"Climbing up on Salisbury Hill"

Well, I didn't do a Peter Gabriel and climb Salisbury Hill, but I did go to the cathedral! The arts just jump out at you in the most surprising places. I headed to Salisbury Cathedral, because I'd always wanted to see it after reading Edward Rutherfurd's book, "Sarum" years ago. It is renowned, not only for the architecture, which is amazingly Gothic, but for it's beautiful leadlight windows, that are the brightest azure blue I have ever seen. It really is a spectacular building and it never ceases to amaze me the skill and ingenuity of those craftsmen who built the great cathedrals. The amount of incredible detail in every small component of the internal and external structure is amazing enough, but the cathedral is filled with beautiful sculptures, paintings, mosaics and reliquaries, all works of art in their own right.

In the courtyard, there was an amazing installation (the arts again!) among the graves (some of which were hundreds of years old) which incorporated prose written on slate pieces that had been broken and made into a path that wove it's way around the grave markers and there was a continuous recording of different voices reading the prose and poetry accompanied by church bells and music, piped through tiny hidden speakers within the quadrangle. Walking around among the graves, the voices seemed to follow you and every few minutes the bells would ring and some gently music would segue into the next reading. Such a simple concept and so powerful. People sat among the graves, or gently ambled around, quietly contemplating the lives that had been lived by the people now buried under their feet.

I also find it somewhat comforting to keep stumbling across examples of dark age and medieval graffiti.......it seems that even the dark ages and medieval times "kids will be kids" and some 'ruffians' felt the need to carve their names on memorials, statues and effigies in order to make their mark (so to speak) on history along with the craftsmen. So nothing much has changed!

Interestingly I yet again caught "Even song" and observed a man who wasn't so keen on being there, but had been dragged there by his female companion, who was quite enthusiastic about singing along with the choir. He let it be known loud and clear that he wasn't happy (in very colorful language) and was promptly evicted by one of the church officials, at which point I also departed as I was about to get a fit of the giggles, and I didn't want the humiliation of being evicted as well!