Endless Song

York and Edinburgh

Another catch-up post. 

Our day-and-a-half in York and the first two days in Edinburgh have been crammed full of things, and I'm afraid I've been more intent on DOING than I have on WRITING.  I'll backfill with details on our activities tomorrow, and add photographs as soon as possible.

Right now, we're waiting to go in to the final group dinner in the elegant dining room at The George Hotel.  The duty manager of the hotel has kindly allowed me to use his office Internet connection for a hasty note to let all of you know that we are alive and well, and still having a wonderful time.

More later!

Cambridge: Sunday, July 31

Cambridge: Sunday, July 31
---
I went on the first coach from the hotel to the center of town at 9:00.  Twelve of us took the hop-on-hop-off doubledecker bus to get an idea of what was where.  We got off at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens and explored.  It was an interesting contrast to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.  Kew has a larger acreage and more plants, and the flowers in the glasshouses are spectacular, but the systemic collection is rather dull:  just rows after straight row of one plant after another.  At Cambridge, the collection is smaller, but is arranged in attractive beds.

I spent far more time in the gardens than I planned, so I had to make some choices.  The rain held off, and the day was pleasant, so I reluctantly skipped the museums I'd planned on visiting (a geological/archeological museum. and an exhibit of medieval illuminated manuscripts at the Fitzwilliam Museum) and walked back into town instead.  A stop at the Scott Polar Research Institute was futile.  The Polar Exploration museum  was closed to visitor.  I got a glimpse of part of the first room as a cleaner went inside, but couldn't see the exhibits clearly.  It's on my list for the next visit.

After a stop at an ATM and a quick lunch, I went into the King's College grounds.  King's Chapel is larger than many cathedrals.  It's a magnificent building, and the stained glass is beautiful.  I couldn't take any photographs, but I sat through part of a service and restored my soul.  Then I followed my nose from one tiny street to another, winding up at the Scudamore's Punting Company on the River Cam.  A young man named Jack took ten people on a guided tour of a section of the river, telling a series of stories about the colleges and bridges that we passed.

When the river tour ended, I made my way back to the coach park and waited for our 3:30 return trip to the hotel.  There's an excursion change-ringing at Great St. Mary's Church this evening at 5:30 PM, but I think I'll put my feet up and rest instead.  After dinner, I'll buy a card for the hotel's wireless Internet access, and update my blog.  Tomorrow is another early start:  Breakfast at 6:30, and the coaches leave for York at 7:30 AM.

London: Wed., July 27 to Saturday, July 30

NOTE:  This is a catch-up entry, covering several days.  Also, since the photo placeholders I put in the previous entries have been confusing for several readers, I'll leave them out this time.  I will, however, add several photographs for each day, after I've cut their size to something reasonable.  Please check back later to see the images.

Wednesday, July 27
---
Individual sightseeing in the early morning.   I grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped a #15 bus in front of the hotel.  It took me around much of the central city, and got me back to St. Paul's in time for our tour at 11:00.

On the way in I had two bits of excitement.  First, the mounted police on duty by the west steps allowed me to feed an apple core to one of their horses.  Then, just as I was entering the crypt, alarms blared out and security staff evacuated the entire cathedral.  It was a while before we knew what was going on:  not a terrorist event, just an over sensitive fire sensor.  After a little while, the police and church officials gave the all-clear, and we re-entered the building.

Most of the group joined Tom, the senior verger, on and adventurous tour of the upper part of the building, climbing to the upper galleries and towers.  The rest of us were escorted around the main floor of the cathedral and the crypt by another Tom.  It was beautiful.  I was especially struck by the way recent efforts at cleaning and restoring the interior have brought Christopher Wren's design for the nave and dome back to life.  On a previous visit, I had found the building dark and depressing.  Now, it is stunningly restored to its original elegance:  spacious and light.  (Sorry, no photographs.  Not permitted in the public areas of the cathedral.)

After the tour, we were on our own again until our 3:15 rehearsal.  I walked around Chelsea, poking my nose into every little nook and cranny.  I didn't take my guidebook, just a map so I wouldn't get lost.  I walked for about an hour, grabbed lunch at a small shop, and then made my way back to the hotel to put my feet up for a few minutes before returning to St. Paul's.

