Faro

     Greetings from Faro! Today was a travel day from Spain to Portugal, so we started the day on the bus. We stopped at a little restaurant/pit stop before actually crossing the border; as it turns out, they had both a swingset and a foosball table, so... Well, just look. 

    Anyway, after arriving at Faro we had a hot minute to grab some lunch and relax. Initially my plan was to grab food and then check out the pool; however, once I found out there was a restaurant at the pool I thought "uh... yes, please." A whole bunch of us ended up eating by the pool and then taking a nice hour-long dip before our rehearsal. Oh, and did I mention that the pool was on the roof? Check out this view!

 

     Later we went to the Cathedral we were singing at - this one was much smaller than the first few (though it was just as gorgeous). We spent some time warming up (and correcting some pitch issues. Don't worry, we fixed them) before heading out to dinner. 

     Dinner was great, but it took forever for the food to get to us, so for the first hour the choir was just munching on bread. So. Much. Bread. We half believed the entire meal would just be bread ("for your entree, toasted bread, and for desert, bread en flambé"). 

   Our actual desert was a cake for our choir president, Sam, who turned 22 today (or depending on when this post goes up, yesterday). We celebrated her birthday at midnight in Spain and then again tonight in Portugal. You know, casual. Happy Birthday Sam!!! 

     Back at the venue we had a fantastic concert; in fact, it was probably one of the best so far in our tour. It was also surprisingly emotional, so I can't wait to see what a mess some of us will be the day after tomorrow in Lisbon... It'll be great. We'll all cry and everything will be just fine. I'M NOT SAD, YOU'RE SAD!

     Once our late concert ended, several of us went up to the rooftop poolside bar to relax and enjoy the nice cool night in Faro. When everyone headed back in, I went exploring a bit with my roommate Jerry and a few other friends. We hunted for candy/ice cream in the city before settling down next to the Faro sign beside the harbor to spend some time looking at the stars (wow, look at us, such sensitive souls). If you're ever lost at sea, you'll probably want Jeff beside you, because he knows a good deal about constellations and stars. Probably not much about navigation or piloting a boat, though... Anyway, that's it for me! Hope you enjoy the other accounts of our tour!

- Tom Zhang

Tom Zhang is a member of the Class of 2017 who graduated with a double major in Theater and Music