STUDY ABROAD 2009

Final Sketches

2009-08-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Final Sketches: Here are a few of my best sketches from my trip abroad! This trip was the greatest experience of my life and these sketches were just one of the ways that I was able to record those experiences. I hope you enjoy these and can get a feel for what I was able to see and to be a part of!

Pantheon; Rome, Italy

Venice Bridge; Venice, Italy

Villa Savoye; Paris, France

2009-08-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Notre Dame; Paris, France

Paris Opera House; Paris, France

Arc de Triomphe; Paris, France

Stained Glass Window Notre Dame; Paris, France

Entrance to Wilton House; England

GRAND TOUR OF EUROPE: My Culture Observations

2009-08-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece of some of my insights of what I learned and saw while I studied in Europe for five weeks. I hope it gives you a feel of what I got to see and be a part of. Enjoy!

2009-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

ITALY
My beautiful Italia: Rome, Venice, Florence. Words can not describe this place. Italy was hot and sweltering, but there was always a gelatto shop around every corner to cool you down. The food was bland and kind of gross. American Italian tastes much better. The Italian people were loud and boisterous, and all smelled terrible, but they were very kind and were always willing to help you out.
Every city we visited was completely different. Rome held Italy's history. The Coliseum, the Forum, Vatican City, and much much more. These places seemed to just pop up out of nowhere. You would walk off a metro station, a pretty modern invention, and find the ancient Roman Coliseum staring back at you. Walk down a street filled with modern shops and restaurants and find the Pantheon tucked in behind some apartment buildings. It was all very strange to me, but at the same time a huge dream come true. The places that we saw in Rome were places that I had heard about since I was a little girl.
Florence. Florence was a giant tourist trap, but I loved it. The streets were all made of cobblestones and all of the buildings and houses were never a dull color. There was too much shopping to do and definitely not enough time to do it. Florence for me held some of the prettiest views I have ever seen.
Venice. Venice looked like a picture book. Something that belonged in Disneyland. Just imagine cobblestoned streets with water surrounding the city, boats and gondolas as means of transportation, with large ornately designed bridges connecting street to street. There was always an Italian playing an accordian or a guitar on the streets while you walked the city. It was all completely magical and enchanting and I loved every minute of it.
Italy was one of my favorite places that we visited on this grand tour adventure. I know that I will see it again. Ciao!

2009-08-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

FRANCE
France was... well... stinky. Everywhere we went it smelled. That seems to be the memory that sticks out most in my mind. Urine, cigarette smoke, body odor the smell is something that I am trying to forget. The country of France itself is beautiful and enchanting . Paris is large and exciting. I discovered quickly that there was too much to see, and never enough time to see it all.
The French people were not the kindest people I have ever met. Their language is difficult to understand and impossible to speak, and it was extremely difficult to communicate and find your way around. The country is full of museums. Art, modern art, sculptures, statues, etc. etc. etc. You can either immerse yourself in it, or get completely lost in it. I found myself doing a little of both. It all could be a little overwhelming at times.
My favorite part of France was when we left the city. The countryside was beautiful. Versailles and some of the other palaces we visited were stunning. Although, the history behind it all was extremely sad. The French people have had some pretty horrible leaders in the past, and hard times because of it all. It was always very interesting to go these palaces and learn of the people that had once walked the same halls that we were walking. France may not be my first choice in a country to visit again, but I enjoyed my time there and it holds much more for me to see. Au Revoir!

2009-08-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

ENGLAND
Words honestly can not describe the wonder of this place. It is, to say the least, magical. London was fast paced and exciting, but at the same time calm and surreal. There was never a dull moment or a time where there was nothing to do. The last week there we spent the majority of our time in the English countryside. Now this was something that honestly took your breathaway. When you see the beautiful countryside, and the large beautiful palaces that lie on these lands, you completely forget about the vast city and craziness that lies just an hour away. For me it was always a moment to rest and contemplate.
The people in England are some of the kindest, most gentile people I have ever met. They are not loud and boistrous like the Italians, or snobbish like the French. I noticed this especially riding the metro or the train. The people were very quiet and introverted, some may take this as a sign of rudeness, but I found it more intriguing. As I studied the people around me I noticed that they were always reading. Always expounding their knowledge on whatever they could. I found this very interesting. At first I was nervous to ask the people for help, but I soon found that the English people didn't mind helping you and didn't mind sharing what their country has to offer. They have a pride about their country that is different than any other place that I have ever been.
The English history stretches back for thousands of years. Something, like our English tour guides always like to tell us, that we Americans could never comprehend. I admire the history, and the way that they as a country and people have learned and grown from it. They enjoy sharing their history and realize the impact that their people have had on the world. Although, they share and show their history in a way that makes you gain a total respect for the country as a whole. We Americans would not be here if it wasn't for the English. I feel that out of all of the countries we had the opportunity in visiting, I learned and grew the most here. I love England with all my heart and can not wait until I can return. Cheers!

8/4/09 -- Finale!!: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Final Goodbyes

2009-08-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Today is the very last day of my trip, and I'm so so sad! It went by way too fast. Today was the last day as a group and we went to Buckingham Palace all together. It was such a great place to end. The palace is beautiful and is one of my favorite palaces and homes that we have visited this trip. There were so many times that I would just walk into and my mouth would drop completely open. They were breathtaking. My favorite room was the music room. It was so beautiful! There was a circular area that was just for the piano and I love that. I love when there is an emphasis on such a beautiful instrument as the piano. It was stunning.

After walking through the palace Julia and I went to the cafe for the treat of the day. They had these yummy chocolate tarts and ice cream. They were so cute! They had little crowns on top of the tart and the ice cream. We took pictures outside and then spent some time in the gift shop. It was so much fun.

2009-08-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Julia and I in front of the back of Buckingham Palace.

Singin' in the rain at Buckingham Palace.

Our chocolate tart and ice cream at the Buckingham Palace cafe.

2009-08-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

After Buckingham Palace Beccah, Mallory, Whitney, Julia and I went to the restaurant ASK. It was the last horrah of going out to eat before we leave. It was very delicious food. I ordered an Italian pesto pasta. It was delicious, and tasted like American Italian not real Italian which was nice ha ha. We spent about an hour or so at lunch and then Julia and I seperated from the others and went to Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey was really cool. It's a really really old cathedral that is full of memorials to all sorts of great people and burial sites for the kings and queens of the country. Julia was so funny she found the Abbey to be a complete unorganized mess. But I thought it was so cool. To stand in the same place that Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Winston Churchill and other great people had once stood was really cool for me. My favorite part of the Abbey was the memorial to the Unknown Soldier. It was this beautiful plaque on the floor and was where a soldeir from WWII had been buried. They never were able to identify him and this happens to so many soldiers. So in honor of all the unknown soldiers they created this memorial. It was a beautiful plaque and had roses all around it.
After Westminster we had to go back to Portobello Road AGAIN to meet up with the other girls. I'm pretty sure that was our third time going back. ha ha. and I found something to buy again! It's a total trap for me. I bought the prettiest dress though it was completely worth it. We had to quickly run over to Queensway so I could buy a duffel bag to get all of my crap home! Luckily it only cost me 5 pounds. Thank heavens.

2009-08-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

The menus at ASK.

My delicious pesto salad at ASK. So yummy. It will be weird to go home and not take pictures of everything I eat.

The outside of Westminster.

More of Westminster Abbey.

Julia and I outside of Westminster Abbey.

2009-08-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today being the last day I decided I had to say some goodbyes! I strolled around the building and made sure to take a picture of where I've lived for the past 2 1/2 weeks. This trip has been the greatest experience of my entire life. I feel like I have grown so much over the past 5 weeks. I have learned so much for interior design and architecture especially. The Europeans were all complete geniuses! And I'm so grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn from them. I feel like there is so much inspiration in the world and I can't wait to get back home and design!
This trip overall has been a huge learning experience for me. I have loved learning about all of these other countries and experiencing their cultures and ideas, but more than anything this trip made me realize how much I love America and what a great place it is. We really are so lucky to live where we do. I have loved every minute of this trip, but I'm excited to get back home! Ciao, Au Revoir, and Cheers for the final time.

2009-08-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

Our front door!! It was such a pain to unlock every day, but I will miss it.

Our building! Number 13.

Our street .. Manson House!

I heart the Tesco. We would go there everyday. It was a really inexpensive fast grocery store that just had what you needed and nothing more literally. But it was nice because it was on the way home from the metro station. So we would just stop there on the way home. I'm going to miss it!