Immediately after rehearsal (and before Evensong) we were allowed to take a group photograph of the massed choir in the Quire.  After Evensong, there was a failed attempt at large group picture on west steps, which was abandoned because of the rain.  We'll try again later in the week.

I had dinner near the hotel, and then explored a bit more of the neighborhood until dark.

===========

Thursday, July 28
---
Today, we went to Ely.

We picked up our breakfast boxes at 5:30 AM, and blearily made our way to the coaches.  Most of us slept for at least part of the trip.  We arrived at 8:30 AM and wandered around in the rain until someone was available to let us in for our 9:00 AM rehearsal.  We rehearsed in the Lady Chapel for an hour.  After the rehearsal, we toured the cathedral.  Our guide raced us around the major features so we'd finish in time for our 11:00 concert.  We didn't have time to dwell on anything, unfortunately, but did see the Octagon and Lantern, many monuments, a bit of medieval stained glass, and the labyrinth under the west tower.

The concert in the Lady Chapel went well.  The woman who ran the shop was there, as well as at least one other cathedral employee, along with our own non-singing Saints.  There were also 12 strangers, who were joined by several others during the concert.  One elderly couple spoke to me afterwards, and asked when we'd be coming back.  "I'll pass the word, and guarentee that the room will be packed!"

We had lunch at The Maltings, and the coach took us back to London, arriving just in time for rehearsal and Evensong at St. Paul's.  After Evensong, Pati Primerano and I grabbed a grilled sandwich at Benjy's and chatted for a while.  Then I did laundry before going to sleep.  It was a long day.

==========

Friday, July 29
---
Zoo day! 

Pati, Katherine Steen and I went to the Regent's Park Zoo today.  Our guidebooks, the zoo web site, and the hotel concierge all said that the zoo opened at 9:30 AM.  We left the hotel at 8:30, took the District Line from Blackfriars to Embankment and changed to the Northern line for the rest of our trip, getting off at Camden Town.  After a 15-minute walk to the zoo, we got to the ticket gate at exactly 9:30.  The zoo didn't open until 10:00.  We spent the time watching taxis dropping off kids with their mums and nannies, all visibly disappointed that the zoo wasn't open yet.

At 10:00, there was controlled chaos as everyone bought their tickets and decided which exhibits to visit first.  Highlights for me were the aquarium, the meerkats, the Animals in Action program, the big cats, and the komodo dragons.  Every time we thought about leaving, one of us would spot another intriguing sign and, instead of heading for the tube, we'd go off in another direction.  We ended up skidding into the rehearsal room at St. Paul's at the end of the warm-up before the actual rehearsal.  (Note to self:  Set the alarm on your watch tomorrow!)

After Evensong, we finally had our whole-group photograph with all the Singers and the Saints (non-singers) on the west steps.  I was too tired to do any more walking after that so, after a brief search with Katherine Steen for someplace to eat on Fleet Street, I went back to the hotel and zonked out early.

==========

Saturday, July 30
---
In the morning, I finished packing, checked out with the group at 11:00, and put my suitcase and carry-on luggage on the coach.  Then, I went across the river to Lambeth Palace (District line from Blackfriars to Embankment where I switched to the Bakerloo line for Lambeth North).

After a longer-than-expected walk from the tube station to the Palace grounds and the Archbishop's Garden, I visited the Gardening History museum.  It's tiny, but interesting.  There are exhibits of gardening tools from pre-historic times to the present, great botanical explorers who brought back new plants, the restoration of the gardens at Hatfield House, an art exhibit, a knot garden, and the burial place of Captain Bligh (of HMS Bounty) who is considered a hero, here, because of all the botanical specimens that he brought back.

After lunch at the museum cafe (brie and cranberry quiche, huge mixed salad, hot brown bread and fresh butter) I made my way back to St. Paul's by a series of buses: #3 to Trafalger Square, #15 to the hotel, #100 to St. Paul's for our last Evensong service.  Immediately after Evensong, the coaches picked us up for the next leg of our trip:  Cambridge.  We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and scattered to our rooms to rest up for sightseeing in the morning.

Day 2: Gardens, Glass and Bells

Tuesday, July 26
---
We were on our own for the morning.  Six of us explored the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, returning by water taxi at noon.  I'll write more about Kew and the Dale Chihuly exhibit later.

