Chichester, Arundel, Rye: There and back again

So Chichester was our last cathedral engagement of the trip. We did an actual mass there instead of just Evensong like we'd done all the other places, so there was a bit more music and a bit more rehearsing to be done. It was actually a little luxurious at Chichester to just spend more than 24 hours in one place and not have any sightseeing to do that day, and to have more than just one hurried rehearsal before the performance. We were also staying in an actual HOTEL, with real amenties, even though I ended up rooming with a woman who made it clear she was not too pleased at being paired up with a dude. The performance came off rather well, as the recordings will attest. It's a little bit of a shame that the town of Chichester didn't have much to offer, since we actually had time to relax and see it at a leisurely pace, but I think we were all over the charm of cathedral towns by that point anyway. There was an amazing Indian place that I missed, apparently, as everyone went there the first night while I was enjoying some time away from the group, although I did meet up for drinks later at this weird bar that was built in what appeared to be a small church bulit in the same style as the cathedral (all stone and gothic-y). The last night we were there, we went to this bar for dinner that turned out to be the place all the 20-year-olds in town come to party, and we saw a guy get literally dragged out of the place by security at one point. Lovely. Anyway, evening came, and morning followed: the ninth day.

At last we were on our way to Rye, but first, a stop off in the castle town of Arundel. Arundel castle has been the home of the Dukes of Norfolk for the last several centuries, and is still home to the current duke today (unbelievably!). The medieval castle keep was fascinating, offering some dramatic views of the grounds and some insight on the early days of the norman part of the castle. The main part was a lot like Windsor - full of gaudy priceless antiques that didn't really interest me much, but there was an astounding library that contained orignal copies of Shakespeare and the like. I hurried through the castle and spent most of my time just enjoying the grounds. They have a large expanse of gardens that were quite peaceful and needed by this point in a long group trip. We also saw the duke's private chapel inside the town's Anglican cathedral, which is behind a screen and sectioned off, where Roman Catholic services are held for the duke's family (apparently the dukes of Norfolk have always been the catholic holdouts, whereas all the others belong to the Church of England). It was kind of odd - you could see the chapel from the Anglican side of the church, but you could only enter it through the grounds of the castle. It was kind of like they were trying to do some sort of "you don't see this chapel here" Jedi mind trick.

Finally we arrived in Rye, home of our sister church in England. We were greeted by a throng of host families, which we would be staying with, along with the town crier, in period costume, the mayor, rector of the church, and the photographer from the local paper. Apparently in a town of 4,000, we were a big deal! After the town crier made a proclamation in our honor (complete with Oye! Oye! Oye!s), we were whisked away to our home stays. Me and the two bass section leaders (whom I stayed with in London) were assigned to this really cool single guy who owned a duplex about a 5 minutes' walk from the station (to be fair, everything was really a 5 minutes' walk from the station, the whole town is only about 10 minutes' walk end to end). He was really worldly, having lived in Africa & Indonesia, and had lots of stories to tell. I think we had the best host our of the group, by far (and the youngest. I would have said he's probably in his 50s, whereas the average age of the other parishoners was approximately 107). He fixed us a great dinner, and then took us out to a local pub, whereas most of the other people in our group were in bed by 9:30. Not bad!

The next day, we did our Sunday morning service at the Church of St. Mary's, Rye, England. This was definitely a little closer to our usual Sunday services, in terms of the music, size of the congregation, and acoustically as well. The only difference was that we were singing in a 905-year-old church instead of a 100-year-old one. After church we got a tour of the old town hall and learned a little of the history of Rye, and then we were treated to a church lunch in the garden of one of the parishioners, a beautiful, huge bit of lush green garden you would have never known was there behind the houses and storefronts on the cramped cobblestone streets. After lunch, our host took us up into the church tower, which was fascinating and full of tight spaces to squeeze through. We saw the 8 massive bells and even were standing there when they struck the hour (which nearly caused me to crap my pants). The view from the top was just gorgeous - row after row of preserved houses, surrounded by green pastures as far as the eye could see. You just don't ever see anything like that on this continent, I tells ya.

Sunday evening was our final Evensong, again at St. Mary's. A last minute change in repetoire meant I got to do the solo from Salisbury again, and we really packed the place. The choirmaster told us afterwards that someone came up to him afterwards and said that they had relatives who heard us in Salisbury, and urged her to come here us in Rye because we were so good! Quite a compliment, considering the vast number of really amazing choirs from all over the world that pass through Salisbury and the other renowned cathedrals we sang at. We had a big, final dinner at a nearby inn to close the trip, where many toasts and awards for the kiddies were given out, and then we were off the next morning at 6am for home!

And here I am, back in Queens, hating the weather (from a cool, overcast 65, to a sticky 86 in one day), but glad to be back. And I think Nate and Ani and Titi (who is licking my hand right now, which is rough and unpleasant, but cute) are glad to have me back. Overall, I think the trip went spectacularly, and there's even talk of doing another one in three years (I think I might be ready again by then). I'm glad that I got a chance to go, not only to sing in some of the most amazing spaces in the world, but to get to know some of these people that I work with every week a little better. I think I truly feel like part of the group now, not just the hired help, and it was a good affirmation that singing is something I need to keep in my life, even if it's not my main focus. I hope you all get a chance to visit England someday, and if you do, don't spend it all in London. London is great, but to really experience the color of the country, you have to get out to some of these little daytrip locations, where the pace is slower and things are still done the way they've been done for the last thousand years or so. I think that's the thing I take away more than anything when I go overseas - the layers upond layers upon layers of history that have passed on the European continent that we just don't have here. Here, something that's 100 year old is ancient; over there, it's not really old until it's at least 500 or so. I can't tell you how many times a guide would point out "modern" features added in the 19th century to an 11th century building and just be astounded by that fact.

Thus end my story. Go in peace.