8/3/09 -- A Day of Rest

2009-08-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today was so nice and relaxing. Julia and I got back to the flat from Scotland at around midnight and we were so exhausted, so we allowed ourselves a day to sleep in. We got up around 10 am and did our final run to Hyde Park. It was such a beautiful day. The first time I've seen blue sky in London. And I loved every second of it. We took our time making sure to run past the things we hadn't seen yet. I think we've covered that park entirely. Things go a lot faster when you run everywhere. I think I'm going to try that the next time I come to Europe. I'll probably see tons of stuff. Ha ha jk that would be so tiring. Anyway, in the park we ran into Allie and Erica. We stopped and walked some witht hem and then we all ran back to the flats together. I can't believe this trip is over. It went by so fast! I'm going to miss all of these people so much.
Anyway, after running Julia and I showered and got ready for the day. I had to get some last minute gifts for the fam so we headed back to Portobelo Road because all of the stuff there is extremely inexpensive. I found way too much stuff that I liked and purchased way too much that's for sure. Ha ha i'm such a shopper! I did so well this trip to not be, but I gave in while we've been in London. Ugh oh well. The stuff is super cute! and I think my family will really like it.
After Portobelo we went to Queensway to try some Lebanese food that Julia's sister said was a must. We grabbed it and then headed to a park to eat. We soon discovered that the park was the one and only Hyde Park that we had been running through. Ha ha. So we decided to walk home through the park and take things at a slower pace. It really is so beautiful. We're not able to enjoy everything so much when we're running. It was nice to take it slow. We even stopped and sketched some of the scenery.
We got home at around 4:30 and both fell asleep! We were so exhausted from the weekend in Scotland. Ashley woke me up around 5:30 because we had to head out to th Globe Theatre! She and I saw the comedy 'As You Like It'. We got to the theatre at about 6 and there was already a long line out front. We had purchases standing tickets because they were only 5 pounds, and it's all part of the experience to be a peasant. Anyway, we stood in line until they let us in at about seven. We were able to get second row right up next to the stage. And it was so amazing! The theatre itself is beautiful and so cool. A genius design. Having the stage circular there is never a spot that you can not see. The play itself was unbelieveable. It was so funny! I was laughing the whole time. I was also surprised too that I actually understood what was going on, because Shakespeare can be a little tricky at times. He was a complete genius though, I will give him that. I thought I was going to hate standing but I really didn't even mind it. My lower back got a little tired, but I really enjoyed being so close to the stage. We got back to the flat at around 10:30 and I packed a little so that I would know about how much stuff I had! I ended up having a lot more than I thought I would so I'm definitely going to have to purchase a duffel tomorrow just to get everything home.
I am so sad that this trip is ending! Tomorrow is the last day, and then it's back to reality.

2009-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ashley and I in front of the Globe Theatre after 'As You Like It'.

All of the people around us in the circle. It was so fun to be so close to the stage even though it was hard standing for so long!

2009-08-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

A very pretty flower in Hyde Park.

Just relaxin beside the lake. Coming to Europe I missed out on some of the usual summer activities so you have to fit them in somewhere.

Kensington Gardens. Kensington Palace is where Princess Diana lived for many years. These beautiful gardens are kept up in her memory.

Portobelo Road is full of some very exciting things. Including this very well designed front porch.

Towards the end of the trip Julia and I had eaten so much sugar so we decided to only allow ourselves one treat a day. The magnum bars were today's treat and OH BOY were they delicious! The Europeans just know how to make chocolate. America is definitely struggling in that area.

8/2/09-- SCOTLAND!!

2009-08-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today started off early... very very very very very early. Kylee and Michelle were headed to Liverpool at ten in the morning so our day started at 6:45 am in hopes that they would be able to see as much of Scotland as they could before they left. That's extremely early for a free day, especially because those are supposed to be our days of rest! But whatever. Anyway, Kylee and Michelle wanted to see the coast before they left. We spent forever figuring out if that was even possible. We found a bus that would get us to some water. We asked the bus driver when we got off if he could point us in the right direction of some water. Ha when we asked for the coast he just started laughing at us and was like, "if what you mean by coast you mean a dock?". And so we walked to the dock... at 7 in the morning. It was really pretty though. The water was beautiful and there was a light house off in the distance. The only thing missing was the sand. Bummer... We did get to see the royal yacht Brittania. Well the place where it's stored, but still pretty cool! Ha ha.

We left the coast at about nine and headed up to do some touristy shopping. Kylee and I walked into a scottish shop and they were playing some sweet bagpipe music. We stopped in our tracks and asked the owner immediately where we could buy the cd. It was the Red Hot Chili Pipers. It is the raddist cd I have ever listened too. Eye of the Tiger .. Scottish style. We also bought some 100% wool scarves. They are so cute and really warm. Also traditional scottish patterns. They are very nice. The last thing I purchased for myself was the cutest little bag pipe man! He's a figuresque and is just so darling. He cost me way too much, but I just couldn't pass him up. He was worth every penny or pence whatever it is.

Kylee and Michelle left us at around 10 so Mallory, Beccah, Julia and I grabbed a bus and went to the LDS church. It was in the cutest little neighborhood and the mission home was right next to the church. It was a beautiful home. It was really cool to see. Church was so great! I felt stupid though because I forgot a dress and I had to wear jeans, but the people were all very welcoming and kind. Ha ha it was funny though the Bishop had to tell them all that they couldn't have any kind of physical contact at church because of the Swine Flu epidemic. They even started hitting elbows together to have some kind of contact, but the Bishop told them that that wasn't okay anymore. Ha ha it was super funny. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was so good. They all have the purest and sweetest testimonies and it is so refreshing to hear. I fell in love with the people right then and there.

2009-08-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

The city on the opposite end of the coast.

The beautiful coast.

Me by the coast. It was extremely early I did not want to smile at all.

Okay.. so this is a firare on the Royal Mile. It was the prettiest car I have ever laid my eyes on.

Mallory, Julia, and I by the Royal Mile sign! We had such a blast shopping and walking the famous Scottish seat.

2009-08-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

After church we took the bus back up to Prince's Street to head up to the Edinburgh castle. We got off a couple stops after what we were supposed too. We all fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were past the castle. Ha ha oops! We had to backtrack a couple of blocks. So much walking all the time. I guess it's all a part of the experience and you really do get to see a lot more when you walk. It's so tiring though. Anyway, we took our time walking up to the castle entrance. The entrance is huge! And so insane. It's the oldest portion of the entire castle. I'm not exactly sure how old it is though. We walked through the large entrance into the main square. The castle was not as big as I thought it would be. It looks HUGE on the outside, but the majority of the castle was made up of the center courtyard. My favorite part about the structure of the castle itself was that it looked as though it had been created right out of the rock. The castle seemed to just grow out of the ground. It was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. After walking around the courtyard for a little bit we went through the castle. There were the state rooms of Mary Queen of Scotts. This was really cool. Design side of it, they were not very well designed, but they were from midevil times... so I guess they were doing the best they could. We also got to see a huge war memorial that was dedicated to the Scottish army. Scotland spent many years fighting the English for independence. A lot of soldiers were killed. It was a beautiful memorial. My favorite part of the interiors of the castle was where the Scottish jewels were held. The coolest part was that they had the stone that the royalty kneels upon when they receive their coronation. This includes the English royalty. It was so cool to see.
The best part of the castle was the view! It was so beautiful. You could see all of Edinburgh from one spot. Below I have some of the pretty pictures.
After the castle Julia and I had to run, with our heavy backpacks, all the way to the train station because we weren't going to make the 6:00 train. We ended up making it and we were so relieved. The first few hours of the train ride we had a little heart to heart and told some stories. Ha ha it was so funny! After this we sketched for a couple of hours and these funny scottish boys tried to talk to us. Their accents were impossible to understand! We probably looked like such losers because we weren't able to understand half of their questions. It was super funny though.
This little weekend adventure to Scotland was one of the highlights of my entire trip. I loved every second of it. The land itself is beautiful and I just fell in love with the people. They have such a pride for their culture and their country, but not in a conceided way. They are really into family and preserving the name. I really liked that. Scotland will definitely be put on the to do list for when I return to Europe.

2009-08-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is the main tower of Edinburgh castle. It's pretty sweet.

The entrance to Edinburgh castle. It has been around for hundreds of years, and is one of the oldest parts of the castle.

The view from Queen's circle. You could see all of Edinburgh from the castle!

More of the view. So beautiful!

8/1/09 -- SCOTLAND!!

2009-08-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

So.. Today was a free day, and I decided to go to Edinburgh, Scotland! It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Yesterday Beccah and Mallory had told us that they were going to Scotland, and they kind of told us what they were doing. Julia and I were both a little worried about going because we didn't want to miss out on anything in London, and we weren't sure if our funds could cover a trip to Scotland. We soon learned that our Brit Rail passes that we have been using to take the trains would get us all the way to Edinburgh. So knowing that we decided to go to at 12:00 at night. Ha not the greatest idea because we didn't have a place to stay yet. We jumped on the internet and started looking up hostels. Not a single place was empty. It was festival weekend in Scotland so everything was really packed. I was getting a little frustrated because we couldn't find a place to stay and I wanted to go really bad! Luckily we had Kylee coming along and she jumped on the internet and found a hotel for 99 pounds and sense there were four of us it would cost us about 25 pounds each the same price that Beccah and Mallory were paying for their hostel. We decided to take the hotel and we were off to Scotland the next morning.

