Sleepy Ely, United Kingdom, 11th Mar 2007

The imposing Ely Cathedral in the background, ponies and rams grazing in the foreground. Classic small-town landscape. The octagonal tower you see on the right hand side is what differentiates Ely Cathedral from its counterparts in the rest of the country, and gives it the appearance of an ancient keep casting its grim shadow on the surrounding countryside.

Sun and stained glass combine to vivify the interior of God's House.

Suddenly it felt like I was in Spain all over again.

The splendour of these cathedrals is really quite astounding. One must not forget the sweat and blood of the many who laboured to this end. I don't fancy the idea of having so much money converted into gold and jewel when bread and milk were more needful.

But I might be taking it out of context. Religion and politics went hand in hand in those days, and cathedral-building might constitute some form of community involvement projects for the whole town, and vital both to its cohesion and its economic viability.

The house of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of all of England for a time. If you haven't heard of him before, he went into the record books as the person who lobbed the King's head off during the English Civil War in the seventeenth century.

The River Ouse.

Jie Chao and Pui Man (the two are the ones placing their orders in the picture, the former on the left, the latter on the right) very kindly treated me to ice-cream , which was more cream than ice. Still, it was very good.

Crows roosting.