Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas Eve, the service of 9 Lessons and Carols is broadcast on BBC Radio and Televsion from King's College, Cambridge, a tradition that goes back some 80 years. The tradition has been extended to churches all around the world, who also have an annual service, following the pattern set by the original King's service. This year, since my friend Mark was visiting, it seemed a perfect excuse to make the trip to Cambridge together.

We set off from home on the 23rd at around 6pm and after a stop in Stoke on Trent to visit a friend, arrived in Cambridge at 12.30am. After a few circuits of Cambridge we finally found our Youth Hostel, and settled in for a luxurious 3 hour sleep.


By 4.45 we were back in the centre of town, and lining up outside the college with our comfy chairs and a much-needed blanket. It isn't possible to get tickets for the service - patience is all that's required, and plenty of it. When we arrived there were 3 others in the queue, and almost 15 people curled up in their sleeping bags, waiting for the doors to the college to open. By 9am the quota of 600 seats had already been reached, and people were being turned away.

Despite the cold and dreary weather, we had a great time queuing, singing Christmas Carols, being serenaded by the Choral Scholars, and nipping out of the queue occasionally for a coffee. It was also great fun to chat with others in the queue, especially our closest neighbours, who came from such far flung places as Salisbury, Japan, Australia and the USA. Whilst some of the foreign visitors had taken advantage of being in the UK at Christmas to attend the service, for others it was the reason to travel to the UK.

At 1.30 we were finally allowed into the chapel, where we listened to organ music for 90 minutes until the service started. Despite being at the front of the queue, we were still seated at the far end of the Chapel from the choir, since many of the seats are reserved for family of the choir, and other special people. Still, we were able to see the choir, unlike most of the congregation who were behind the choir screen. The service itself was magical, and the choir sang beautifully - both new music commissioned for the service, and many well known pieces which Mark and I knew from our own choirs.

After such as wonderful day, it was hard to leave Cambridge and make the long drive back up to Manchester. Despite our exhaustion, and a couple unexpected detours, we made it back home in time for a much needed cup of tea before we headed off back to church to sing at Midnight Mass.

9 Lessons and Carols, on the King's College website
More photos

Home for Christmas

Finally the end of the year has come, and it's time to go home for Christmas! We're having a larger gathering than normal this year - Ian will be with us as usual, my friend Mark is joining us from Holland and Jen is coming home from Shetland with her friend Klaudia. Of course, Granny will also be with us for Christmas Day itself.

Zwei Tage in München

On the 7th and 8th December we had a two day workshop in Munich - the first time we managed to get (almost) all member of the software development team together, since the technical team is based in The Hague, and the specification team in Munich. The visit was very profitable, and we covered a lot of ground and answered many open questions.

Of course, a fundamental part of the workshop was also to get to know each other, so on Thursday night we went into the Marienplatz in the centre of Munich to see the Christmas Market (and of course, sample some Gluhwein) before going out to dinner. We had a very enjoyable evening, and sampled much of the local Weissbier, but perhaps the most useful lesson I learnt during the whole trip was that drinking until 2.30am is not perhaps the smartest of moves when you're due to give a presentation at 9am the next morning.

Sinterklaas

After 5 years in Holland, this year I celebrated Sinterklaas for the first time, with my friend Fiona and her family. Sinterklaas is a traditional Dutch celebration which takes place each year on the evening of the 5th December. According to tradition, we each drew a name out of a hat, and bought a surpise present for that person. The presents are accompanied by a poem - in Dutch of course - which was quite a challenge for me - both to write, and also to read aloud.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

Having thought for a long time that gymnastics was something you could only do as a kid, I've joined the Sparta Gym Club in Delft. Despite the muscle ache, bruises and embarrassment at my own ungainlyness, I'm making some progress and more importantly, really enjoying both the gymnastics and the social aspect.

Maybe old dogs can learn new tricks after all.

Photex 2006

The EPO Photo Club's annual photo exhibition, Photex, is opening on the 20th November, and will include 4 photographs from the trip I made to South Africa in June 2006.

GCMR18 - Yorkshire Dales, UK

Cache Description

We found this cache on an Easter Monday day out, before I flew back to The Netherlands in the evening. It was a blustery day, and we had a very enjoyable walk to get to the cache.



Dad found the cache and, reading the log, I was amused to see that the first person to find the cache was also called Tasha, and had found the cache on my birthday. A nice coincidence!