We woke up at 6:30 am in order to make the 8:00 am train. It ended up being Beccah, Mallory, Kylee, Michelle, Julia, and I that all went. It was such a party! Our first stop was Almouth, which is a hour outside of Edinburgh. This is the location of the Alnwick castle, which was used for the exterior filming of Hogwarts for Harry Potter. I love all of the Harry Potter sites so I was super stoked to see the castle! It took us four hours by train to get to Alnwick. When we got there it was really windy and wet outside. You will be able to tell by my hair in my pictures ha ha. We took a bus from the train station to the castle. It was so big and so cool. The castle looked just like Hogwarts. The whole time I was whistling the Harry Potter theme song out loud. It added to the scene. Outside of the castle they had a huge zoo of owls. They had one of the smallest owls I have ever seen. It was just the cutest thing. The employee held the owl and he let us pet it. It was scary, but really cute ha ha. There was also an owl that looked just like Hedwig! It was very exciting.

We went inside the castle grounds and walked around the towers and the canyons. It was mostly a fortress castle so there weren't any furnishings in any of the rooms. The countryside around the castle was to die for. It was some of the prettiest I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of spectacular views. We took some pictures around the castle and of the view. Inside part of the castle was the place of the first flying lesson from the first Harry Potter movie! It was so fun. We took some sweet jumping pictures and are planning to photoshop some brooms in there. It will be pretty cool. After touring the castle, we stopped and ate some lunch and then jumped back on the bus to head back to the train station.

The train ride to Edinburgh was about another hour and a half. I don't even notice how long it takes to travel somewhere anymore because I've done it so much! Anyway, we got to Scotland around 5:00pm. We had to try to fit as much as we could in that night because Kylee and Michelle were heading to Liverpool in the morning and Julia and I were headed back to London Sunday night. We went and checked into our hotel. It was called the Thistle hotel. Surprisingly it was so so nice! I couldn't believe it. We were stoked. The room had a giant king size bed in it and I was glad it was big because it had to fit all four of us in it. After checking into the hotel we went and got on a bus that gave a tour of the entire city. We wanted to see as much as we could even though we didn't have a lot of time, and this was the best way we could think of! It was so cool. We sat on the top of the doble decker bus so that we could see everything. They gave you head phones and had you listen to a Scottish man explain the history of the city. It was really interesting. I had no idea how old Edinburgh was! The bus drove us all the way up Calton Hill and we got some really pretty photos of the skyline of the city.

After the bus tour we headed up to the Royal Mile to grab a spot on the Ghost Tour. This was one of the coolest/scariest/funnest (not a word)/amazing things I have ever done. Along time ago Edinburgh had been surrounded by a huge wall to keep the English out. At the time they had millions of people living in the city and they no longer had enough room for everyone. They couldn't extend the city outward because of the wall so they tried to extend it upward. The Scottish couldn't build the buildings and homes out of wood because they have fires in the structures almost year round because the weather is so cold, so they had to build it with stone. The problem with stone is it can't go very high. They go as high as they could with the stone, but they still didn't have enough room for everyone, so they decided to go underground. They built these places called vaults. They were just large open spaces that people actually lived in. They are supposedly supposed to be 'haunted'. So our Ghost Tour was a tour of these underground vaults. It was so sweet. Our tour guide was so animated and really into it. Ha it was so funny. She really did actually scare me though. The vaults were really creepy and dingy. I couldn't believe people actually lived down there.

We finished up the Ghost Tour around 9:30 and headed to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. I know not very Scotlandish, but it was the only thing that sounded good at the time and it's open really late! Julia and I shared a smoothie and some delicious fajitas. It's always so nice to eat American food! and it tasted delicious. Also from our bus tour ticked there was a coupon for a free chocolate ice cream sundae, so we made sure to all get one of those. We left Hard Rock at about 12:30 and just walked back to our hotel. Beccah and Mallory booked their hostel a few days before us so they didn't stay anywhere close to where we were. We parted ways at the half way meeting point and discussed what we were going to do the next day. At the hotel we got ready for bed and we all slept like rocks. Surprisingly too because we were fitting four people in a king size bed. It was so nice though to sleep in a comfortable bed and on normal pillows. The morning came way too fast.

Today was one of the greatest days of the trip. Scotland really is such a great place. I loved every second of it.

2009-08-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hard Rock Cafe Scottish style.

Being terrified to go underground for the ghost tour.

2009-08-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh skyline. It is the most magical place!

The seats on the bus. Everything in Scotland is plaid.

Edinburgh Castle. It is so big!

Doing the Scotsman by the Scotsman. Ha ha.

Our beautiful hotel! That we found the night before at 1:30 am. And it was only 25 pounds each. Which was a steal.

2009-08-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Riding the canyon at Alnswick.

The wax statues that were in the castle. Just cuddling on up.

2009-08-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

The cutest little owl !!

Hedwig.

This owl was huge!

Alnwick Castle!

7/31/09 -- Haddon Hall and Chatsworth

2009-07-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Today was such a fun day!! We started off really really early though, having to meet at the metro station at 6:45 am. Luckily we had a lovely 2 hour train ride to the Derbyshire country. The first place we stopped was the 12th century home, Haddon Hall. We got to have a private tour of the home before any other people arrived. That was really nice! Haddon Hall was the home of Lord and Lady Manners and his been in the family since 1567. It is one of the greatest houses to survive the middle ages. It was really cool inside. Everything had stone floors and oak furniture. It was all very midievil and mystical. One of the things that I thought was really cool was all of the main stairs where the people had walked a lot over the years were so worn in they were just a big hole. It was insane! My favorite part of the house was the long gallery. It was this beautiful stoned room that stretched on with a beautiful window at the end. I really liked it. Also there were many windows in the house that had original glass still in them. All of the original glass was green, while the newer glass was white. It created a very interesting pattern.

The kitchen was also a very interesting place. The tour guide told us that the servants lived in the kitchen. They just rolled out mattresses on the floor and slept there. It was quite disgusting. She also told us that in the 13th century the cooks would just leave the same pot of soup in the fire and just keep adding things to it. They never would switch the soup out. So gross!

Haddon Hall has been used as a stage for many movies over the years, including: The Princess Bride and Jane Eyre. Our tour guide showed us the chapel where Prince Humperdink and Princess Buttercup were married. It was surprisingly really small. It's so crazy to me how these film producers can make a set look so much larger than it actually is.

After we finished touring the inside of the home we headed out into the gardens. They were so beautiful. Stone statues everywhere and a different choice of flowers and landscaping then what we have seen at the other homes. The view of the countryside from the gardens was breathtaking. Everything was so green and stunning. I loved every second of it.

After Haddon Hall we climbed back onto the bus and went to Chatsworth. Chatsworth is one of England's grandest houses. It was said to be what Jane Austen viewed as Pemberley and Pride and Prejudice and is why it was used as Pemberley in the Kiera Knightely version of Pride and Prejudice. We drove up the lane and we could see the most beautiful view of Chatsworth. It is a very grand home indeed. We got dropped off at the front entrance and we were given four hours to view the gardens and the house. Julia and I started in the gardens. They were HUGE! There were too many places to go we didn't even have time to see half of it. We saw some of the prettiest waterfalls. My favorite was the Cascade Waterfall. It was really big and extended all the way down the hill. Your allowed to walk around in the waterfall and follow it all the way down to the bottom. We took our shoes off and played for a little while in the water. It was so much fun. We also hiked all the way up to this tower that was up on the hill. It had the prettiest view of the countryside and of Chatsworth itself. After the tower we went into the house.

The house was as grand as all of the others we have been too. It is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The home was built by Bess Hardwick and her husband back in the 17th century. The grounds of Chatsworth was a gift to Bess Hardwick's husand after he helped King William III take over the English throne. When building the house he created many state rooms in hope that King William would come and visit. He never did, but the state rooms are still there today and I got to see them. They were very beautiful. I do have to say though, that my favorite part of the house was the library. It extended forever and there were over 15,000 books in there. It is said to be one of the greatest libraries in the world. As Chatsworth was used as Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice there were may areas that are scenes from the movie. It's always fun to see those things.

After the house we spent some time in the gift shop and I bought a really pretty puzzle for the family. I hope they like it! Tomorrow I'm headed to Scotland. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea, but I'm really excited! We'll see how it goes. The trip is so close to being over only a few more days. I can hardly believe it. It has been the greatest experience of my life.

2009-07-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

At Chatsworth there were a lot of waterfalls and we were able to walk through this one! It was called Cascade Waterfall and was huge and very beautiful.

