Salisbury Cathedral

I decided to post some more detailed stories about last weekend's trip, so if the recap and pictures bored you, so will the following few posts. It might take me a few days to get through each thing but as I have been assured that I have at least one reader out there, I figured I would give it a go.

Our first stop last weekend, after getting the car and orienting ourselves to the left side of the road, was Salisbury. Salisbury was a cute little town that was more or less on the way to Stonehenge. It was our first cathedral of our trip and neither of us were sure how much of interest it would be. We were surprised to find that they were having an open house of sorts, and in addition to that the choir was having an open rehearsal.

Walking into the cathedral we were met with breathtaking arches and columns. I wondered who designed such a marvel, and Mark said simply "the best". The entrance was formed with geometric shapes that also framed the stained glass windows, choir seats, and other areas of the cathedral (my Catholic friends would know the proper names.)

Mixed in with old tombs and statues was this modern fountain. Its stillness was striking compared to the bustle of the tourists roaming through the cathedral. Each edge had a different verse that related to different water themes. I love how you can see the stained glass in its reflection.

Depsite all the beauty, there were some terrifying things in the cathedral too. Did you know I am absolutely terrified of cherubs? And they are all over the place here! As proof that they are scary, here is this picture. Take note of the naked cherubs holding the skulls. I challenge anyone to try and tell me it isn't at least a little creepy. Luckily I was so tired I didn't have nightmares.

After walking around and admiring the open areas of the cathedral, we stopped to watch some of the choir's rehearsal. We couldn't imagine rehearsing in front of a huge crowd of tourists (though we certainly know what it feels like to perform for them!) but the choir seemed completely at ease. Please forgive the video quality, as it is one of the first videos ever taken with our new camera. Also people kept walking in front of us as they thought we were taking a snapshot and not a video. In the video, the conductor (Cantor?) is clearly rehearsing the entrance of a certain part of a song. Even to our very trained ears, it sounded perfect to us. Unfortunately the video is not a good capture of what we heard, so we'll try to get a better one at the next performance we go to. 

Regardless of faith or religion, the music was soul stirring. It seemed to come from the walls themselves, or possibly even our own hearts. I could have sat and listened all afternoon. Hearing the evening song performances at more abbey's and cathedrals moved up on our priority list after hearing the Salisbury Cathedral's choir. For any musician or music lover, hearing a choir in an abbey or cathedral should be on the top of your to do list on your next trip to Europe. 

That's all for now! It might not be until next week that I get to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle but  eventually the stories will get told. For now I have to continue my job applications and get ready to catch a train to York. That's the original York, by the way, not the new one.