Today was not super productive for me. I slept in and then after that I did some research about my internship placement. I'll be interning at Charas Designer Wear. The designer's name is Sarah Anderson and she first started out selling her designs at the Portobello Market. Since then, she's dressed women for premieres, music videos, and even the Ascot-which is one of the premiere horse races of the year. It's the kind of race where women must wear a day dress and hat, with no bare shoulders, and men can wear either a gray or black suit with a hat...well la-ti-da! Sounds fun to me :) I made homemade mac & cheese with stuff that I had left in the fridge. I am in dire need to go grocery shopping tomorrow! Tomorrow I have class and then Tuesday I have my interview! Wish me lots of luck:) Miss you all!
p.s. If you want to check out the website for Charas, click on this link:
http://www.charasdesignerwear.co.uk/
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Today was a really lazy day for me. I didn't get out of my jammies until we left for the pub tonight! It was nice to lounge around and finish up my homework for the week.
Tonight a group of us went out in search of this pub, which Jimmy and Charlie were told to go by a half-naked guy in the sauna at their gym ;)
We did end up finding it, but it's kind of tricky. You have to walk down an alley and then down through threshold. It's here where you enter the pub which was built in the mid 1500's!!! The property was first inhabited by monks in the 14th and 15th centuries! In the 1600's it had to be rebuilt because it was burnt down in the Great London Fire.
Charlie, Me, Annie, and Zach.
Joey, Libbie (roomie), Jimmy (roomie's boyfriend), and Danny.
The alleyway entrance to get into the pub. To be walking into a place with such history was amazing, just thinking of the people that may have been there!
The lit up street sign for "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" It goes 4 stories below the ground entrance! There are two bars, one on the ground/entry level, and one 2 floors down. There are little seating alcoves all over located in caverns. The stairs going down had really low clearance; I practically had to bend at the waist to clear the doors!
After a lazy day and an awesome historic night, I'm just chilling in bed eating some really great leftover pizza :) It was really cold today, but it should warm up within the next few. Tuesday I have my interview (just for formality purpose) and then I go to Barcelona, Spain next weekend with some of the girls! It will be great to have a little warmer weather and to see the Mediterranean! Our flight cost £3 each way! It ended up being about £18 roundtrip including taxes and fees! Tomorrow I think I'm going to the premiere of "Gnomeo & Juliet", a Disney film. Elton John wrote the music, and it stars the voices of Michael Caine, Emily Blunt, Dolly Parton, Jason Statham, and James McAvoy among others. It should be really cool; hopefully I can meet Elton John or something :) Love you all and miss you a ton! XXXOOO
Friday, January 28, 2011
Cambridge
Today our group hopped on the train for Cambridge at 9:30am from King's Cross St. Pancras Station. It was only about a 45 minute train ride. We got to see the countryside; including some John Deere tractors and some enormous CAT machinery!
Once we got to the town of Cambridge, we had to walk about two miles from the train station to the actual center of town where the universities are located. Since the town was founded in medieval times; it is for the majority flat. Therefore, many people, including students ride their bikes absolutely everywhere! Instead of looking both ways for traffic, you usually have to watch out for bikes :)
One of the most famous and most photographed campuses in Cambridge is King's College, or sometimes more commonly referred to as Eton College. David Cameron, the current Prime Minster of the U.K. graduated from Eton, as well as many other notable people. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI!
This is the chapel located at King's College. It is absolutely humongous, but was built for only 12 students; symbolizing the 12 disciples of Jesus.
A mega-tree growing in the front of King's College.
This is the school where Stephen Hawking teaches various forms of physics!
Inside the King's Chapel! It's absolutely amazing! 88 meters long, and the original stained-glass windows tell the stories of the entire Bible!
Our informative tour guide who was born in France and lives near Cambridge. He taught us a lot about relations between France and England in the past, and in the present.
The lower portions of the windows tell the stories of the Old Testament, while the top portions tell the stories of the New Testament. There are 12 windows on each side of the chapel and 1 at each end; they are the Passion of the Christ and the other end is the portrayal of Parliament and the various kings of the time period. King's Chapel is known for its stained glass windows; they are exquisite and absolutely everyone of them is original. They even took the over 2,000 panels down in 1939 to avoid them being bombed during the war...it took them 5 years to put them all back up!!!