Here is another one of the waterfalls. This one is called Willow Tree Fountain.

Throughout the gardens there was a ton of Contemporary art. This is one of the peices.

Chatsworth is there behind me with the emporer fountain shooting up in front of it.

Chatsworth...

2009-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Julia, my professor Susie, and I out in front of Haddon Hall.

There were some of the prettiest views of the countryside here.

Some more of the views from Haddon Hall.

2009-07-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

The outside garden of Haddon Hall. It's a beautiful 13th century home.

The Grand Gallery of Haddon Hall.

An original 13th century oak table.

The chapel at Haddon Hall... Where the marriage of Prince Humperdink and Buttercup took place in The Princess Bride.

The entrance into Haddon Hall.

7/30/09 -- A day in Bath

2009-07-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today was such a fun day! We were suppossed to go to Bath as a group, but at last minute yesterday Darrin said it could be a free day, but that he encouraged us to go to Bath. Bath is a very historical town that is about an hour or so out of London. It is where the only natural hot springs in England are located and they are the historical Roman Baths. When the Roman Empire was in power it extended all the way up into England and they created a giant spa. Also along with the pool they built a temple dedicated to the Goddess Silus Minerva.

Julia, Kylee, Megan, Ashley, and I decided to still go to Bath this morning. We woke up at about 8:30 and got on the 10:30 train. We are always really slow on days that we don't have to meet as a group ha ha. Anyway the train ride took about an our and a half or so, and I again slept the whole time. I'm starting to look forward to train rides because it gives me some time to catch up on some sleep. Ha ha it's quite nice. We go to bath a little bit before noon. We stopped at a little pasty shop for lunch. I really like pasties a lot. It's funny though, I've liked English food more than any place we've been. Probably because it's the most similar to America's. Anyway, after lunch we went into the Roman Baths. This was so cool for me. It's still almost completely standing. The Romans were architectural geniuses. They created tese large swimming pools and sauna/steam rooms with cooling off pool. They had their own heating system and their own drainage stystem, to heat the steam rooms and to drain the pools for maintenance. The steam rooms were really interesting to me. They built large rooms and then used tiny bricks stacked on top of eachother to lift the floor of the main ground. The heat was then pused into the rooms and would heat the floor from the ground up. It was so cool. When they were escavating the baths archeaologists discovered many objects from the Romans that had gotten stuck in the pipe system and rooms. They found beautiful jewels that had been from headresses, masks, rings, and all sorts of other things. That was really neat to see.

Also amongst the Baths was the temple dedicated to the Goddess Silus Minerva. She was considered to be some kind of sun goddess. Her temple was used for sacrifices, but there was also a large bath inside her temple. People would sacrifice animals outside in the courtyard on the alter, but would sacrifice objects and money into the pool on the inside of the temple. When archaeologists discovered this they found many different objects in the pool. One thing they found that I thought was quite interesting was the curse papers. The Roman people would throw wadded up papers into the pool. Historians discovered these and found writings on them. The papers held curses. The people would write curses they wished to happen to someone and would ask the Goddess Minerva if she would grant these wishes. Ha it was crazy! They had a sign with some of the things that were said on the papers. They were not very nice wishes.

After we finished touring the baths you can go to the restaurant and try some of the spa water for free. Ha so we went and tried it. It was horrible tasting stuff. I just had a sip, but it was really hot and very mineral tasting. I hope I didn't contract some disease.

We headed to the fashion museum after the Baths. This museum was a blast. It headed major designers clothes, but showed the fashion changes throughout time. My favorite was when they compared designs from the 50's and 60's to designs of today and they practically matched! It's so funny how design just repeats itself especially in fashion. They had a special exhibition on the Supremes while we were there. That was sure neat to see. It was all of Diana Ross's and the other supremes old costumes and dresses. They were stunning.

Like I said before Bath is a very historical town in more ways than one. Jane Austen had lived in Bath for a portion of her life and many of the famous scenes from her books come from the village. Walking down the streets really make you feel like you're walking the same steps as Elizabeth Bennett or Emma Watson. It was so fun! In the town they have a center that is dedicated to Jane Austen. It created a home that would have been similar to hers. It was so darling! We spent some time in the gift shop and I got some cute Mr. Darcy photos for my mom and my sisters. I also purchased a book of witty comments by Jane Austen in letters to her family. I've already read some of it and she was such a funny, but classy lady! No wonder all of her books are such classics. We didn't have time to take the tour of the center, but we did have time to have tea with Mr. Darcy! They had this room that was created to look like a Regency living room. We had tea and crumpets in there. All around us were pictures of Mr. Darcy and other characters from Jane Austen's books. It was so cute. And now I can say I had tea and crumpets! ha ha.

After our little outing at the Jane Austen center we had to quickly get back to the train because the other girls had to make it to some shows tonight. I decided to stay in and get some homework done because I had already seen Les Miserable back in Salt Lake. I enjoyed today a lot though! Bath is a beautiful little town.

2009-07-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Megan and I drinking our tea at Jane Austen's Regency Tea Party.

Just spending some quality time with Mr. Darcy.

Hmm two gentlemen asked to escort me to the tea party who to choose. Ha ha jk! This was out in front of the Jane Austen center. They were so cute! and acted just like they were from one of her books.

2009-07-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Megan and I at the fashion museum.

In the fashion museum they let you dress up in corsets and hoops skirts. Ha ha it was so much fun! And the corsets and hoop skirts were not that uncomfortable.

When they were excavating the Roman baths they found a lot of things in the water and in the worshiping pond including curses. The people would write down horrible things they wanted to have happen to a certan person in hopes that the Goddess would grant there wishes.

The steps into the Holy temple. These are the original steps. If you look closely at the top step you can see how worn it is.

Also when they were excavating they discovered things in the drainage system of the pools. One of these things were these beautiful jewels that they believe came from different kinds of jewelry and headresses.

2009-07-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Drinking the spa water. It was rather disgusting. I hope I don't get sick from it ha ha.

This is one of the steam rooms. These rocks would elevate the floor and then steam would be pushed into the room causing the floor to get hot, creating a steam room or sauna.

The largest bath. This is where the majority of the people came to swim and bathe. It was still very hot water.

A model of the Roman baths during the Roman Empire. It was a very impressive structure.

It is a very historical place.

7/29/09 -- Burghley House and lovely Stamford

2009-07-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today started off at 7:20 am at the usual metro station meeting spot. I'm so tired these days that I don't really know what's going on in the morning or where we are going. I just show up. Ha ha so I had no idea we were going to Burghley House. When we walked into the grounds of Burghley House there was this huge herd of deer. Darrin said that the house has had it's own herd of deer since it was first built. The deer would just walk right up to you, one of them even ate a carrott right out of my hand!
After feeding the deer forever we got a private tour of Burghley. Burghley House was built by William Cecil the Lord High Treasurer and Chief Minister to Queen Elizabeth I, from 1520-1598. There is no High Treasurer today because the sixth Marquess was not able to produce an heir, so the house belongs to a charitable trust that was set up by him. The house was used a lot in the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice. Burghley House is Lady Catherine de Bourgh's home. It is so fun to see all of these places that are from the movies!
The home itself is beautiful. I am really enjoying all of these English homes more than the palaces in France. Burghley House has some very beautiful rooms and some cool portraits and furniture. Burghley House had many visits from the Queens over time, so they had certain rooms that were built for the Queen. My favorite room was the green satin room. My favorite part of the room was the bedspread. It was lime green and was embroidered all over. It was gorgeous.
Many of the wood ornamentation in the house is done by the famous Grinling Gibbons. My favorite of his work in the house is the Violins that are carved above one of the doors. It is beautiful. There is also a wooden carving of a bird. The bird was carved out of one piece of wood, and you can see every single detail. The bird looks real. The tiny little feathers are even carved in the wood, you could probably pet it.
After the tour we went to the house cafe and got scones and clotted cream. They were so yummy. My scone had raisins and then I put the clotted cream on and some strawberry jam. It was really really yummy. We went out into the gardens for a little while and took some more pictures. I love all these homes, but they do start to look a little similar after awhile. We left Blenheim and headed into town.
Stamford is the cutest little town. Just your typical little English town. I liked it a lot. Many of the Scenes in Pride and Prejudice were filmed in this town and so that was fun to see too! We had about an hour and a half to look around and shop. I bought my sister a really cute necklace from Dorothy Perkins and then Julia and I spent some time at Thornton's. Ha ha it is the greatest chocolate shop ever! Oh and it was raining so hard today, it rains so hard everyday, but my worthless umbrella got wripped to shreds by the wind so I had to buy another one in town. It was a bummer. Walking around town though I found a little bakery called Gregg's. Ha just like how my Dad spells it. It was awesome.
We got back to London at about 6:00pm. Julia and I headed to Leicester Square so she could get tickets to Les Miserables and then afterward we went to H&M and Harrods. Harrods is the largest department store in the world. It was huge!! And so much fun to walk through. I couldn't even fathom how large the place was. We didn't even get through half of it. After this I came back and talked with Kylee and Ashley for awhile. Ha ha they are so funny. It's going to be hard to go back to real life and not see these people everyday. I'm just loving London and this trip I'm so sad to leave!

