside the cathedral.

Looking toward the west doors - notice that they're open for Pentecost!

The Quire

The High Altar

The Organ

Trinity Chapel - the first part of the Cathedral to be completed and consecrated in 1225.  The East Window is dedicated to Prisoners of Conscience of the 20th c. and made in 1980 by Gabriel Loire of Chartres.  The tomb in the foreground with the two candles is Osmund's.

The Baptismal Font - installed just this past fall, which has met with some controversy.  I think it is absolutely beautiful.  Notice how the reflection of the cathedral can be seen on the surface of the water.  Below is another shot to give you the idea. 

More Beautiful Blooms

I never tire of taking photos of all the beautiful flowers everywhere I turn!  Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Tuesday Teatime

Tuesday was a crazy busy day as far as rehearsal goes - all morning, followed by a women's sectional at 1.  So I waited until after rehearsal to have lunch, browsing thrift shops and bookstores and finally settling on a quaint tearoom above one of the antique shops in town for a sandwich and a pot of tea.  A picture of the tea room is below - I sat in the comfy yellow chair next to the window...

All this made for a delightful afternoon, but unfortunately this same afternoon after evensong, I felt a sore throat coming on.  And it turned into a full-on head and chest cold by Wednesday morning - ugh!  So while the choir made a day trip to see Winchester Cathedral, I stayed in and took a long afternoon nap.  This also fit well with the day - the only rainy day we've had on the whole trip!

The Walking Madonna

Professor Owens, this post is for you!  Before leaving for England, my OT professor Bob Owens, shared some of his photos from Salisbury.  He has a darling picture of his daughter holding the hand of the Walking Madonna statue.

One afternoon, I landed an opportunity to take some pictures of the statue without too many people around in the background.  However, there were three little boys who were running up about the same time I approached.  At first they didn't realize I was taking their pictures, but when they did, they began posing for me.  We had a wonderful little interchange, and afterwards they ran off to their mothers who were approaching, and shouted to them in their delightful accents, "Mummy, that lady was taking our photo!"  We exchanged waves and smiles as we walked our different ways.

I wonder just how many people have reached up to take the hand of this walking Madonna over the years . . .

Sorry the photos are sideways - my edits don't seem to be working properly. :(

Sunny Days

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were absolutely gorgeous days as far as warm sunshine goes! This made for some great picture taking.  Here are some shots of the cathedral and loads of gorgeous flowers.  

But lest you think it's all leisure time, we are spending a LOT of time in rehearsal. Each morning at 9:30 we meet in the Cathedral school for rehearsal.  We break for lunch by noon, and then meet back in the Cathedral at 4pm for rehearsal in the quire, followed by evensong at 5:30.  So far we're doing really well - it's always a good sign when the priest compliments the choir on its psalm singing!

St. Aldhelm

May 25th was a special day in the life of Salisbury Cathedral - the 1300th anniversary of the death of St. Aldhelm, who was the first bishop of the newly-created Diocese of Sherborne, the precursor of the Diocese of Salisbury.  The Sewanee choir had the unique opportunity to sing at the 5:30 eucharist in observance of this most special occasion.

Check out this thurible - more like an incense bucket!  It holds 7 coals...

And these beautiful vestments...

Sound Sculpture

After settling into our rooms and stopping at Stoby's for fish and chips, we took a walk at dusk around the cathedral grounds.  Our timing in Salisbury this week is outstanding - the Salisbury International Arts Festival started on Saturday.  We stumbled on a unique sensory experience in our walk.  

As we approached the cathedral, we could hear singing, and discovered a sold out concert of the premier of Bob Chilcott's Salisbury Vespers.  While we were bummed that we couldn't get in for the remainder of the concert, we decided to walk around the cloisters.  This is when we began hearing strange whisperings and bells and other sounds intermingling with the concert we could hear going on inside the cathedral.  As we walked around, we discovered that the extra sounds were from a "sound sculpture" installed in the cloisters.  It gave us goose flesh!  

While the clip below doesn't compare to hearing it in person, this might give you an idea what it was like - very cool.  We discovered today that the concert inside involved hundreds of choristers, a huge orchestra and seven conductors to keep the masses in time with each other!  You can hear part of the concert inside at the very beginning of the clip...

Off to Salisbury

Saturday was mostly a travel day.  The tour bus gathered up us choristers from Gatwick and Heathrow airports and started out for Salisbury.  Since this is a "bank holiday weekend," traffic was a bear, taking us until about 5:30 to arrive at our hotel.  We're staying at a lovely place, the Milford Hall Hotel.

Out and About in London

After breakfast on Thursday morning, we planned our day - check out the street fair a few blocks away, grab some lunch, and head to Piccadilly Circus to the Amex office to change some money. Since Ed wasn't feeling up to par, after lunch he returned to the guest house and Rick and I trekked around London.  

Our plan was to meet back up with Ed at Westminster Abbey for evensong at 5:30, but we should have checked the times more closely since evensong was actually at 5:00.  Rick and I got there at 10 past 5, but Ed had arrived early enough to attend.  Oh well.  We ate an ice cream cone and visited the gift shop instead!

Small Episcoworld cropped up again, as we ran into Daniel, the organist for the Sewanee choir at the evensong, so he headed back with us for dinner at the Metropolitan.  Carol and Mark saved us great seats, and in spite of the loud music we had great conversation and fun!

Anna & Rick outside the Travel Bookshop (the one in the movie Notting Hill)

Dinner at the Metropolitan

We've arrived!

I've decided I'm sold on daytime flights to London.  We left on time at 8:40 in the morning, arriving at 9pm local time, which was great, especially for someone who has never been able to sleep on a plane.  

By the time Rick, Ed, and I arrived at the ACO Guest House it was 11, so we stopped for a pint at the Metropolitan (the pub on the corner), walked up the street to order a pizza at Top's (the only food we could get that time of night), and were in bed by 12:30.  So the jet lag this morning wasn't too bad!

I never cease to be amazed at how well we Anglicans connect across the miles.  When we went downstairs for breakfast this morning we ran into Bishop Carol Gallagher and her husband - what a treat to see a familiar face from back home!  

Rick, as those of you who know him know, has never met a stranger.  He instantly made friends with Gordon, the bartender at the Metropolitan, which got us invited to a Barbeque tonight. Should be fun!

Here's a pic of us at just prior to catching our cab for JFK - it's a little fuzzy, but hey - it's 6am! Thanks, Ann, for taking our picture...

T Minus 3 Hours

Candidacy interview - check.

Apartment rented - check.

Callie Boarded - check.

Bags packed - check.

Off to catch my plane!!

And the adventure begins....

And P.S., I'm a candidate for holy orders!

A Quick Trip Home

Quick trips out of town can be disorienting.  One minute I'm sitting in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd for evensong, and the next I'm gazing at the winding string of lights that mark the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel from my airplane window.  But ahhh....it's good to be home!  Warmer temps and the sweet smell of Virginia air in springtime!

Today's a big day for me.  I'll be driving to Chanco on the James, Diosova's Camp and Conference Center, for my candidacy interview.  I ask your prayers for calm nerves, a clear mind, and a peaceful heart.  And hopefully, the next time I check in, I'll be a candidate for holy orders!

10 Days and Counting

Only 10 days left before I take off for England!  Meanwhile, I'm studying for my final exam in ethics tomorrow...