Half Way Point

I can't believe that we have already been in England for almost two months.  Its crazy!  And I absolutely love it!!!  As you can probably see I have been incredibly busy and have been trying to soak up as much of London as I possibly can.  I have only so much time here and I want to spend every moment to its fullest.  Well after that little explosion of emotions, I will finally get onto the interesting stuff and tell you how I've been and spent these past two weeks :).

The last time I posted, I had just gotten back from Paris; wow does that feel like awhile ago.  Anyways, the Monday following, we visited Tate Britain for my Art & Architecture class.  Before going in, one of the first things I noticed was the little rose bush that was starting to bloom.  This made me think about all of the people who are suffering in the Wisco weather right now...suckers ;).  Anyways, this is the first time that I have gone to this museum and it is very large.  Throughout the class we only focused on a few sets of paintings which spread across only a few rooms.  Its a good thing that we will being going back to this museum in the next couple weeks because there is so much to see.  After Tate Britain we went back to the National Portrait Gallery.  As for my Shakespeare class we read Cybeline.  I have never read or even heard about this play and I actually really enjoyed reading it.

Last week for my internship, I got to help out with a project that they have been working on.  I was tasked with finding inspirational images on design elements that they could use.  I never realized how the company that I am working for likes to really think out of the box and its forcing me to rethink designs that I have done in the past and how I could improve them.

On Thursday, one of the coolest things happened to me, I got to go to a taping of Britain's Got Talent!  That's right, I got to see THE Simon Cowell.  It was really interesting being behind the scenes and seeing how they actually tape the show.  What made this even better was that the tickets were completely free and we ended up getting fourth row!  It will definitely be something that I will remember forever and hey I might even see my self on TV!  How cool would that be?!?

As for the weekend it was Valentine's Day.  Bridget, Jenna, and I went to a masquerade party on Friday night.  It was located at the Coronet Theatre.  It was actually really fun and interesting.  The coolest part of the night was when we went to the area were they had reptiles and you were allowed to hold them.  They had all sorts of lizards, a couple snakes...and a tarantula.  I really wanted to hold one of the lizards and I did!  It was so neat, and definitely makes me want to get a lizard as a pet.  Bridget went and held the snake, but gave it back after it was starting to coil around her neck a little too tightly...

For Valentine's Day we decided to go to the National Gallery.  I had already been here for class, so a little bit of it was familiar to me.  We then decided to get lunch in China Town at Wang Kei.  I got fried udon noodles that had different types of seafood in it.  I didn't know what half of it was, but it was really good.  On Sunday we travelled to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This was my first time going here and it is by far my favorite museum!  There were so many interesting exhibits here and the way things wee set up it made it feel interactive.  The main exhibit they had up was the history and development of the wedding dress.  I later found out that we weren't supposed to take pictures...oops.  For lunch we stopped at a place called Café Vienna.  It was a cute little restaurant and the food was cheap and really satisfying. 

 

 

Now let me take you to this past week.  As for classes we visited The National Gallery and Tate Britain for the Second time.  I really like that we get to go to all of the museums and that they are free to the public.  It allows everyone to learn and I definitely want to take advantage of it more so.  For Shakespeare we are reading Othello.  The only background I have on this play was from watching the modern day movie 'O' starring Julia Stiles.  I really enjoyed this movie and I'm excited to go and watch the play next weekend. 

Now let me fast forward you to this weekend.  Thursday was Bridget's Birthday and we all got dolled up and went out to a bar called Mahiki.  The interior made you feel like you were in the Bahamas, it was so tropical feeling.  We got a lot of free stuff due to it being her birthday and it was nice to let go and take a break from stressing about all of the homework we have to get done in the next couple weeks. 

On Friday we visited Camden Market for the second time.  We discovered a different part of the market, which we all really enjoyed.  They had a lot of cool local artist's work there and jewelry.  We then got food there, and you guessed it, it was Chinese and it was the best that I have had here.  And it was cheap.  Talking about cheap, we decided to visit Poundland which is the dollar store here.  We are still broke college students after all.  Today, Saturday, we all just took a chill day and went to a cheap make-up store that we found that is located in the Brunswick shopping centre which is located near Russell Square.  We discovered that they had food tents set up in the middle and I got a Polish sausage on a baguette.  It was one of the best things that I have eaten here.  We then went back and worked on some homework.

Tomorrow we are going to watch the Chinese New Year parade and I can't wait.  There are a lot of events going on in China Town, so I will post on that as soon as I get the chance.  I am also going to Germany next weekend, so I will definitely have a lot of stories and pictures to share, be prepared.  I hope you all have a great Sunday and week! -Heather

Paris is Always a Good Idea

Hello, or shall I say Bonjour!  As you can tell from the title, this weekend I traveled to Paris with Bridget, Jenna, Taylor, and Ashley, and boy was it beautiful.  There were some good and some not so good parts of the weekend, but all in all it was a wonderful experience.  And I can now say that I saw THE Eiffel Tower in person!  Anyways, I will end the anticipation and tell you all how it all went.