2009-07-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Harrod's.. the largest department store in the world. It was insane!

Feeding the deer at Burghley House.

2009-07-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Greggs the Bakers.. Spelled just like your name Dad!

Lovin' Stamford.

2009-07-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Cheering in Burghley gardens.

As always the gardens wer so beautiful.

Erica and I have the same umbrella that we both bought in Rome. They are so ridiculous and don't even keep us dry! That's why I bought a new one today.

Burghley palace had their own herd of deer. They were just running around the place and we fed them food!

Burghley Palace. GORGEOUS!

7/28/09 -- Blenheim Palace.

2009-07-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today we had to get up bright and early and meet at the metro station at 7:50. I was super tired and took forever to get out of bed, we barely made it to the train on time. The train ride to Oxford was about an hour. Oxford is another little college town like Cambridge and it houses Blenheim Palace. We took a bus from the train station to the palace. By what I saw from the bus I think Cambridge is a cuter looking town. Oxford reminds me a lot of some of the areas in Salt Lake. Not very English if you ask me.

We got to the palace around 10 in the morning or so. And walked the longest driveway EVER just to get to the front entrance. I was pretty tired by the time we got to the palace. It was a really long walk. We took some pictures outside and then Susie told us that we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We could stay at Blenheim or head into town and hang around Oxford. I decided to stay and see Blenheim.

Blenheim Palace is the home of the Duke of Marlborough. Sir John Churchill won the battle of Blenheim in 1703, and for his reward was given the land to build a palace. He built the palace and the line of Duke has passed through father to son. Winston Churchill was the Duke of Marlborough at one point and was also born in Blenheim.

We started out in the Gardens. There are so many and they are so beautiful! I think Blenheim is my favorite palace so far. The gardens are just to die for. Versailles and the other palaces have beautiful gardens, but Blenheim's is almost like a forest, it reminds me a lot of the mountains back home and I really liked that. My favorite of the gardens was the Rose Garden. It was this little fenced off area that was covered in every color of Roses. It smelled divine! And all of the flowers were so pretty. We had a good time taking lots of pictures.

Right outside of Blenheim is the largest piece of grass I have ever seen. It stretched for miles. We took our shoes off and frolicked about on it for atleast an hour and boy was it the worlds softest grass. I tumbled on it for a little while, of course, and we took lots more pictures. Ha over all we took about 200 hundered pictures outdoors alone. It was about 1:00 or so and we finally decided to go into the house.

The palace itself is just as grand as the others. Beautiful family portraits and paintings line the walls and ceilings. We got to see the room the Winston Churchill was born in, and also a whole room dedicated just to him. That was really cool to see because he was such an important man in history. The upstairs part of the palace though is super lame. They've filled it with these dummies that try to reinact scense from the past. It's not really my favorite thing to have to sit through.

After the palace we went outside and took the train to the Pleasure Gardens. This garden had a butterfly house that was filled with beautiful butterflies and poisenous flowers. Also in this garden was a giant bush maze and a playground. There were also human sized checkers and chess boards that we played on for a good while. We headed out of Blenheim at about 6:00. It was a little later than what we wanted because the last train leaves at 7:00. So we kinda had to hurry. We walked all the way to the exit gates, and they were locked, so we had to walk all the way to the other side. We got kind of lost back to the bus stop, but we ended up making it to our train on time. The train ride back I slept, which was nice, and then came back to the flat and did homework. It was such a fun day!

2009-07-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

The giant checker board! It was so fun.

Sweet ANTM picture. I'm finally figuring out my camera and the trip is ending.

Pretty picture of bumble bee on flower.

One of the butterflies in the butterfly house.

Rose petals in the Rose Garden.

2009-07-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Rose Garden. My personal favorite. It was so pretty.

The entire garden full of Roses. Hence the name.

Me on an elbow tree in the Secret Garden.

A beautiful flower in the Secret Garden.

ANTM in the Secret Garden. This is my pal Kylee.

2009-07-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

One of the many gardens at Blenheim.

Kylee, Julia, and I being friends while looking off into the abyss.

On top of a sphere in a garden at Blenheims.

Handstand at Blenheim.

7/27/09 -- Wilton House, Salisbury Cathedral, Stone Henge

2009-07-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today started off extremely early. We had to meet at the train station at 6:45. We all were running late this morning so I was completely unprepared and got to the train station with out my BritRail pass. Darrin told me to run fast and go grab it. Ha and I ran fast. I did not stop running from the train station to my flat and back. It took me a total of 5 minutes. It was really pretty impressive, and quite the work out. I was sweating so bad.

We were able to make it to our train on time even with my little sprint back to the flat. It was about an hour and a half ride to Salisbury England. We got there and had to take a bus from the train station to Wilton House. It cost us 2 pounds 30 pence, just for a silly bus ride! Anyway, we finally got to Wilton House at about 10 in the morning. Wilton House is the home of the Earl of Pembroke and has been around since the 15th century. It was designed by Inigo Jones, who is a famous British architect, in the Palladian style and it is a beautiful home. The Earl of Pembroke of today still lives there, and he is very handsome, and engaged. Ha ha. We didn't get to see him, but there were pictures all over the house. We got a private tour around the main floor of the house and the grounds. A lot of famous movies have been filmed at Wilton House including Sense and Sensibility and the Keira Knightely version of Pride and Prejudice. The grounds at Wilton House were also very beautiful. I love walking around these grand estates. After the tour they served us lemonade and pasties in the restaurant. They were delicious! The lemonade was freshly squoze and had frseshly cut strawberries and mint leaves in it. It was different, but very tasty. We got about twenty minutes to walk around the grounds and the gift shops. On the Wilton grounds they have the greatest play ground I have ever seen! It had huge slides and trampolines and bridges and teeter-totters. I had a BLAST playing on it.

After Wilton House we had to get back on the extremely expensive bus to get a ride to Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest free standing steeple in all of Europe, and it's the oldest. It is a very beautiful cathedral. We were able to get a tour of the upper part of the cathedral. We climbed a lot of stairs AGAIN, but we were able to get to the top and see beautiful views. As always it was worth the climb. We also got to see where the bells were held and we heard them ring while we were right by them. My entire body was vibrating, and my ears were ringing for a good while after. The tour guide was very informative, kind of boring, but he was passionate about the cathedral.

We spent about 2 hours in the cathedral and then went through the town to find some lunch. We looked everywhere for soething, but it was already 3:00 and everything was closed! They don't serve lunch after a certain time every day. My friends went to Burger King, but as I hate fast food I went to Starbucks and got a panini. It was not very good. I was sorely dissappointed. We had to stop at the 1 pound store to get some chocolate so I could feel better about lunch. My favorite chocolate here in London is the Dairy Milk Cadbury chocolate with fruit and nuts. It is delicious. All of the chocolate in Europe is so much better than America because they don't put the processed wax coating on the chocolate to preserve it. I love it. I've gained quite the sweet tooth her in Europe.

After lunch we piled into 4 seperate taxis and headed towards the famous Stone Henge. Stone Henge was so cool! It was one of my favorite places we went to today. It's in the middle of nowhere with the most beautiful grounds and trees and then Stone Henge is just standing smack in the middle of it all. It's surprisingly very breathtaking. We walked around the entire thing and took lots of pictures. We listened to an audio tour guide the whole time. At th end they have you decide what you think Stone Henge is. I'm thinking aliens or some kind of sacrificial temple.

We ended the day with a long train ride back to London. Julia and I sat by Megan and she told us her engagement story. It was so fun. We got home at about 9:15 pm or so, so for dinner I just went to the Tesco and bought some Raisin Bran ha ha. Came back and have been doing homework since than. I've been gone exactly one month tomorrow and I leave a week from tomorrow. This trip has just flown by! I can't believe it's almost over. It has really been the greatest experience of my life.

2009-07-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

ANTM in the Wilton House grounds.

A famous site from Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.

Wilton House itself. So beautiful!

The lemonade was so beautiful i had to take a picture. It also tasted divine.

Me drinking the lemonade.. with Brady somehow ending up in the picture.

2009-07-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

The sweet playground at Wilton House.

Salisbury Cathedral's steeple. It is so tall!

Charlie.. You bit my finger. That hurt Charlie... Ha ha.

The glass with the writing.

The view from the top of the cathedral. Beautiful as always.

2009-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

At Salisbury Cathedral.

In the telephone booth on my way to the Ministry of Magic

My handstand partner Brady. Handstanding it up at Stone Henge.

