h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I spent last weekend in the UK and was with my mother, I didn't spend much time on the computer and didn't manage to write a journal. The days leading up to it were a nightmare at work and at home; not only was I preparing to go away for the weekend and Advent was due to start, but several colleagues had been ill or on holiday for the past few weeks and the sluice gates of work were beginning to break - we were undermined. Instead of being able to get on with the usual daily jobs of order processing and answering queries, I was translating, making spreadsheets and trying to sort out how to deal with the difficult and out-of-the-ordinary problems in a non-existent system.

The first night at home with Mum was pretty bad as I still had a headache and was totally stressed, but the Saturdayness and the leisurely lifestyle of a 96-year-old soon slowed me down and I got some rest and had a good night.

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Almost a WOW!

The indescribably moving sight of Ely Cathedral when you come round that corner was somewhat marred by the fact that we were driving there in the dark, and, probably due to economy measures, only a part of the Cathedral was lit up (the Octagon).

We had come for a choral concert by a high-class chamber choir. They had held a competition for composition of Advent works and these were the main parts of the concert. The new works were quite beautiful, and the others were various versions of Advent texts (veni Emanuel, Rorate Coeli, etc), some well-known, some incorporating the old Advent hymns (Lo, he comes with clouds descending, O come , o come Emanuel, etc.) Even if the music hadn't been good, who can complain about sitting in Ely Cathedral for a while, despite its being a wet November evening outside. Even after 1300 years, it is well impressive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_Cathedral

I learned today that the Cathedral here in Speyer is no longer allowed to have special Christmas illuminations because that is not in accordance with its UNESCO world heritage status. I was surprised to note that Ely Cathedral is not a Unesco site, despite being older and infinitely more impressive.

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Small world, eh!? I got on the plane to fly to Stansted and was greeted by a familiar face. It was a work experience student who used to work in our office. His sister works here, too. We lost sight of each other until after passport control in Stansted, and then had a giggle and took a selfie to send back to the office. When I got to the office this morning, they thought it was a lark, too. Especially as he was worried I had taken a day off WOL and they had gone along with that, acting surprised to hear that I was leaving the country.

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Eldest son and family have taken a log cabin in Yosemite for the Thanksgiving weekend. It must have been pretty cold there!

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Over the past 5 days I thought of loads of things to write about but all the others have slipped my mind.

"I learned today that the Cathedral here in Speyer is no longer allowed to have special Christmas illuminations because that is not in accordance with its UNESCO world heritage status." [TC]

What the bell!!

That sounds like a good reason for *not* wanting to be a world heritage site.

Plus, some of those old churches and cathedrals just plain look better with the some green branches and red ribbons and holly placed around the sides and inside. When I think of heritage, I imagine what people were accustomed to doing in centuries gone by. Discontinuing things like seasonal decorations seems to destroy the whole concept of "heritage."

[Amy P]

Lincoln cathedral has gone in for changing floodlights this year. Very impressive as it's on top of a hill and you can see it from so far away.

With Christian houses of worship, seasonal decorations are part of the reason why people have used them over the centuries. They aren't just hunks of architecture. They were put there for a reason and a function. Forbidding people from respecting their historical function makes a mockery of preservation, I think.

I think that too. Our local village church holds a Christmas tree festival in advent. Different organisations like the Scouts and the WI decorate competitively. A new thing, since 2000 (the church goes back to Anglo Saxon times) but already much loved.

I asked the Precentor of Ely
Would my pet be admitted. "Not really;
On dogs there's a bar,
But photographers are
Very welcome to snap away freely."