Taking a punt on the gravity of Evensong

We’ve become evensong junkies. Today we actually organised our afternoon around it so there’s really no denying it.

After some more calls and messages home this morning, we packed up and emerged into a beautiful morning in York. It was a shame that we would spend the next few hours driving to Cambridge, but that’s just the luck of the draw.
Arriving at our accommodation around 1.30pm, we filled in half an hour buying some groceries and lunch to return at 2.15 to activate the self checkin process which wasn’t available until then.
We unpacked, recaffeinated and then caught the bus into the Cambridge university area.
Once again, our downloaded audio guide allowed us to tour around the points of interest at our own pace.
Observing the place where Francis Crick is memorialised for solving the mysteries of the DNA double helix and seeing where Sir Isaac Newton lived, worked and wrote his theses on mathematics and philosophy was especially interesting. The apple tree outside his window was not where he had the lightbulb moment about gravity- it was at a country estate. However, some of THAT apple tree has been grafted on to this tree outside his window.
We continued following the audio guide, until it was time to head back to the Kings College Chapel for 5.30 evensong, which allowed us to see the majestic building and avoided having to pay for a tour tomorrow.
The organ playing was a little disappointing this time, but the singing by the male Kings Choir - much of it a Cappella - was amazing, as indeed is the architecture of the famed ‘fan’ ceiling.
As it was such a beautiful evening, we decided we should also do a punt ride on the river which runs through many of the colleges. We sat in the afternoon sun by the riverside and waited for our 6.45pm slot.
The punting experience was excellent- a far cry from our river cruise last night.
Our knowledgeable skipper (poler?) Ethan described all the relevant details of the colleges we passed such as where Steven Hawking lived and worked, the rooms where Prince Charles stayed when he studied here etc.

We walked back to our bus station in the rapidly cooling evening, bought some groceries for dinner at the local supermarket, and got back in the door at 8.45pm. Loss is now cooking up a storm as I finish this…..Read more