Megan, Kylee, and I being aliens at Stone Henge.

Stone Henge itself.

7/26/09 -- Free Day!

2009-07-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

So today was not very exciting at all. It's a Sunday so we decided to just take the day to sleep in and kind of recouperate. We got up at like 9 and ran Hyde Park again and then just ate breakfast and blogged for a few hours. I am finally caught up! Whoo hoo. We went to a young single adult ward at 2:30 and went for the whole block because I haven't been to church for ages. It was nice to go. We got to here a memeber of the quorum of the seventy speak. I couldn't tell you his name though. ha ha. It was really hard to pronounce. A large majority of the ward was American and from Utah. So it wasn't very multi-cultured but it was still fun.
After church we did some more homework and ate dinner. It really was a pretty boring day. But I feel lots better and I'm ready to attack my last week in Europe. I can't believe it's ending!

7/25/09 -- Free Day!

2009-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

We woke up at about 10 and went and ran Hyde Park again. Afterward we showered and got ready and headed to Portobello Road. Portobello Road is very famous and is in lots of movies. It houses the little bookshop from Notting Hill and there is a song about it in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Saturdays they have an open end market with loads of antiques and other fantastic odds and ends. They had pretty tea sets and old clocks and stuff. My mom would have loved it all. We walked down the road and I found the little bookshop from Notting Hill and got a picture. We stopped in lots of little stores on the way and I was able to find some really cute clothes and shoes! We had such a blast.

After the market we headed to the Globe theatre because Ashley and I wanted to get tickets to As You Like It. It took us forever to get there and when we got there they were all sold out of tickets until next Monday! It was insane, but we were able to get standing tickets for 5 pounds. Standing is going to be extremely miserable, but it's all apart of the experience! ha ha. Anyway after the Globe, Julia and I walked all the way to the Tower of London. It was a really long walk almost compareable to the walk to Notre Dame, almost. Anyway we only had a few hours to spend in the Tower because it was going to close soon! We were able to see the crown jewels, which were beautiful, and we also got to see the armor of King Henry VIII which was really cool. My favorite part in the Tower of London was the Bloody Tower. It told the story of the two princes that were murdered by either Richard III or Henry VII it's still a big mystery, but it was a way cool story. They even let us vote on who we thought murdered the princes, my vote was totally on Henry VII he had way more of a motive.
So earlier that morning a bunch of the girls had gotten up early to get Billy Elliott tickets. Julia and I were too tired to get up, which we totally regretted later because we really wanted to see it. But we met up with Kylee and Megan at the Tower and they said they would come with us to the theatre to see if there were any seats left. We got to the theatre and they just happened to have two restricted view tickets left. Restricted viewtickets mean you miss part of the stage based on where you are sitting so they are a little cheaper. We took the tickets and we got to go to the show! I was so excited. The show was amazing! And I didn't even find our restricted view restricted at all. Billy Elliott has some of the greatest dancing I have ever seen. This little 12 year old boy can do some amazing things. I loved it!! After the show we took pictures outside of the theatre and then just headed home to go to bed.

2009-07-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

My new ballet moves after Billy Elliott.... It had some of the greatest

2009-07-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

ANTM on the sweet red stairs in the tower gift shop.

Underneath the moat bridge in the Tower of London.

The Governor of London's home.

Me with one of the tower guards.

I could totally guard the crown jewels.

2009-07-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Julia and I in front of the Tower of London.

The crowded Portobello Market. It was so fun!

This little man was dancing around with his umbrella so I had to get a picture. At Portobello Road market! It's such a famous street.

7/24/09 -- Free Day!

2009-07-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today started out with Megan coming into our room at about 10 asking if we wanted to go with her and some other people to try to get tickets to Billy Elliott. We got to Leicester and they said that the tickets were all sold out. So we decided to head over to Victoria station to try to get wicked tickets. We got there and we were able to get tickets or Wicked that night for 45 pounds. Which I thought was a really good deal because in Salt Lake they were over 100 dollars. We headed straight back home after this to plan the rest of the day.
After we got back Julia and I ran through Hyde Park. Hyde Park is so beautiful. It's so fun to run through every morning. Julia is also such a good person to run with. We're both super competitive so we keep eachother going. I like to run becuase it stretches out all of my muscles that get so cramped up from walking. And we live so close to Hyde Park it makes things really nice.
We got back to the flat at about noon and we showered and got ready. We were going to go spend a couple hours at the Imperial War Museum. I loved this place. It was a museum full of WWII things. We spent an hour in the Holocaust section. It was really really sad. Every time I go museums like that though I always learn something new. After that section we went and looked at all the old planes and submarines. My favorite section of this museum was the children's war section. I talked about the children that had to be evacuated from London during the blitz. It told their stories, it was all really sad, but I had never heard about what had happened to all of those children because it's kind of Britain history. We left the museum about 5:30 to get home to get ready for Wicked.
We got back to the flat and quickly made dinner. We got to the theatre about twenty minutes before the show started and headed toward are seats. We were in the Grand Circle on the front row right in the center. We had a really great view of the show. WICKED is the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I absolutely loved it. I had chills running up and down my arms the entire time. It was such a fun night!

2009-07-26T11:58:00.001-07:00

Michelle, Julia, and I at WICKED!!!!

WICKED at the Apollo Theatre.

Me by one of the huge submarines in the Imperial War Museum.

The Imperial War Museum.

A memorial dedicated to Soviet Union soldiers.

7/23/09 -- Spending some time at Cambridge University

2009-07-26T10:41:00.001-07:00

So today began with yet another very early morning. We met at the metro station and ended up waiting for about 10-15 minutes for everyone to get there! It was kind of bad because we were way close to missing our train. We finally did make it though and we were on the train for about an hour or so. I slept the entire time, as usual. When we got off the train we walked through the town of Cambridge to get to our meeting place. It is just the cutest little town! There was so much to do in the town itself and we hadn't even gotten to the University yet. Darrin gave us an hour to explore the town before we had to meet up again. Julia and I headed straight for all of the cute little boutique shops. We tried on all sorts of fun clothes, I didn't find anything I wanted to buy though which was kind of a bummer.
We met up after shopping and headed toward the university. We were split into two groups once we got there because we had two different tour guides. I got put in the group with Sally as our tour guide. She was the greatest lady I have ever met! She just had the cutest accent and I just wanted to take her home with me. Actually I think everyone with a british accent I want to take home with me. It is just too cute! Anyway she was so fun and told us some really awesome stories. One of my favorites was the one she told us about what happens on May week. May week is a two week celebration after Cambridge's finals are over. The title of the celebration doesn't make much sense, but that's what they call it. Anyway, that week is just relaxed and there are parties and activities everyday. She said that about 30+ years or so ago there was this boy that would climb the side of King's College and put a silver bowl on top of the steeple. It took Professors a couple of days to get it down, and then he would put it right back up. One time they even tried to shoot it down, but he placed a small British flag in front of the pot so they couldn't shoot it down. Finally they came up with an idea to stop him. They placed this stone on all four corners of the chapel. I don't remember what it's called, but she said no experienced climber would be able to get up and over the stone. She tried to point it out to use and we could barely see it, they camouflaged it pretty well. It was a funny story.
She gave us a tour of King's College Chapel, and told us how it had to be finished by King Henry VIII. She showed us all of the places in the chapel where he had left his mark. There are these beautiful stain glass windows in the chapel and at the very top of all of them is a picture of Christ. Henry VIII had gone and put one more picture above christ. It's of him. He always viewed himself above God and Christ. It's crazy what a power hungry man that he was. He was extremely evil.
After we left King's College we walked toward the place that we were suppossed to have lunch. She stopped and showed us the senators of Cambridge house. She told us another delightful story about a group of boys, during May week, that were able to stick a car on the roof of the Senator's house! It was so funny. She was so animated when she told us this story. She even had a picture of the car on top of the roof. It was pretty crazy. She said they had no idea who put it on the roof until 20 years later the boys that put the car on the roof came out and said it was them. They had all been engineers in the war and knew how to use levers and pulleys. They had built pulleys to lift the car all the way on top of the roof. They were able to get the car up there in an hour or so, but it took the authorities a week! It was such a funny story.
She dropped us off at the place that we were eating lunch as a group. It was called The Eagle and it is extremely old. Shakespeare had put on plays at the restaurant. American soldiers had also gone to the restuarant during WWII for drinks. In the farthest room of the restuarant there are signatures and dates of a group of soldiers written in candle wax on the ceiling. It is really cool. The Eagle is also known for their Fish and Chips. So Julia and I got ourselves some Fish and Chips to share. They were surprisingly very tasty. I really enjoyed them. We had a hour break after lunch before we had to meet up again so Julia and I went to H&M and a couple of other stores. She got two shirts at H&M, but I didn't find anything that I really liked. I've gotten pretty picky about my shopping lately.
We met up again around 2 and headed towards the Cambridge University museum. I was with Sally once again. She told some really great stories inside the museum, but I managed to miss a lot of them because I kept falling asleep! I am totally sleep deprived ha ha. I fell asleep standing up and almost fell over. Everyone in my group was laughing so hard. It was pretty embarrassing actually.
After the museum we went punting! Punting is like a Gondolier in Venice. It was so fun. We all got to climb in a boat and had a Cambridge student take us around the Cam River. Our Punting Chauffeur's name was Orlando. Ha ha. He was really funny and gave us a tour of campus from the boat. He also showed us some Harry Potter sites. It's so fun to see all of that because I LOVE Harry Potter.
We finished the punting ride and then slowly walked back to the train station. We stopped in a very yummy chocolate shop. It's suppossed to have some of the best chocolate in all of England. I bought a few candy bars to take home and share. So family be excited! It is all very delicious. We jumped on the train and headed home after that. We stopped at King's Cross Station to visit Platform 9 3/4. It was so exciting! After we got home we had to get together as a group and finish our pattern assignment. I was up pretty late with my group getting it all done. But they turned out really cool I think!

