Rainy cemetery thoughts

Judas tree blossom and wild flowers in the English cemetery

The rain was falling steadily this morning when Jacqui and Graham arrived smiling and umbrella-less at the English cemetery, enthusing about 'this lovely place'. They had just come ashore from the Thomson Destiny having prearranged a visit to the cemetery: Graham works as a groundsman at the old Smollett estate, Cameron House (now a luxury hotel) on Loch Lomond, and is a local history enthusiast. Tobias Smollett is the cemetery's most famous resident. 
My visitors were enchanted by this unique site and, after a damp half hour or so, left satisfied at having finally been able to visit the Scottish writer's grave.
Afterwards, when my rather bedraggled visitors had left, I stood for a few minutes on the steps of St George's, listening to the lovely singing coming from inside the church where an Orthodox mass for the local Romanian community was taking place. I thought about all these layers of history, and reflected that on a Sunday morning a century and a half ago the congregation would instead have been made up of members of the British Anglican community for whom the church was originally built.
Feeling uplifted, and somehow very privileged, I dashed across the road to the shelter of Pasticceria Verdi for an espresso...