Revenge of the chocolate brick, a.k.a. How dessert turned into sightseeing

I know I said I was only going to update this blog like twice a week, but I just have so many things to say!!!  It'll probably drop off a bit after I come back from Scotland, though, so enjoy it while it lasts.

So last night I went to Evensong, which is the evening mass in the King's College Chapel where the choir sings.  IT WAS INCREDIBLE.  These boys have some of the most amazing voices I have ever heard, plus the acoustics in the chapel are really very good.  The service was about forty-five minutes long, and the majority of it was sung by the choir... major vocal stamina right there.  It was also cool to go to an Anglican service (it's the official church of England), though it's pretty similar to Catholicism; some of the prayers are worded slightly differently and there's no homily, but it's a lot of of the same general structures.  I did find it interesting, though, when the priest said "God save the Queen," only because I can imagine the uproar that would ensue in California if anyone dared cross the church-state separation.  At this point in time, it's probably more of a tradition than anything else, but it definitely struck my American consciousness as out-of-the-ordinary.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures (they don't allow photography because it's technically a religious service), so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Almost directly afterwards, I went to the first plenary lecture of the term; plenary lectures are optional lectures given in the Cambridge Debating Chamber by guest scholars and lecturers.  Last night's lecture was called "Why Cambridge is Unique," and I found it very interesting.  From the things I heard the speaker talking about, Cambridge is unlike any university in the U.S., and the most striking example of this (in my opinion) is the fact that the school is run democratically.  As an example, a few years back, an American tobacco mogul wanted to donate 2.5 million pounds to the university to fund a fellowship.  Naturally, the university was thrilled, but many students were opposed to the idea because they believed the school shouldn't accept money that was made by selling something that kills people.  Because Cambridge is a democratic school, they set up a formal debate and then put the issue to the vote.  In the end, the anti-tobacco people lost, and the university accepted the money for the fellowship.  The outcome, though, is unimportant; if the students had won the vote, the university would not have accepted that 2.5 million pounds.  Can you imagine any university in the U.S. doing that?!  I definitely can't.  It was a very cool lecture, but once again, no photography is allowed in the debating chamber, so sorry for the lack of pictures.

And now for the chocolate brick.  The chocolate brick was a dessert that I tried last night, and it was the chocolatiest thing I have ever eaten in my life.  It was soooo delicious... I call it a brick not because of its size (thank goodness), but because of its density.  It was actually a fairly small piece, but I was full for the rest of the evening after eating it.  However, I subsequently decided that a run was in order this morning so that I could mitigate a few of the calories... So I got up at 5:45 this morning and set off into the city.  I couldn't resist bringing my camera, though, and snapping a few pictures:

The last photo is the King's College Gatehouse, where I enter the college to get to my dorm.  Gorgeous, isn't it?  The whole college is beautiful (there will be a post on King's soon), as well as the city itself.  Alright, well, I have so much reading to do... I've already done two readings today and I still have three to go before 16:00.  Better get moving!!  I'm headed off to Edinburgh tomorrow morning, though, so I'm sure I will be posting again quite soon.  Cheers!!