2009-07-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

On my way to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The Hogwarts Express.

2009-07-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

This is where Harry Potter learned how to fly his broom!!

This is Orlando our punting chauffeur with the Hogwarts bridge behind him!

Bekah, Julia, and I in the punting boat.

The punting boats!

Sally... The best tour guide I have ever had. She was so darling!

2009-07-26T03:51:00.000-07:00

My first ever Fish and Chips ha ha. It was surprisingly really good!

Around Cabridge everyone rode bikes and they were all so cute. So I had to grab a quick picture.

Inside King's College Chapel.

King's College-- Cambridge.

The steeple that was climbed long ago during May week.

7/22/09 -- Brinton's Carpets

2009-07-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

Today we had to get up at 4:30 am because we had to meet at the metro station by 5:30. It was so miserable! Ha ha I felt like I had barely gone to bed and the next thing I knew I had to get up again. We had to get up early though because we had to travel to another city to go to a place called Brinton's carpets. They are one of the top carpet manufacturers in the world. They have showrooms in New York City and Atlanta and also in Sri Lanka and a few other places. They were really generous and picked us up from the train station and drove us out to their company headquarters. They fed us biscuits and tea ha ha and then gave us an introduction to their company. We got split up in groups and then taken to different parts of their company. My group consisted of Julia, Darrin, his wife Carolyn, and Susie. Ha ha we got stuck with all the teachers,but it was fun. They took us to meet with one of the carpet designers at their company. He showed us what he was working on and also what it took to be a designer at Brintons. He was really talented and his designs were beautiful. They have created this new look in carpets that I can't even describe. It's not out on the market yet because they didn't think it would sell with the economy the way it is, but I think they should put it out very soon because it is beautiful! Anyway after meeting with the designer we went and had a tour of the factory. Our tour guide was so cute. He was this little old man with so much energy and excitement about his company. He was really animated the whole time ha ha we had a good time. The factory was very itneresting though. They showed us how they dye the yard and then weave it to form their carpet. It was pretty sweet.

Our cute little tour guide led us back to the showroom where they served us lunch. It was kind of weird. It was just a bunch of tiny little sandwiches with weird meat in them. I can't say it was the best meal I've ever had that's for sure, but it was nice of them to feed us. They let us have an hour for lunch and we all fell asleep on the rugs and carpets the had had aruond. Ha ha it was funny, the poor things though that they were boring us to death. But Darrin told them how early we had to get up so they were a little bit more understanding after that.

Following lunch my group went and met with the one of the business representatives for a lecture. He told us about thow the company was created and what it is doing today. I'm going to admit I have no idea at all what he said. The room was super stuffy and warm and the lights were off and I was out in two seconds. Ha ha OOOPS!

The next place we went was the companys archives. This was really cool! Brinton's carpets has been around since 1783 so they have a lot of stuff. It was a library full of their older carpet designs and they use it as inspiration for some of their designs today. It was so fun to see what had been created during that time period. And the lady that was telling us about the archives was so darling! I just wanted to take her home with me. She was probably in her sixties, but she just had the cutest little accent and was so passionate about her work.

We left Brinton's at about 4:00 and got back to the flats about 6 or 7. We just cooked dinner and talked and then we were all asleep! It had been an early morning and a very long day. And we had to get up really early AGAIN the next morning.

7/21/09 -- British Museum, Sir John Sloane's, St. Paul's Cathedral

2009-07-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

Today started off with yet another museum. I'm starting to get tired of them. Ha ha I still enjoy it, but it gets a little old sometimes. Anyway we started off at the British Museum. This museum was really interesting. It houses a lot of different things, but some of the most important are the pieces from the pediment of the Parthenon, and the Rosetta stone. My favorite part was the pieces of the pediment. During World War II the Parthenon was almost blown completely apart. Pieces from the pediment and the upper part of the Parthenon we're thrown all over the ground. Archaeologists found the pieces and sent them to the British Museum to be put on display. A lot of the pieces are still kept in pretty good condition, even though they are missing a few limbs. I was still surprised at how put together they were. It was really cool to see.
After the British Musuem we went to this old house of one of the greatest architects in London. The architects name was Sir John Soane. Throughout his lifetime he not only had designed many buildings, but he also had collected many artifacts from all over the world. His house today is a museum of his designs and of all of these things that he had collected. There was som very interesting stuff in there. I thought the coolest artifact was this large bathtub that he had purchased from someone in Egypt. It was really tall and wide and had Egypitan heiroglyphs around the entire exterior of the tub. Another fact that I found really interesting was the gravesite that John Sloane had built for his dog Fanny. After his wife died he was really lonely and his dog was the only family that he had. When his dog died he built her a beautiful gravesite, it's kind of in the middle of his houses outsie in the courtyard. It's a large stone that extends up the side of the house the stone read 'Alas, poor Fanny'. The coolest part about this grave was that the top of the stone was curved similar to the telephone boxes that are all around London. Darrin told us that his design had been the inspiration for the telephone boxes, so I thought that was pretty cool.
We ate lunch as a group at the park and then headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. We are all getting so tired of walking and need a total recoup day, so by the time we got to St. Paul's we were all sleeping on the staircase waiting to be let in. I think Darrin captured some pretty funny pictures of us all. We finally went into the cathedral. It is a very beautiful church. It's where Winston Churchill's funeral was and where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. My favorite part of the church is in the back section is a memorial for the American troops that fought in World War II. There is a beautiful golden arc, and a circular mosaic floor around it that thanks the American soldiers for fighting and it's from the British people. I really found that very special.
After looking around we headed up the Dome. We've climbed so many domes at this point that we were used to the crowded and claustrophobic spaces on the way up. All of the other people around us were practically freaking out because it was so squishy for them, but we just laughed because we've climbed at least four domes at this point. It was a total of 530 stairs this time. My legs were burning, but as always it was completely worth it. The view was very beautiful, and we got some sweet pictures of London.
We climbed back down and then had the rest of the night free. Julia, Ashley, Kylee, and I just went back to the flat to make dinner. The entire group is so exhausted everyone is tired all of the time. Anyway for dinner we were having spaghetti and a salad. The spaghetti was impossible to cook because our stove would not heat up! We ended up cooking it in the microwave like easy mac. Ha ha it was pretty sick and took for ever to cook, but we all still ate it. I worked on my pattern assignment for a little bit and then headed straight to bed because we had to get up at 4:30 am the next morning!

2009-07-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

The view from on top of St. Paul's dome.

Julia and I with the view behind us.

The famous Rosetta Stone.

This was one of the pieces that was in the Metope of the Parthenon in Greece.

7/20/09 -- A day of Museums and Harry Potter!

2009-07-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

So the very first day of London. Darrin let us sleep in until about 8:30, funny how that is sleeping in on this trip. Anyway we headed off to the V&A Museum. The V&A Museum stands for Victoria and Albert and is one of the world's greatest museums for art and design. I really enjoyed this museum a lot. It had a mix of history; European, Middle Eastern, Egyptian; plus a mix of design; fashion and interior. I had a really good time in it. It was one of the museums that we had to use for our pattern assignment so it was fun to look at everything a little more closely, because I was studying it to find a pattern. It always makes you appreciate things more when you have to study it as closely as we do in design. After going through the museum we all ate our packed lunches out in the beautiful gardens.

We went on a walk around London again after the museum. We walked past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and then we went to London City Hall. This building is really cool looking. It was designed by the architect Sir Norman Foster. We also saw his other building from a distance. It's called the Gurken building, and it looks like a cucumber. It's used for the Swiss exchange building or something like that. It's a different looking building, but I like it a lot. After stopping at town hall for a little bit we headed to Tate Modern. This was another museum that we used for our patterns. I really really liked this museum. It was full of modern exhibits and modern paintings including many of Picasso's paintings. We spent about an hour in the museum, and then headed back to the hotel to eat and get ready because we were going to the sixth Harry Potter movie.

