England, Part Two (A Short One)

I am having an early Spring Break.
Sam took all of our boys to Moab for Jeep Safari Weekend.
It has been just me and the girls here at home.
Shianne made the brilliant observation this morning that "our house smells so much better," and Mikayla marveled that we still had cold cereal left.

This post is going to be a rather short one, since I am basking in the luxury of a testosterone-free house.

We are still on the first day we spent in England.
This whole next part, I was the only Wadley present.
Sam and the kids haven't even seen these pictures.
Mike and Heidi drove me into Ely, the neighboring shire, so I could take some photos.
The kids were totally engrossed in the Xbox, and Sam took a nap.

Our first stop was Ely Cathedral. (A. D. 673)

You wanna go inside?
Here are the doors:

Rut-roh. Looks like it is closed? The doors are shut...
And then, all of a sudden Mike disappears.
Right into thin air! He was standing right by us, and then POOF! Gone.
As if he were a character in a Harry Potter movie!

Ahhh, I get it.
A mini-door inside a door.
Heidi will demonstrate:

Clever Brits!
Here is the Cathedral inside:

I loved the colorful ceilings.

In the entryway, on the main wall there is a sculpture called "The Way of Life" by Jonathan Clarke.

Next up in Ely was the King's School.
It was close to the Cathedral, within walking distance.
On the way over:

The King's School is a private junior school.
This is junior school, people.
Kids 3-13.
Here is what I found on the 'net.

King's School Ely, Junior School, Ely is an independent school for boys and girls aged from 3 to 13. Takes boarders.

Local authority: Cambridgeshire

Pupils: 509

Religion: Church of England

Fees: Day £7,908 - £12,192; Boarding £17,817 - £18,804 pa

Just for reference:

1 British pound=  $1.58

So you can 1.5x that tuition. For your THREE YEAR OLD.

However, those kids are very well taken care of.

I wonder if they realize the history in the buildings they study in?

They had a whole building dedicated to music.

One for theater arts.

They had their own private school boat harbor.

See the school ducks?

I was fascinated by the fact that they had their own PONIES.

No kidding.

Private school ponies.

I was obsessed with the grazing pony.

Grazing Pony on English countryside, with Castle, by Shaunte Wadley

I took a butt-ton of photos. 

Horizontal Pony

Vertical Pony

Pony from another angle

Might be over-kill, but you can't tell me that it is not pretty!

Looks like a gosh darn painting!

And the lighting was gorgeous.

But...Internets, this was not my "money-shot" of the afternoon we spent in Ely.

My "money-shot" happened as we were driving in the car, on the way back to the house, and like an old western gunslinger, I shot from the window of the car- a photography quick-draw, and got THIS:

If you could just give me a pull into town...(Napoleon Dynamite reference)

That is what I loved about England. 

There is something awe-inspiring everywhere you look.

Next up- LONDON.