The Weeks are Flying By

Let's see.  The last time I left you, I was the day right before the Packer game.  I guess I have to start this blog post on a sour note, due to the fact that they lost :'(.  We had it, and then, poof, it was all gone.  It sure was an experience being able to cheer on our home team all the way from London.  But it would have been even cooler for them to have made it to the Super bowl.  Oh well there's always next year.  Go Pack Go!

So let me catch you up on last week.  For my art and architecture class we got to visit the Queen's house which is located in Greenwich.  Although it was cold outside, we were able to capture some beautiful photographs of the building.  We spent a lot of time talking about the exterior façade and why Inigo Jones decided to make the choices he did, such as the columns.  For my Shakespeare class this week we read Hamlet.  I had already read this play previously in High School so it was pretty easy.  I actually really enjoy my Shakespeare class, even if we have to read a different play every week.

As for my internship I continued to help organize files, but now I am tasked with building their digital material library.  Such as I had to go and save different material textures so that they can use them when rendering images.  I continued to do that this week as well.  I also am building their CAD Block library.  For those of you who have never used CAD, I blocks are any simple object that can be imported into a drawing, such as furniture, plants, or people.  In addition to this I also had to search for PNG images, which are images that don't have a background, and save them.  Those will be used later on for when we use Photoshop.

This past weekend we went to the Portobello Market, which has a lot of antiques and collectables.  There was some really cool stuff there, but a lot of it was a bit pricey.  There was a beat boxer that was performing on the street there and anyone who knows me knows that I love beat boxing.  He was really good and of course I had to take a video.  The food there is also really good!  I got a Nutella crepe that had fresh strawberries in it and it was absolutely delicious.  For dinner I had Paella for the first time and I love it.  It was the first time I had prawns and mussels.  I for sure have found out that I like anything that is seafood.  There is so much to look at at this market and we didn't even walk all the way through.  I definitely want to go back and check it out again.

For my art and architecture class this week ,we went and visited St. Paul's Cathedral.  The cathedral is absolutely stunning and it was a lot larger than I expected!  We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside, but I didn't know that until I snapped a few in the beginning, oops.  As for my Shakespeare class we are reading Romeo & Juliet this week, which I have also read before, and its not really a favorite of mine.  Tomorrow we get to go see it at the New Diorama Theatre.  I'll have to let you know how it goes!  Cheers, - Heather

Another Week Down

As the weeks are ending it seems like days are going by so fast now.  Before I know it I will be back in the US looking back on the wonderful experience that I am lucky to be having right now and the wonderful people that I have met.  I am definitely getting more comfortable with the city and I even figured out my way walking to work, with a little help of course ;).  London is so large and I can not wait to see more of it.  This week I planned my first trip out of the country and it is to the beautiful city Paris.  I will be there on February 6th-8th and I absolutely can't wait!

Well this week definitely started off with a bang.  On Sunday night we of course had to go and watch the Packer game, so we went to a pub called Belushi's which was in Camden.  It was so awesome being able to support the green and gold all the way from London, and of course they won :).  We are planning on going to that same pub next week, and they even said that they will have a table ready for us.  I am so excited.  Go Pack Go!

This week for my internship I continued to organize their sample library.  This was a good opportunity for me to get to know some of the manufacturers that are used here in the UK.  After I finished this task I moved onto organizing the brochures and books that are in the office.  It's a good thing I like organizing haha.  Next week I get to organize all the files on the network, which will be a very large and important job.  And I might even get to help build a model for one of their projects!

As for my classes this week, on Monday I had my art and architecture lecture.  We went to the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery.  We walked around and discussed the differences in the portraits from various times in history.  This week for my Shakespeare class we were assigned to read Henry IV part II.  And on Thursday after class we got to see the play at the Barbican Centre.  Although we didn't have the best seats, they were all the way in the back up top, it was still cool watching a Shakespeare play in London. 

On Friday a group of us decided to just walk down Oxford street and hang out.  My new favorite store is definitely Primark.  Their prices are super inexpensive and its pretty good quality.  Then on Saturday we all went to The Borough Market, which is one of the largest food markets.  They have so many free samples that you could just make a meal out of it.  I can officially say that I have tried truffle oil, its not that great.  Besides that I also had one of the best tasting pineapple pieces I have ever had in my life.  The produce there tastes so fresh.

I am hoping to try and post a blog post at least once a week to keep you all updated.  Also, feel free to contact me on Facebook.  Well until next time I hope you all have a wonderful week! -Heather

Busy, busy, busy

As I go into my second week of interning and taking class at Birbeck University, I shall tell you about how my first week went.  So last time I left you we were all on the bus for London.  When we got here we finally got to see where we would be calling home for the next few months.  I have to say I was a little surprised at first, along with a few others, but I have learned to love it!  We actually get a lot of room and everything else is pretty nice, besides the $6 laundry.  Anyways, on Sunday we unpacked and just relaxed after going non-stop the past few days.  I still couldn't believe that we had only left the US 5 days earlier, it felt like we have been gone for at least 3 weeks!  I ended up going to bed early, because we had a really busy day on Monday.  So I must have the worst luck ever, because when I woke up the next morning I felt horrible and later found out that I had food poisoning.  This is the first time this has ever happened to me and of course it would happen on the day that I had so much running around to do.  We had orientations, a three hour class, and we also had to get our phones and Oyster card to ride the tube.  I don't know how but I managed to get through it all. 