Now, I'm turning the remainder of this article over to Linc Spaulding, who organized an opportunity for us to watch change-ringers at work:

"Tuesday evening, nine of us ventured up the bell tower to the ringing room where 12 members of St. Paul's Cathedral ringers were gathering for change-ringing practice.   We had been invited to observe.  With earplugs firmly in place, we climbed the additional 180 steps to the top of the tower.  We could look down on 12 bells (13 tons of metal) pointing heavenward, rocking back-and-forth, then tipping to begin ringing:  first in descending scales, then in ever-changing patterns.  After descending to the ringing room again, we watched the 12 ringers as they concentrated on their sequence.

"We're thankful to our hosts:  J. Alan Ainsworth and the ringers, who allowed us to watch.  They gave us a truly amazing experience which will last long after we return home!"

(Note:  Mr. Ainsworth provided a two-page description of change-ringing and the particular sequence they use.  I'll transcribe it for the web and provide a link here as soon as it's available.)

First day in London

Monday, July 25
---
We were on our own this morning.  After breakfast in the hotel, several people headed over to the London Eye for a bird's-eye view of London.  Others took advantage of the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses that circle the city providing easy access to most of the major sights.  Some people headed directly to the Tower or to one of the many museums and art galleries.  Me?  I looked for reasonably-priced Internet access.

The hotel charges 5 UKP per hour.  There are several coffee shops nearby that advertise wireless Net access, but their rates are at least as high as the hotel's.  I tried to reach an online acquaintance who had offered me the use of her office network.  I was unable to make an outside call from my hotel room (more about that later).  I tried a nearby pay phone, and finally connected to someone at the number in Josephine's email signature.  Unfortunately, that person didn't recognize the name of Josephine or her company.  Oopsie.

According to the map, Josephine's office address was more or less within walking distance of the museums in Knightsbridge, so I packed up my computer, hopped on the tube (the hotel is practically on top of the Blackfriar's station) and hopped off at Knightsbridge.  I figured I could check my email, post an update to my blog, and still have time to see at least one of the great museums.  Must have gotten turned around when I left the station, though, because I never did find her office.  Never got to the museums, either.  By the time I was ready to give up looking, it was 1:00 PM and I had to grab lunch and get to St. Paul's for rehearsal.  Oh, well.  At least I saw some interesting architecture and met some nice people.

At 3:00 we gathered in the choir rehearsal room and ran through the pieces for our first Evensong:  the Shepherd "Preces and Responses", a psalm, David Hogan's "Magnificat" and "Nunc Dimitis", an anthem by Stephen Paulus, and a hymn.  The Senior Verger, Tom, gave us instructions for the processional and recessional, and the proper attitude and behavior for each part of the service.

It wasn't easy to concentrate at first.  The building itself knocks your socks off and the sound is stunning.  Each phrase rings for several seconds after we stop singing, so the tempo of each piece needs to be adjusted.  All our well-trained reflexes are wrong, and we need to keep our eyes glued on Peter every minute.  This is hard to do, with all of the visual glory around us --- it's very distracting.  We wound up singing most pieces much more slowly than we normally do at Third.

After rehearsal, we had a few minutes to relax, find the loo, and have a last sip of water before the service.  I'll describe the actual Evensong service in another post.  No pictures, though.  This is still an active church, and no photographs are allowed even between services.  "This is a house of worship, not a museum."

After Evensong, we all went off in different directions.  Some folks went on a walking tour of "London by Lamplight" (I think that's the name.  I'll check, and correct it if needed.)  Most of us were still exhausted from the trip, though, and sought out someplace for a leisurely dinner before returning to the hotel for bed.

Four of us explored a bit of the Thames Walk, on the opposite side of the river from the Victoria Embankment, and settled on a Fuller's pub called "The Banker" [photo:pub sign] where we had various pub "sharing plates" [photo:food]:  a traditional Ploughman's Lunch (pork pies), a four-cheese sampler, and a roasted vegetable plate, all with small side dishes.  The sides were interesting:  tiny onions with whole capers, olives, and an unusual cinnamon chutney.  On the way back to the hotel and bed, we took photographs of the Millennium footbridge [photo:winged bridge] and the plants lining the path [photo:lavender].

Off we go!

[NOTE: Photographs will be added as soon as I have time to optimize them for the web.]