The group of us that were going decided to take a bus to Paris because in the end it was cheaper, but let me tell you that was probably not the best choice.  It took forever!  We left London at 6AM Friday Morning and were taken to the Bus that was waiting for us.  On the way we picked up a bunch of kids in Canterbury and it turns out they were going to Paris to go to Disneyland.  Any who, we made our way to The ferry dock located by the famous Cliffs of Dover, which are believed to have been apart of Shakespeare's King Lear.  I was a little nervous going on the ferry, because I have never been on a boat that large.  It was quite interesting to say the least.  I did end up getting a little sea sick, so I tried taking a nap.  The most fun thing about it was trying to walk down the halls and down the stairs.  It was even funnier watching other people.  After getting off the ferry we were finally in France; Calais to be more specific.

I couldn't believe that I was yet in another country.  We stopped for lunch, and then it all hit us...how are we supposed to order when we don't know French?!?  At least on their menu they had English subtitles, but other than that it was definitely and experience.  The sub was delicious though!  I got salami and gherkin.  As for the countryside, it initially reminded us all of back home, good ole' Wisconsin.  But when we got to Paris it was definitely not like Wisconsin anymore.  When driving in one of the first things we saw was The Arc de Triomphe.  It stuck out for sure among the city, because it was located on a central island and it was very large.  The next thing we saw was of course the Eiffel Tower.  It was so surreal standing in front of one of the most iconic structures and I never realized how detailed it was! 

The first thing that was on our itinerary was a boat ride on the Seine River.  It was very chilly and we could all not wait to get on the heated boat.  But it turns out the boat was very warm...What made the boat ride fun and interesting, other than seeing all of the 22 bridges and landmarks, was the guy that was leading the ride.  We instantly all thought that he looked like the main character from the Disney movie, Ratatouille!  He of course spoke in French but when he translated it into English it was very amusing.  After the boat ride, we were then off to our hotel which was pretty nice.  We stayed at the Ibis hotel which is located in Bercy Village.  The hotel is right across from a lot a restaurant, which was very convenient  because we were all starving.  Finding a place to eat dinner was a very difficult task, because we did not understand the menus, so we decided to eat at a place that had pictures.  Even though it had pictures, it was still hard to tell what everything was.  This was of course my first time being in an area where English is not the most used English and it is very interesting when your waiter doesn't understand what you are trying to say, so we all just pointed at things haha.  It turns out some of us ate gazelle pizza?  It was good!

On the way back to the hotel we grabbed gelato macaroons, because when in Paris you have to have macaroons.  They were to die for.  They came in four flavors, vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, and strawberry.  The pistachio one was the absolute best.  After going back to the hotel, Jenna, Bridget, and I decided to go and check out some of the pubs around.  We came across one titled the Frog.  Right when walking in we noticed that they were playing American music.  We all got a cocktail and just relaxed for a bit.  The bartenders were wearing a t-shirt that said WTF, and in smaller letters is said "what the Frog."  I still really want one ;).  We then called it a night and got ready for the next day.

On Saturday we did a walking tour of Paris.  The first stop we made was to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  It is placed atop a hill and we climbed up around 200 steps to get to the top.  At every tier, the view was absolutely gorgeous!  Before climbing up the stairs, our tour guide warned us of people who were trying to scam us.  These guys would try to put a ribbon on your wrist and if they succeeded, they would argue with you that you had to pay them.  We all thankfully avoided them and there weren't any problems.  The inside of the basilica was breath-taking.  We have been inside a lot of churches and cathedrals, and this one is definitely towards the top of the list.  We then went on to tour another church that we could take pictures in.

After a break to look around, we met up to go see Moulin Rouge.  I have never seen the movie, but it was cool seeing it.  We also got to walk through the streets of Paris and it was neat seeing all of the architecture and homes.  We then hopped on a bus and made our way to Notre Dame.  It was so stunning from the outside, especially when standing on the bridge.  While waiting in line, there was a guy dressed up as the hunchback from the Disney movies.  Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite movies and I was excited to go here.  Again the inside was so pretty and it was very detailed.  I loved all of the circular stained glass windows.  After touring Notre Dame, we were given free time to go and get lunch.  We ended going to a café and order crepes, which were really good and filling.  After our break, we were off to Versailles.

Versailles is probably my highlight of going to France.  Jenna, Bridget, and I decided to add it last minute, and I am glad I did or I would have regretted it for sure.  When pulling up you see the extravagant gates and an even more extravagant building.  It turns out that the palace has 700 rooms in it!  We only got three hours here, but you could have easily spent an entire day.  Other than the ceilings in the interior, my favorite part was the gardens.  Although it was a little cold and some of the statues were wrapped up, it was still very beautiful.  And the fact that the sun was shining made it even better.  After touring only a portion of it, it was time to head back.