The chapel where Evensong (evening prayer service) is held. The chapel was designed by Henry VI, but took so long to build, that when it was finished, it had been under the construction of five rulers!
Hymn book.
A building around the square of King's College just before the river.
One of the the most popular views of Cambridge University at King's College.
A majority of the walkways are paved with cobblestone, which is definitely not the most comfortable substance to walk on!
This is the restaurant a few of us ate at and warmed up at. It was really cold today...30F! It seemed about 15F though! I had a pot of tea and toasted ciabatta bread with olives, onions, mozerella, and tomatoes! sooooo good!
A little alley with a cute bookshop :)
One of the most famous pubs in Cambridge, where Crick & Watson first publicly announced that they had discovered how DNA carried genetic information!!!
The official plaque stating that "The Eagle" pub is actually the place where Watson & Crick first proclaimed that they discovered the genetic properties of DNA!
A picture of King's College at night while we were waiting in line for the Evensong. The Evensong was absolutely beautiful. There was hardly any light but candlelight and there was a boy's choir. They sang so beautifully that it gave me chills! Most of what they sang was in Latin, but we had hymn books to follow along with in English. It was incredible to think that I may have been standing in the same spot as Henry VI or perhaps Oliver Cromwell, who knows? Over 500 years of history!
This is just a little restaurant that we passed :) For you mama, I know you love cows :) Miss you all so very much, but I'm having an absolutely amazing time! Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in and maybe wandering through some markets in the morning. I hope everyone's doing well :)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Cirque du Soleil-Totem
After class today, we all went to see the Cirque du Soleil show: Totem. It was absolutely incredible to see! Here's a description about what the show was about:
TOTEM traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage evoking a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations. Inspired by many founding myths, TOTEM illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the evolutionary progress of species. Somewhere between science and legend TOTEM explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential.
Check out this link to watch the preview. I guarantee it'll be worth you time!
This is the venue where we saw the show: Royal Albert Hall, Named after Queen Victoria's husband/cousin Albert. During her reign, it was the time of the Great Exhibition in London and she made it a project after he passed on to build and fund numerous places for the arts to take place. Others include The Royal College of Music, Victoria & Albert Museum, The Natural History Museum, and several others. They are all located within a location called Albertopolis; after Albert of course :)
A pic of the inside of the gorgeous theatre! We were seated in the skirt balcony which is on the very top. They were really steep but offered a spectacular view of the aerial acrobatics during the show!
A few of my "illegal" pics before the show started. I say no flash, no harm :) Just wanted to capture a taste of the inside of this amazing theatre.
You can see how far up we were! The turtle shell fabric was covering a bone-like structure with a trampoline under it. There were people dressed like frogs and monkeys crawling and flipping and spinning all over it! After they were done using it, they used pulleys and kept it tucked away in the rafters so the aerial acrobats could do their thing. A really great show that you should see if you get the chance :) Tomorrow we're hopping on a train for Cambridge to see the school and the churches/town around it. I'm really excited because we'll be taking a train ride there. It will be great to see the countryside after being in the city for so long! Love you all!
p.s. check out this link if you want to learn more about Cirque du Soleil and see what their Totem show is all about:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Do You Know the Muffin Man?
"Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?. Do you know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane???"
This used to be one of my favorite nursery rhymes when I was little :) It was really fun to be able to see the actual street :)
This morning started out with a walking tour about Charles Dickens. We got off near the river and proceeded to walk around the city while our guide, an employee of FIE who knows much about the Dickensian & Victorian Eras, pointed out locations that were relevant to Dickens' himself as well as his novels.
We dodged down narrow alleyways, through Covent Gardens, and into the squares of law (lawyers all over the U.K. must belong to one of the four courts of law, located only in London, to be a practicing lawyer. Dickens worked as a court reporter during his younger years in one of these court buildings and was known to have despised the job.
