So, my alarm didn't go off this morning, so I woke up at 8:00 rather than my originally intended 7:00. This completely stuffed up the chances of me taking a hot shower. By the time I looked decent enough to venture out of the dorm room, the breakfast nook had already closed, which possibly may have explained my irritable temperament today. Because the weather started out as a little dodgy this morning, I decided to check out the Tower of London and St. Paul's Cathedral. The train journey was a long one, which wasn't helped by the fact that some of the tube stations had flooded from the night before. When I arrived at my stop, I was quite surprised to see that the tower was not actually a tower, but it was rather a fort. I was met at the gate by an apparently authentic beefeater (the little men that wear the funny costumes and hats,) and followed him around on a guided tour. Apparently Humpty Dumpty is based upon some King or Duke or another that was drawn and quartered, well it's no wonder that he "couldn't be put back together again" We learned about a variety of executions and unpleasantries throughout the entire duration of the tour. I managed to have a look at the Crown Jewels when they were not surrounded by a throng of tourists, which was nice because I got to have a good look at them. The tower was begining to get really crowded after that point, so I made my way to the pier to snap a few photos of the Tower Bridge, which is far more impressive than it's London counterpart. I also took a walk past the Belfast, but had no desifre to further investigate it. I ran away from some crazy lady in the tube station, as I made my way to St. Paul's, she was shrieking the lyrics to what sounded like a Whitesnake song down the escalator. St. Paul's is actually far more aesthetically appealing than Westminster Abbey, and the inside is exceptionally ornate. Normally, I am not one for churches, as I had enough to last me a lifetime when I was last in Spain. This one however was truly exceptional. Like most other religious buildings, I wasn't able to take photographs, which made me stay a couple of hours to appreciate what I was seeing. Ever detail was fantastic, and the dome was unrivaled by anything I have as of yet seen, although I am sure Rome will have plenty of offer in that regard. I met some very nice people in the church that pointed out several oddities, such as some paganistic influences. Apparently, if you died in battle, you could have a lion present on your memorial sculpture, and the curators would joke that one naval captain in paticular looked rather sea sick. The poor thing actually did. I also got to see some pieces of Solomon's temple, and what was most striking was to touch a stone that Jesus alledgedly walked on. To finish off my day at the church, I embarked on a 165 stair climb to the top of the dome, which was fantastic. On the way home I stopped off at Covent Gardens, but didn't see anything eye catching that I wanted to purchase, other than a shampoo which was labeled "I give good head." So, later on Corrine and I went out the Leichester Square and Soho. Oh my, that was an adventure. So we began by looking at the theaters where the premires were a few nights ago, including Hot Fuzz, the one that Ros' daughter worked on. We were going to go to a pub for supper, but they were all full, so we went out to a Scottish steakhouse. After that we went around Soho and played DDR, which I felt like a total tool at; but ended up winning. We finished off the night by having a walk through the sex district, which had more gay clubs and sex shops then I would care to remember. We bought some chocolates from a place where you could get cake toppers with two men on it, which was a good laugh. Dinner, dancing, chocolate, and flowers; a good Valentine's day indeed.

P.S. Thank you mommy, popo, and gramma for the flowers, they were a really nice surprise.

Cheers!

Allison