The Spiritual Garden

It has been raining pretty heavily since my last post, but I think my umbrella is finally dried out enough to fold it back up and stick it back in my bag for the next episode. I am so thankful I brought a raincoat!
On Sunday, I was invited to accompany some students into the city for some "spiritual food", which I was really needing about now. When I'm on the European continent, I'm used to spending more time in cathedrals and churches, but here, most of the churches and chapels are connected to the colleges, and since it is nearing the time for finals, the colleges are closed to visitors, so you can't just waltz in and sit down or look around. All that was to say that we headed for vespers at King's College Chapel, open to the public everyday at a certain time. Just walking in and looking up was enough to take my breath away! The incredibly high vaulted, arched ceiling was stunning and the enormous stained glass windows running down the entire length of the chapel nearly overwhelmed me with their grandeur. The choir (consisting of both men & women) and clergy came in and sang Evensong for the day...I just closed my eyes and allowed the rich organ chords and echoing vocals to fill my spirit...it brought tears to my eyes when the chords swelled, then resolved into an incredible melting of sound. The seating was such that the center aisle is wide with the bench-style seats parallel the outer walls, facing each other and the center. An experience NOT to be missed.

Now, you get to hear about the garden! Yesterday, I visited the Cambridge Botanical Gardens...yep, in the rain again! But, even though it was raining, it was a truly lovely "sweetness to my soul" as the lilacs and peonies were in bloom, plus tulips and irises were to be found. Just being in the center of so much green was refreshing as there were many evergreens there and it smelled of Christmas! Some of the trees were ancient and have obviously been here for time plus time again. There was an herb garden with rosemary, mint, camomille, thyme, etc. and greenhouses with types of orchids I have never seen before! What a wonderful way to spend a drizzly day! With a nice warm bowl of Highland Vegetable soup (my guess is that it was called "Highland" due to the barley in it!) and a bacon & cheese "toastie" in my tummy, the day was complete!
Observations from the tele: boy, do they love their Quiz Programs and "Murder She Wrote" over here! You can find a MSW episode on most any time of the day or night!! I have enjoyed a few episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot & Miss Marple with my dinner some evenings! Also big are very OLD episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens and Frasier. What a hoot!
Well, friends (oh yeah, and "Friends" is popular here, too!), that's about it for now. We are in Cambridge for yet another 4 days, departing Sunday morning via coach for Bath. I hope that the weather clears enough for some of the students to go punting on the Cam, on the "Backs"...that is, the Cam River is located at the "back" of several of the colleges. So much I have learned here! To be continued...