A visit from a Monk

My brother, Boniface Hicks, a Benedictine Monk (hard to miss his vocation when you see his getup) came to visit us for a few days in early December. He was at the halfway point of a trip to India to give a conference paper (in Hyderabad) and visit and work with Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity, in Kolkata (a.k.a., Calcutta). We were all very pleased to receive our first visitor from the States, and we very certainly hope he is the first of many!

The visit was just a couple of days, but fun-filled. Kim and I spent a half day with Boniface wandering around Cambridge, and visiting some of the historic places. We visited Trinity College which boasts many famous alumni. The picture to the left is the ante-chapel of the Trinity Chapel, and it contains statues of many famous "Trinitarians," including Newton, Francis Bacon, and Lord Byron.

We also visited King's College chapel (again), but this time had our cameras with us! The stained glass windows are just beautiful, particularly when the sun outside reflects the colors into the chapel interior.

We also took the occasion of a visiting Benedictine as an opportunity to visit St. Benedict's Church (a.k.a., St. Bene't's), the oldest building in Cambridge, dating from 1025, in Saxon times. It's modest, and nestled away off of King's Parade.

No visit is complete, of course, without a trip to the pub! We went to our family favorite, the Salisbury Arms. Many pubs in Cambridge are gastro-pubs, which is to say they try to cook fancy food. The Salisbury Arms sticks to traditional fare, which is more appealing to the youngsters -- fish 'n chips all around! And nothing goes so well with chips as "brown sauce" (more properly HP Sauce). It reminds me of the McDonalds' Bar-B-Que sauce that they serve with their chicken nuggets.

The kids were very glad to see their Uncle and sorry to see him go. Christmas was on full display in Cambridge during the visit. Soon it shall be here!