The last thing that was on our schedule was to climb the Eiffel Tower.  I was very excited but also a little nervous, due to the fact that I am afraid of heights, and by afraid I mean terrified.  After waiting in line for what felt like forever, we were finally on our way up.  The elevator ride was very cool and I even took a video of it.  We got off on the second floor and the view was so pretty, especially with all of the city lit up at night.  At night, we learned that the Eiffel sparkles for five minutes at the top of every hour.  We were outside on the second floor when this happened and it was definitely a sight to see.  After taking all of our pictures we headed inside and I got hot chocolate at a café that was located on the inside.  Not a lot of people can say that they had hot chocolate in the Eiffel Tower ;).  Then we were on our way down, and almost missed our bus.  We practically had to push Jenna onto a lift so that she could make it down there to stop it.  Let's just say Jenna saved the day.  It would have been a nightmare trying to travel around an unknown city where hardly anyone speaks English.

After we made it safely back to our hotel, we all got ready to go out and get food.  We ended up going to the Frog again, because Ashley and Taylor hadn't been there.  The food was really good.  And it was nice having a waiter that spoke English.  We decided to spend our last night in France by checking out some clubs around town.  I went with Jenna and Bridget, and we ended up going to one called Wanderlust, and it was pretty disappointing.  We met five girls who were visiting from Turkey and we all decided to go to another club.  That was worse then the first.  So we all decided to talk to the Turkish girls and it was interesting talking to them and learning more about Turkey.  After a little while we separated and went back to the first club.  There we talked to some people who are from Paris.  They asked us a lot about where we are from and we also discussed stereotypes of each area.  Although we didn't find a fun place to go, we did get to meet people from different parts of the world and I feel like that is one of the most important parts of this trip.

We ended up getting back to the hotel around 3am...and we had to get up at 7, joy.  After getting up and moving out of the hotel, we were onto our last destination, The Louvre.  The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums and it houses the famous Mona Lisa.  The museum was pretty interesting and there were a lot of famous artworks and sculptures housed in it.  The Mona Lisa was a lot smaller than I pictured it and the ropes surrounding it were so far away that it made it look even tinier.  After we departed the Louvre, we were back on the bus and headed back to England.  The ferry ride back was not as bad.  We distracted ourselves by playing cards and talking.  We ended up getting beck to London around 11 and we were utterly exhausted.

All in all I had a great time in Paris and I can say that I for sure can cross a few things off of my bucket list.  The next country I am planning on visiting is Germany and I can not wait!  At least I know some of the language, so that will help.  I will hopefully be posting another blog post at the end of this week to tell you how classes and interning goes, and I promise it will be a lot shorter.  I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week, Au Revoir! - Heather

Feeling Like a True Londoner

Hey there!  Me again.  If you haven't noticed from my previous blog posts...I. Love. London!!!  There is always something to do or something to see and you are never bored.  And if you, then are you are doing something terribly wrong.  Any who, let me go on and tell you how my week went.

On Thursday we went and saw Romeo and Juliet at the New Diorama Theatre.  I really wasn't looking forward to this play, because I really do not like the story, but the production was amazing!  When walking in we were really confused, because the actors were warming up and they were in very casual dress.  None of us know that the play was going to have a modern twist, but we were all pleasantly surprised.  The actors were very believable and they really made the story come to life and they brought it into the modern times.  All in all I really enjoyed it and I would definitely consider going to another play of the company's.  Next week we get to read Julius Caesar.
















For the weekend a group us went and checked out the Spitalfields Market.  The market was so cute and it had a lot of cute clothes, art, and antiques.  It was definitely my favorite market so far.  We also got cupcakes at the market from Lola's Cupcakes.  They were so delicious!  I got raspberry and chocolate and then we all split an Oreo one.  After the market we made our way to Tate Modern which is a museum full of modern art.  We walked along the Thames River and it was beautiful!  I will definitely miss how scenic it is here.  We then crossed the millennium bridge to the museum.  As for the museum itself, it was very interesting.  There were a lot of neat things there, but then there were a lot of strange things as well.  I guess that is what you get with are though.  This weekend it definitely hit me that I am in London and I still cant believe it!!!  I never want to leave!

Following the weekend, on Monday for my Art and Architecture class we went to see the Banqueting House.  It was really pretty inside and the history of it was quite interesting.  For my internship this week I continued to help out with the material library and I also started saving images of design ideas that they will use for inspiration in the future. 

Tomorrow I leave for Paris and I can not wait!  It will be so neat to see the Eiffel Tower and I can't wait to take lots of pictures.  I will let you all know how it goes.  Talk to you soon :) - Heather