Saturday, July 23, 2005
---
This is the day.  It's 7:30 AM, and I'm waiting for my ride to the parking lot where we'll board the motor coaches for the first leg of the trip.  Suitcase is packed, backpack is loaded with everything I'll need on the bus to Toronto and the plane to London.  Cat and plant care is arranged, and I've done a final walk-through of the house to make sure nothing is left running that could burn the house down before Andy gets back from his teachers' conference in Seattle.

I'm finally beginning to believe the trip is real.

==========

Saturday, July 23, 2005, 8:45 AM
---
Loaded my suitcase on the "green bus".  Suitcase with the appropriate color luggage tag is loaded, and my name has been checked off the list.  Our bus driver is both competent and friendly, and the rest of the crowd is slowly settling into their seats.   

I've take  a few photographs of the group as we prepare for the journey.

o Tour members and luggage filled the Third Church parking lot.
  [photo:people in parking lot] 

o We were given individual bus assignments.  Half of the group will travel on a bus labelled 'Red'.  I was assigned to the bus labelled 'Green'.  We will use the same groupings each time we travel on a motor coach.  Each bus has a Luggage Captain and a Bus captain who check off suitcases and people as they come aboard, to make sure nobody and nothing is left behind.
  [photo:bus captains]

o Lila Ford, a Third Church congregation member and an experienced travel agent, has prepared us well for the trip.  She guided us through all the requirements for international travel, nagged us to meet deadlines for reservations and passports, and helped many of us arrange for day trips and event tickets for things we especially wanted to see.
  [photo:Lila Ford]

Don't want to run down the battery, so I'll sign off now.

==========

Saturday, July 23, 2005, 1:30 PM
---
We pulled out of the Third Church parking lot at 9:16, just a few minutes behind schedule.  Not bad, considering the size of the group.  Except for a brief input/output stop just across the Canadian border, the bus trip to Toronto was uneventful.

We hung out on the buses while our tour coordinators tried to convince the Air Canada staff to check us in as a group right away.  The need to keep track of 80 people milling around for separate check-in and security inspections amid thousands of others added a hint of desperation to their efforts, which resulted in partial success: we could check in as a group, but not right away.  We had to wait until half an hour before the normal check-in --- a rather generous offer from them, since they ordinarily wouldn't have check-in staff available for our flight until 3:00.  We spent the time browsing in the airport shops, talking about our plans for London, and consuming delicious fruit smoothies -- very refreshing.

Check-in and security inspections were civilized and painless, almost pleasant by comparison with recent experiences in US airports.  We then took a shuttle bus to our terminal and found a restaurant for a decent lunch.  Again, a pleasant change from my normal experiences of airport food.  The salads and sandwiches were fresh, tasty, and reasonably priced.

==========

Saturday, July 23, 2005, a little before 7 PM (still Rochester time)
---
We boarded our plane, an Airbus 330 with slightly wider seats than we had for our 2001 choir tour.  As a result, the long flight was a bit more comfortable for us, although not quite comfortable enough for most of us to get a good night's sleep.

A few highlights of the flight:

o Some of us spent our waiting time reading and chatting.
  [photo:waiting room]

o Others toasted the beginning of the trip.
  [photo:ladies in the airport restaurant]

o Boarding the plane: Is this my seat?
  [photo:boarding the plane]

o Cognitive dissonance:  watching the images of a rock video on the movie screen while a piano concerto sounded through the earphones.
  [photo:Switch video]

==========

Sunday, July 24, 2005, 7:30 AM London time
---
We arrived in London, collected our luggage, and were met by two guides who gave us directions to the restrooms and then escorted us to exchange our London transit vouchers for the 7-day travel cards we will use for sightseeing this week.

o Arrival in London.  Most of us haven't gotten any sleep since yesterday morning.
  [photo:sitting on suitcases]

Because check-in time for our London hotel wasn't until 2:00 PM, we spent the morning in Windsor, touring the castle, exploring the town, and lunching at one or another of the shops in Windsor Royal Station before boarding the coaches again for the ride into London.

o Windsor Castle
  [photo:Windsor in the rain]

==========

Sunday evening
---
Our London hotel, the Crowne Plaza - City Centre, is wonderful.  The rooms are pleasant, the beds comfortable, the staff is courteous and extremely helpful, and the breakfast buffet is available from 6:30 until 10:30 AM.  Bliss!