I started my internship on Tuesday morning.  I was so nervous about getting lost, and of course I did.  I ended up asking like three cafe's for directions, but in the end I got there, and on time.  The neighborhood I am in is really nice and it has a homey vibe to it.  I am interning at a high-end residential design firm called Sporadic Space.  There are six other employees there and I found out that each one of them is from a different country outside of the UK.  I though this was really interesting and I am excited to learn about all of their different cultures and backgrounds. 

After my internship and had to make my way back to Birkbeck University for another orientation and that is when I got so lost that I was wondering around for at least half an hour.  I never realized how big London actually is.  Again after asking a few people, I made it.  I'm sure this will not be my last time to get lost, but I am learning to just embrace it, who knows I might find something new and interesting on the way.

This semester my schedule consists of interning Monday-Wednesday while also having two classes, one on Monday and one on Thursday.  Since these classes are only one day a week they last for three hours, which is complete torture.  At least the classes I am taking, Art and Architecture and Shakespeare, are interesting.  It is nice have a three day weekend because it will give us extra time to travel and plan things.  This past weekend a group of us walked down Oxford Street which is a huge shopping Street.  We also visited a couple markets around here.  I really like going to markets and I can't wait to go to more!  You can find so many unique things and it is kind of fun to bargain with the sellers. 

On Sunday our Point group all went to see Big Ben and the London Eye.  It was an absolute gorgeous day out, too bad the London Eye was getting repaired.  I got some really cool pictures of these places and of course I had to take the cliché selfie.  I still can't believe that I am in London and that I am able to visit all of these famous landmarks.  This trip is definitely making me want to travel more and I haven't even left yet!  Now that I have wifi I will definitely try to keep you all more updated on want I am doing, but if you ever want to contact me just send over a message on Facebook.  Talk to you all later :)

                      -Heather

Well it's been Awhile

Hello again :).  Well I haven't blogged in a while, but I swear I have an adequate excuse...no internet.  I am one of those unlucky souls that no matter what I did I could not get wifi, but at last I have succeeded and here I am ;). 

Last time I posted I was in Bath.  The following day (January 1) we traveled to Wiltshire to see the grand Salisbury cathedral.  When walking in I was instantly in awe.  The interior was breathtaking; the arches, the stained-glass windows, the ceiling, I didn't know what to look at!  Again it was really neat seeing all of the architectural aesthetics that we have been studying over the years.  Towards the center of the cathedral there is a fountain that if you bend down and look at the surface you can see beautiful reflections of the windows in it.  It was really neat.  While at the cathedral we were also able to see the Magna Carta.  It is so cool being able to say that I saw this very important and famous document in person!  Too bad I couldn't take any photographs to prove it.  After touring we got lunch at a nice little French restaurant called Café Rouge.  After waiting for what felt like forever we finally got our starter, breadsticks.  We all thought that we only got one or two, but then the plates of breadsticks just kept coming and coming, it was absolutely insane.  For the main course we got grilled chicken and ratatouille followed by ice cream, it was delicious. 

When we all finished eating we were on our way to Brighton.  After resting up from a nice long nap, we were awoken to seeing the beautiful Brighton Pier illuminating through the night sky.  It really was like seeing a small glimpse of home since I am so used to living so close to a large body of water, I kind of really made me miss it a little.  Anyways we made our way to the Ambassador hotel...and of course my luck I get put on the third floor...again.  Now let me explain to you how the floors work here in the UK compared to in the US.  In the US we count the first floor as being one, while here they count it as being the ground floor.  So in actuality, I was on the fourth floor...awesome.  So I had to drag both of my suitcases up multiple flights of narrow stair that had swinging doors in between each.  Sorry to complain, but I felt like an old lady worrying that I was going to pull a muscle or something.  Geez laweez.  Our hotel was actually pretty close to the pier and I could even see it out my window, which was the only good thing about being on the third floor.

After moving in, a group of us decided to explore and find food.  We stumbled upon a little restaurant called Betty La La's.  It was absolutely adorable!  The interior was very contemporary and chic.  We were sat in in the back section that had a dim pink light hanging above and the furniture also had its own flare to it.  Along with our dinner we ordered cocktails.  That was my first time having a cosmopolitan and it was very good.  When showing the owner of the restaurant our ids, she was very amused at how they looked and she asked us about where we are from and why we were all there, she was very sweet.  And when we passed her restaurant the next day she recognized us and even waved.  If I ever find myself back in Brighton, I would definitely like to stop back there.

