31/12/06 - Day 4

What a day! Commenced with Matins at 10am (rehearsed from 8.30am-9.40am). It isn't a service we normally do at Christ Church, so we had a little bit of liturgical learning to do beforehand. The setting was Howells' Collegium Regale, which I thought sounded stunning when accompanied with that organ, and in that acoustic. We then performed Choral Eucharist at 11.15am, followed by a *yes, again* pub lunch, kindly bought for all singers by Fr. Graeme, then returned to the Abbey to rehearse for Evensong. Returning to our digs for a change of clothes, Sean and I then went back to the Abbey for a private party in Fr. Graeme's flat, which is located within a stone's throw of the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and Westminster Bridge. We emerged for the fireworks at midnight, and I must state that I felt some sort of gruesome privileged joy at watching the boistrous seething crowd behind the barricades, held back by police, while we gaily tripped about on the lawns beside the Abbey, a holier-than-thou lot, with an unimpeded view of the fireworks spectacular. It is believed that Sam Blanch was heard to proclaim "let them eat cake!" They really were spectacular too! We made our way home by tube at around 2am, and had absolutely no trouble getting to our destination. A far cry from a New Year's Eve in Sydney where everyone is stuffed like sardines into train carriages for the journey home.