I decided to wake up early on Friday morning and explore the area around my apartment by myself.  I have absolutely no sense of direction, and when I'm with a confident group, I tend to just follow the crowd.  I figured that a quick trek on my own would give me a better sense of the lay of the land.  :-)  So around 7:30, I took off and found my way to Victoria Station (this will quickly become a very important spot!).  I was surprised to discover that there are all sorts of shops and things inside of the railway station.  It's just like a miniature airport!   After that, I walked past the cathedral near our apartment (Westminster Cathedral), took a quick peak inside (WOW!), and noticed that a sacred men's a cappella concert was scheduled for later that night.  Then I went window shopping on Victoria Street.  But when I glanced inside the shop "Accessorize" and saw those strange bundles of ribbons, flowers, and feathers that women here wear in their hair, I had to go inside!  Most of them were 1/2 off, so I ended up buying one as a souvenir.

After my little adventure on my own, I returned to the apartment where the rest of my group was still waking up!  When Crystal, Nick, and Uven were finally dressed and ready, we dropped by the internet cafe (I finally figured out how to use the pay phones here after much drama and several calls to condescending operators, and was able to set up internet in my dorm room!!!) and found the pub where we would be having lunch later in the day with Erin (a former Rotary scholar) and Christine (a London representative).  It looked like a charming place, and it was very close to our dorms.

The luncheon was very nice.  Erin is currently living in London with her husband, but they'll be returning to America in two months.  She's loved being in England, and she had all sorts of wonderful tips for us. 

After battling some more internet issues on the home front, I decided to attend the men's choir concert at the University of Westminster.  I'm so glad I did; it was a truly unique and incredible experience.  The concert/services went from 5:00-6:00, and the musical numbers were interspersed with Biblical readings, recitations, and processions (complete with burning incense).  The choir consisted of about eight men, but they were all incredible singers and their voices filled the entire cathedral.  The cathedral itself is so vast (and so ornately decorated with elaborate mosaics, green marble columns, and golden gilding everywhere).  I couldn't get over how the voices echoed in that space!  The group sounded to me like the King Singers performing Gregorian chant.

Afterwards, Crystal and I decided to have a quick adventure before dinner, so Crystal took me on the tube for the first time.  At first, I couldn't get through the gates.  It was so frustrating until I realized that I had been trying to swipe my calling card--not my tube pass!  I felt a bit sheepish.  The tubes themselves were unbelievably crowded, hot, and stuffy.  When I stepped onto the first train, though, a kind gentleman offered me his seat.  How sweet!  

We ended  up at the Covent Garden station and wandered around the streets a bit.  I saw the Royal Opera House, the Lyceum Theater, and several other West End theaters, too.  Many people were dressed up, and one lady was sipping champagne from beneath a gigantic, Audrey-Hepburn-ish mound of pink feathers.  Magicians were doing tricks on the streets, and several people were painted as statues.  When people handed them money, they would perform, and then they would freeze again.  It was incredible!  One man really looked like he had been carved from bronze.

After making our way back on the tubes, Crystal and I cooked spaghetti for dinner and watched a silly British reality TV show.  The group decided to go to a pub around 11:00, but I was very tired and more interested in bed.  Unfortunately, any thoughts of sleep were interrupted when the fire alarms went off.  I sauntered unwilling into the hall and finally realized that this was not a drill!  I could smell smoke as hundreds of students rushed down eight flights of narrow, hazardous Victorian staircases.  The fire trucks pulled up minutes after we had all filed out into the cold.  Luckily, the firemen were able to put out the fire before it did too much damage, but just imagine what would've happened if all of my important documents, clothes, computer, etc. had burned!