The following day we had a walking tour scheduled and much to our dismay it was pouring out.  Of course we had to experience our first heavy UK shower during this tour.  Although it was not the preferred circumstance, the tour was pretty interesting and really like walking around a little down by the pier even though we couldn't go very far due to the waves.  After this we went and toured the Royal Pavilion.  It was so extravagant inside and each room had its own unique quality.  For lunch we all met up to go to the Regency Fish Restaurant.  I chose to get the seafood platter, because it had calamari.  But when I received my food, there we like these little fried fish things that still had their eye balls.  It was really creepy, but of course I had to try it and it was actually pretty good.  For dessert I had amaretto tiramisu which was amazing.  As a continuation on to trying new foods I choses to get a duck kabob wrap and I have discovered that I really like duck!

That night a group of us decided to go out and explore the town a little more.  We went into a pub that was call Kings & Queens and the interior of it really made you feel like you were taken back to medieval times.  Ceiling was vaulted and there was lots of wood beams.  We then went to another pub that we had stopped in the night before which was called the Mucky Duck.  Honestly the only reason we decided to go there the first time was because of the name.  We encountered a few people who were from Ireland and they were so funny and nice!  Its so cool being able to socialize from people who are from all over the world. 

The next morning after having an authentic English breakfast we were finally on our way to London!!!  But before we actually got to London we made a few stops to a couple of castles, no big deal ;).  The first castle we stopped at was Battle Abbey in Hastings.  I think this was one of my most favorite tours on this intro trip, because there was so much to look at and we were able to just explore and look around.  In one part of the castle we walked in and it reminded me of a horror movie.  It was like a dark, dingy cave.  The next castle we went to was Bodiam in Robertsbridge.  We got to go all the way to the top and although it was a nice view, I still don't like heights.  We also ate lunch at a café here which some new duck friends that we made.  Honestly, they wouldn't leave us alone and we even named one Daffy.  Then we were on our last stop, London!  Sorry for the long blog post, but I thought that I would just catch all of you up on what is going on.  To create just a little suspense I will wait to post a blog about when we actually made it to London.  Hey, I do have to make this a little more interesting, right?

 

                                                              -Cheers, Heather

New Year, New City

Yesterday was New Years Eve, but it definitely didn't feel like it.  We are all still trying to adjust to this whole new country thing, but of course we had to celebrate someone.  We decided to go out for awhile, but the no-sleep thing was definitely kicking in and me and a couple hours decided to come back to the Y.  I really wanted to stay up till midnight.  So Ashley and I just sat in the lobby and watched a New Years special on the telly (TV for all you Americans hah).  When it struck midnight, it was so cool seeing all of the fireworks going off around Big Ben.  I really wish we would have been in London for that.

On New Years Day, which didn't feel like that at all, we spent our whole day walking and exploring the city of Bath.  The first thing that stuck out to me was the architecture.  It was so neat seeing the different column types that we have studied in the past and being able to point out different aspects of the buildings.  History has always been so interesting to me and being able to walk around the actual city was extremely cool instead of just learning out of a book.

The first tour we went on started at 9am and we went and saw the Royal Crescent.  For those of you who don't know the Royal Crescent is a row of terraced houses that are shaped in a crescent shape, hence the name.  The building itself had so much detail in it and their is so much history within its structure.

Following this we got the opportunity to tour the Bath Abbey which is an iconic church located here.  the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the windows oh my I couldn't even.  It was gorgeous!  When looking at the floor I noticed little plaques in memory of people that lay there, I later found out that about 4,000 people were buried there!  It was so weird to think that we were walking on top of people's grave sites.

After touring the church we were free to find a spot to eat lunch.  After walking around the city for awhile, we finally decided on a little café that had crescent sandwiches and coffee.  We ate our food outside, because sometime if you choose to eat inside a restaurant they charge you a fee.  And even though we are in England, we are still broke college students.  If I had to raise one complaint about this city, it is that it has WAY to many pigeons.  They just fly everywhere they want and it creeps me out.  It's like they can sense that I don't like them, because they just like to come toward me.  It makes sitting outside very unpleasant, but beside that lunch was very enjoyable.

The last tour that we went on was to the Roman Baths.  The building that is there now was actually constructed on top of the building that was there over one hundred years ago.  When touring the lower parts of the building you could even view the parts of the existing structure.  The bath itself was really cool to see, and at the end you could taste the water if you wanted.  One suggestion to anyone who decides to visit here...don't try it, it is awful.

We had a long day of tours and chose to just go back and relax and then find out where we would like to go for dinner.  All we knew was that we wanted a place that had pasta, wine, and that was inexpensive.  After endless searches we stumbled upon Jamie's Italian Restaurant.  After going there we discovered that the famous chef, Jamie Oliver, is the owner!  How cool!  The food was delicious too.  Italian food and wine, I must say that is the best combination.  This was a great way to end the day and I can't wait for the adventures tomorrow, cheers! -Heather