Once again, a long travel day has led to spectacular results.
Our ten hour British Airways international flight from Mumbai to London’s Heathrow proved uneventful as did our two-and-one-half hour National Express bus trip out to Cambridge. We arrived by noon December 23rd at our accommodations on the outskirts of the village, providing an afternoon to wander around, getting our bearings, before retiring early to catch up on our sleep a bit.
Christmas Eve morning we got up easily enough - the five-and-one-half-hour time difference with India helped a lot in that respect – and had plenty of time for a hasty breakfast before leaving to make our way to Kings College Chapel. Our scheduled taxi failed to appear, however, so Heidi had to scramble down the street to scare up an alternative – which she did easily enough: we arrived at the queue just shortly before 7:00 a.m.
We weren’t exactly sure what etiquette required under the circumstances but lucked out when two local residents, Joanna and Graham, standing next to us in line, graciously took us under their wings. The day went very smoothly as a result.
As it turns out, those in line are allowed into the Chapel courtyard beginning at 7:00 a.m., late comers accommodated until church capacity (around 650 or so) is reached – which this year seemed to take until around 10:00 a.m., perhaps later.
The first few folks in the queue had actually turned up the day before. Heidi talked with one guy, fifth in line, who had attended the service some fifteen times previously; he’d camped out overnight in order to secure one of the coveted spots in the chapel choir area!
We were just outside that limit, but our early arrival did guarantee us admission. We ended up seated on the aisle a column or two back from the altar screen, allowing a (restricted) view of the choir and those participating in the service.
Once inside the courtyard, with pamphlet in hand describing what to expect while waiting, those in line are allowed to wander off to the loo, to purchase coffee and sandwiches at the snack bar, even to leave altogether as long as one returned before 1:30 p.m. when, in groups of thirty or so, we were allowed into the church.
Joanna was there to hold a spot for her mother, who had never attended before and who had prevailed on Joanna to go this year. Actually Graham was the one initially occupying her slot. He had injured his leg and had a cold to boot but had been recruited, along with another friend and two teenagers, to take turns holding the coveted spot in line. Joanna proved super organized: two folding chairs, ample snacks, reading material – all were supplied out of her large pink plastic bag!
I think Heidi and I ended up spending more time seated then did Joanna or her mother or any of the others who appeared over the course of the morning and early afternoon. The time went quickly enough as a result.
All up and down the line, folks settled in for the duration. Some played poker. There was a spirited Scrabble game going on among one gathering; another group of Chinese students squatted in a circle playing cards. We shared nearby space with a young Korean doctor and a family of four, trading stories about Christmases past and various holiday customs and traditions. We read a bit and walked around town, even stopping off to buy Boxing Day tickets to see “Jack and the Beanstalk”, a holiday pantomime playing locally here in Cambridge.
One group near the head of the line serenaded the rest of us mid-morning, as did the Senior Choristers themselves, who roamed up and down the line about an hour before the service began bedecked in Santa caps and singing secular songs of the season.
Even the weather cooperated: the temperature hovered around fifty degrees, and we even enjoyed some mid-day sunshine -- a great opportunity to photograph our surroundings!
The whole “queuing experience” proved relaxing, quite informal and rather enjoyable. Shortly before we went into the chapel, everyone packed up and left their gear piled up in a nearby covered portico – no checkroom needed, so security concerns, just a pile of stuff waiting to be picked up again once the service concluded.
Once inside the antechoir, we still had over an hour to wait. An extended organ prelude helped pass the time. Although the cloudy day precluded illumination of the stain glass windows surrounding us, the intricately detailed vaulted ceiling overhead was beautifully lit; and candles everywhere added to the overall beauty of the setting.
Dignitaries and others issued invitations to attend were ushered in as we waited, and there was a lot of last minute scurrying about in preparation. The overall atmosphere was one of great anticipation, however, as the congregation assembled, the Messiaen and Bach and Mendelshohn soared from the magnificent organ, and we read through our multipage program.
When the solo voice of the boy suprano (notified just seconds before that her had been chosen to open the service) echoed from the back of the chapel, "Once in Royal David's City...", everything came together - all the planning, the travel, the uncertainties, the waiting - to bring to reality one of our fondest dreams, attending the Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols at Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, England.
Wow! We did it! We really did it! We're really here! We're here! Wow!
The service itself was absolutely beautiful: magnificent choral music, Biblical text intoned with a British accent, an incredible - and very large - Ruben's painting depicting the Nativity behind the altar. Who could ask for anything more?
After it was all over, we walked up into the choir area to rake in more of the setting itself, then hurried off for a light supper at a local pub before heading back to Broad Lands Guest House - where we both promptly fell into an exhausted sleep (that Indian time frame not definitely working against any alternative).
As always, the perfect beginning to our Christmas celebration and, now, a memory to cherish forever after ...
