Choir Trip 2025: Bristol Cathedral, July 20

It’s always a little harder to wake up on the second morning of tour, and today was a big one—with two services: the 10:00 a.m. Eucharist and Evensong at 3:30. Since the hotel is fully booked for Harbourfest (and there’s another visiting choir from the U.S.), we had to be up extra early to make sure we got breakfast before heading to rehearsal.

Like CCGP, Bristol Cathedral has an earlier service followed by a coffee hour—but unlike CCGP, theirs takes place in the Nave! We couldn’t help but laugh as people stood around sipping coffee and listening to us rehearse. A bit of an odd but charming setup.

The day was rainy, and we were definitely feeling the fatigue, so after Eucharist, we made a quick trip to our favorite local spot—Tesco—for sandwiches and snacks, then headed back to the hotel to rest and recharge. We were also well aware that dinner was at Za Za Bazaar, so we had to pace ourselves and not overdo it at lunch!

Za Za Bazaar is an epic buffet with just about every cuisine you can imagine—from American (yes, that means hamburgers and hot dogs) to Chinese, Indian, Italian, and more. It’s always a fun time and a bit of a tour tradition. In fact, we realized that it was exactly 11 years ago today that the boys’ choir first discovered Za Za, right here in Bristol!

Tomorrow we'll be up early and on the bus to London and St. Pauls!