After class, a few of us headed to Primark...again...to return a dress of mine which was first too small, and then too large. I finally waited in line for 20 minutes to find the one that was just right...starting to sound like the three bears? :) Rachel and I then headed to TopShop where this amazing dress made out of clothespins and string!!! flows down the escalator embankment! Definitely picture worthy! After that, we came back, had supper, and then proceeded to go to our Theatre class. We learned about a lot of the different types of stages and the different types of financial aspects of the theatres in London. Many on the West End are owned and operated by government subsidized money, which is why they're able to hold such large productions. Others, much smaller in production scale, are purely run by their own profits, which is starting to run them down. The United Kingdom is caught in an economic recession similar to the one in the U.S. To fund the theatres, many people are looking towards the idea of philanthropy for funds. Even though this is a world capital for performing and fine arts, it is still feeling the brunt of economic cuts, just like it is in the U.S. It's really sad, many smaller theatres are having to close simply because they cannot afford to operate any longer. When we got home from class, we went to The Imperial College Student Union Pub, which was very upbeat and "clubbish" from the previous pubs we had been to around London. The crowd was obviously much younger and more vibrant which made it a lot of fun. It was fun mingling with student my own age. Friday we're heading out on a train to Cambridge to explore the churches and campus, which I'm super excited for :) Weather is getting cold, and apparently, according to the weather man, a cold front is coming in from Scandinavia :( Hopefully it'll get nicer in the weeks to come! Love you all and miss you :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The King's Speech
For my film class today, we went to see "The King's Speech". Usually, after a movie, I skip right out after the credits start rolling but this film was different. I was sitting there in complete awe and could not believe the breathtaking cinematography that had taken place in front of my eyes. It was one of the the most impeccable films I have ever seen; incredibly crafted and absolutely marvelous!
For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's about Albert, who later changed his monarchical name to King George VI (Queen Elizabeth II's father). His brother Edward abdicates the throne to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. George VI is forced to take the throne despite his lifelong speech stammer. With the help of Lionel Logue, his Australian speech therapist, he is able to fully embody the roll of king and become the leader of the great English Commonwealth. He was the last Emperor of India and the last King of Ireland. It's really a remarkable story!
Tonight, we went out to Drayton Arms for Karla's 21st birthday. They have a special on brownies and ice cream, so that's what we devoured :)
On the way home, we passed a Ferrari dealership so consider this part II of the car blog :) Personally, this one was my favorite; classic red Ferrari :)
It was kind of rainy today, but overall it was great. Love you all, have a great night...and GO SEE "THE KING'S SPEECH"!!!!!
Monday, January 24, 2011
And All That Jazz...
After class this morning, Christy and I ventured out to find the locations of our internships. Mine is located in Greenwich, which is about a 45 minute tube/train ride from my flat. Christy's is in the Financial District of London and on the way there, we passed MediaCom; a large PR/advertising corporation. It just so happened that we saw a crowd gathered and then we asked a man what was going on and he said that Duran Duran was in there promoting something! We couldn't get in, but we snuck a pic of the teleprompters inside :)
When we got back, we had planned to go see the play "Mamma Mia". We were going to get student rush tickets right before the show, but they didn't have them. We were a little bummed, but then we thought that "Chicago" would be amazing to see...and as it turned out, they were selling dress skirt tickets (1st balcony) for a reduced thirty pounds! They were absolutely amazing seats! The show was spectacular and I can't stop humming or dancing to the tunes :) Above is a pic of the little Crown Pub we stopped at before the show. All of the pubs have really awesome wallpaper-random thought of the day :)
The theatre was really quaint.
Me whipping out my red tights in lieu of the show :) All of the cast members were incredible! They also had a live band that was stellar!
I had been meaning to stop and take some Lamborghini pics for a while, and on the way home the showroom was lit up and no one was around, so I thought it was the prime moment.
This one reminds me of a ninja turtle and it sells for
£152,950!!! that's equivalent to $244,597.64!!!
It has 1,900 miles on it...any buyers?
It's crazy when they go zooming by and you can tell immediately that it's a Lambo by the growl it lets out! They're absolutely amazing! Miss you all, love you :)
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