After unpacking our suitcases and resting for a little while, the singers piled back onto the coach with our arms loaded with choir robes and music for the short trip to St. Paul's.  We rehearsed for a bit more than an hour, and then were on our own for dinner and evening activities.  Some people walked around the neighborhood or travelled by bus or tube to find restaurants that were open on a Sunday night.  Others of us picked up sandwiches, salads and cheese at Marks & Spencer and ate quick meals in our rooms before surrendering to exhaustion.  Almost everyone made it an early night, to prepare for singing our first St. Paul's Evensong tomorrow.

Night, all!

Trip Prep: The Heavy-Laden Traveler

I swore that this time I was going to travel light.  Hah!  Oh, I cut down the amount of clothes.  Sure.  For a two-week tour, I'm only taking:
   1 dress
   1 choir robe & tabard
   1 set of concert attire (wrinkle-free dress pants and tunic)
   4 sets of light-weight summer pants & tops for sightseeing
   5 days worth of underwear
   2 pairs of shoes (dress & walking)
   a sweater
   a light waterproof jacket
   a broad-brimmed hat for walks on sunny days

That's not much.  So what's taking up all the room in my suitcase?

    ---
   STUFF!
    ---

The rest of the space in my suitcase is filled with:

o  Plane STUFF:
   ~ a couple of paperback books for each transatlantic flight
   ~ crossword puzzle books
   ~ all the required tickets, documents and ID

o  Music STUFF:
   ~ 2 binders full of music (mine plus a spare set)
   ~ a small portable keyboard, batteries, and charger
   ~ portable CD player & CDs

o  Old lady STUFF:
   ~ Medications (We were advised to take only the original bottles containing the prescription labels. Most of my meds are ordered in 90-day batches, so those bottle are big.)
   ~ Folding cane
   ~ Braces for knee and ankle --- the joints that blow up like balloons after a long walk

o  Sightseeing STUFF:
   ~ maps of London, Cambridge, York, Edinburgh
   ~ guidebook for London with good walking tours
   ~ printouts of thing I want to see in each city, with hours, admission prices, contact information
   ~ camera (more about camera STUFF later)
   ~ water bottle
   ~ folding umbrella
   ~ Sunscreen and bug spray
   ~ Backpack (will double as my carry-on baggage on the plane)

o  Communications STUFF:
   ~ My regular cell phone for the Rochester/Toronto portion at the beginning and end of the trip
   ~ A rented GSM phone for the UK
   ~ Chargers for both phones (different voltages and connectors)
   ~ My laptop computer with all of it's gear (more about the computer STUFF later)

See?  Waaay too much STUFF.  Gotta do something about it before we leave on Saturday!

Kat Nagel
katnagel@rochester.rr.com

New Beginnings

I've meant to start a blog for quite a while, but couldn't decide on an appropriate focus.  Now, I have it.

Music has been part of my life for longer than I can remember.  My mother sang to me before I was born, and went to concerts while she was pregnant because somebody told her it was a good way to give her unborn child a love of music.  I'm not convinced the theory is valid, but the technique seems to have worked.  I've been singing in church choirs since I was five and participating in school, community and professional choruses at every opportunity.

Fair warning:  For the next few weeks, Endless Song will likely be focused exclusively on the upcoming UK tour of the Third Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir.

One of my freelance activities --- the one my husband refers to as my 'God gig' --- is working as a section leader and occasional soloist with this superb choir.  We will be serving as Visiting-Choir-in-Residence at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, singing the daily Evensong services from Monday, July 25, through Saturday, July 30, 2005.  We'll also be singing an 11:00 AM concert in the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral (Thursday, July 28), sightseeing in Cambridge, enjoying a choral workshop with composer and conductor Andrew Carter in York, and singing a noon concert in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh (August 4).

I hope to have articles for you on the music we're singing, the places we see, and any adventures we have along the way.  I'm not sure whether I'll be able to arrange for daily Internet access to post my articles, but I will be keeping a journal and will post as often as I can.  Since I (along with several other choir members) plan to take my digital camera along, I'll also be posting photographs whenever possible.

Now, I'm off to rehearsal.

Kat Nagel,
katnagel@rochester.rr.com