We had a quick dinner of oven cooked pizza, which actually tasted really good, and then we rushed out to get to the theatre in time. There was a total of about 15 of us that went. We went to the Empire Theatre at Leicester square. We had to stand in line for about 20 minutes and then we finally got tickets and went into the theatre. The theatre was massive!!! It honestly looked like Abravenal Hall back home, but it was for a movie. There were easily 500+ people in that theatre. It made it so magical though!!! And I loved the movie.

2009-07-25T17:01:00.001-07:00

The outside of Tate Modern.

London Town Hall. It's a really cool building!

One of my favorite things in the modern section of the V&A. It's a bookshelf.

This was a dress in the fashion section at the V&A that was inspired by a piano. I loved it.

This is the size of the dresses that the women wore during the 15th century in England. I found it on the European history floor in the V&A. It was crazy!

2009-07-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

Julia and I on top of Tower Bridge with Parliament House behind us. The second picture is the outside of Westminster Abbey, and below is of Megan and I by Big Ben!

7/19/09 -- Transfer from Paris to London

2009-07-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

So today was the transfer from Paris to London. I was definitely ready for a change of scene. We had to be up and ready at about 9:00. So I was up at about 7:00 to finish getting packed and to ge ready. My suitcase just seems to be getting heavier and heavier the more places we go! ha ha I can't even imagine how it's going to feel at the end of the trip. Anyway so we went to the station and got on the train. We were taking the EuroStar which goes through the chunnel! That was way freakin' sweet because the chunnel goes right underneath the English Channel. I got to sit by Mallory and her and I talked for awhile and I got to get to know her some more. I really like her a lot! It was fun to sit by someone new. While we were going through the chunnel I didn't really like it. The pressure from the outside onto the train makes your ears hurt really bad. That was not a fun experience at all. But thank heavens for the chunnel because we got to Paris in an hour and a half.

ABOVE: This is a picture of the guards outside Buckingham Palace.

After we got off the train we headed for our flats. The place that we are staying at is an apartment complex for international students. There are people here from all over the world. They let us come inside for a bit and the RLS, similar to RA, gave us the low down on all of the rules. Pretty basic really, but we live in a ritzy area of London called South Kensington. Apparrantly people pay big bucks to live where we are staying and so we have to be extra quiet or we get fined a lot of money. It's hard for some of the people in the group to be quiet. Ha ha Darrin calls them the cacklers. Anyway, after we got told all of the rules we were give our room assignments. I share a bedroom with Ashley, Kylee, and Julia. And then my flat mates consist of: Scott, Mark and Erika, Ali, Ashley, Lyndsey, Kaitlin, and Brady. There are a lot of us and it's quite the adventure. We were assigned to flat number 17 and, don't worry, it's at the very top of the building so dragging our suitcases up to the top was pretty miserable. But we made it. The room itself is pretty big. There are four wardrobes and two sets of bunk beds. Then the rest of the flat looks like a large dorm. There is a common room with a tv and then a pretty small kitchen.

We got settled and then met downstairs to go grocery shopping. I was so excited! I get really tired of eating out all the time. We had to stop at the ATM on the way and get some cash. The exchange rate in London is even worse than in France! 100 pounds is equivelant to about $200 US dollars. It's crazy. Anyway, my roommates and I decided to go in together on food so it ended up not being to expensive and we take turns cooking dinner which is nice. We headed back to the flats after the grocery store. But on the way Kylee and I decided we wanted to see Harry Potter 5 before we went to the 6th movie the next night. We found a little rental place and ran in to see if they had the movie. Ha ha they did so we had to create an account to rent it. We made up some random address ha the guy seemed so confused. Ha we were able to get the movie though, which was good.

After we got back to the flat we had to meet up with the rest of the group again for a walking tour of London. And boy it was a walk. We took the metro to all sorts of places, but we mostly walked around Big Ben and saw Westmintser Abbey. We also saw Tower Bridge, and the Millenium Bridge. Darrin mostly just wanted us to get our bearings of where we were to help us get around. After the tour we all headed back to the flat for our Harry Potter party!! We didn't get a very good turn out. Ha it consisted of about 10 of us, but we all brought a treat. Chocolate cake, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs yuuuummmmyyy. We didn't even finish the movie because we were all so tired, but it was fun!

2009-07-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Napolean's burial monumet.

Les Invalides. It's really neat. Napolean is buried underneath the giant golden dome.

This is me next to the bones and skulls in the catacombs. It was like that for about a mile underground.

Julia, Jeanette, and I in the catacombs. There were some scary tunnels!

Ali, Julia, Jeanette, and I before we went inside the catacombs.

7/18/09 -- Last Day in Paris!!

2009-07-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today we had the morning off to go and do some things before we left for Fountainebleu and Vaux le Vicomte in the afternoon. I got up pretty early and headed out with Julia, Jeanette, and Allie. We went to the Paris Catacombs, and boy were they sweet. The catacombs are where wealthy people had been buried long ago. It was their way of preserving the bodies similarly to mummy preservation. There started to be too many bodies down there and too many bodies in cemetaries all around Paris so they decided to take all of the extra bones and pull them apart and create something artistic out of them. So that is what the Catacombs is today. A group of tunnels lined with bones that are piled artistically. It was pretty cool if you ask me. We had to climb down about 4 flights of stairs and then wandered through these tunnels looking at piles of bones. It was very haunting in a way, but we had a blast! Afte the Catacombs Julia, Jeanette, and I went to Les Invalides for a total of about 20 minutes. It was military headquarters during Napolean's rule. It's also where he was buried. Even though we didn't get to stay there to long it was still neat to see.

So I know this is confusing... I'm behind on blogs so down below is my pattern assignment for London and then the rest of this day is continued after that. Hope you can figure it out.

Pattern Assignment

2009-07-24T04:34:00.000-07:00

Part of the time that I am here in Europe I have to certain assignments. One of these assignments was to create three patterns using something that we had seen in the three museums we had been to in London so far. These three museums are the V&A, Tate Modern, and British museum. They were all very interesting and I had a good time finding all sortsof patterns. After we designed our own patterns we had to get with a group and make our patterns look unified in a way. My group decided to use watercolors all sharing the same color scheme. I think they turned out pretty sweet! Below I have a picture of my patterns, it's kinda hard to see, and also what inspired these patterns. Enjoy!

PATTERNS

2009-07-24T04:25:00.000-07:00

The patterns in order from top to bottom: V&A Museum, British Museum, and Tate Modern.

This was my inspiration for my first pattern from the V&A Museum. It was a tapestry on a wall in the European history area. This museum was full of all sorts of different kinds of things. I really enjoyed the European history floor because that's kind of what we're studying and surrounded by right now. I figured picking something from this floor depicted what I'm doing right now best. Inside the tapestry there is a devil figure that has a crown upon his head. I took this crown and abstracted it to create what you see in my pattern now.

This is the picture of my inspiration for the second pattern from the British museum. It is a shield from the Egyptian time period. If you can look closely at my pattern it's all tiny circular shapes that form a shield in your mind. I placed them all in a circular formation too so that the collaboration of the form itself creates a shield shape.

This is my inspiration for my last pattern from Tate Modern. The painting is called "Cossacks" and is by Kandinsky. I really liked a lot of his work. This painting especially was a favorite because of the way that Kandinsky uses his lines. That's why when I was creating a pattern from this painting I chose the lines, and just joined them together to form a repeated pattern.

2009-07-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

We all climbed onto the bus at about 2:00 and headed for Fountainebleu. I'm so tired all of the time these days that I slept the entire ride! It took us about an hour or more to get there. Apparrantly the drive was very beautiful but I missed almost of all it because I was sleeping. Anyway, we got to the palace and it was so pretty! Nothing insanely massive as Versailles, I'm not saying that it was small, but in comparison to Versailles it was realatively small in size.
Fountaineblu was the main palace for the royals. Although Versailles was the capitol and the main palace, they spent most of their time in Fountainebleu. It is a beautiful palace. Very ornately decorated and large paintings and murals in every room. My favorite part of this palace was the large library that Louis XV built for his wife. It was a long corridor that extended at least the length of a football field. It was extrordinary. I'm guessing that my little sister would be loving life. The gardens outside were just as pretty as the other chateau's. I really enjoyed Fountainebleu.

2009-07-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

The oldest surviving throne in all of France. It is designed to this day after Napolean III throne.

This is some of the furniture from my favorite room in Fountaineblu. It was Marie Antoinette's tea room. It was so adorable.

Louis XV had this huge library built for his wife, so she could take long strolls without leaving the palace. It was massive, but very beautiful.

Me in front of Fountaineblu. It was a very beautiful palace.

2009-07-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

After the grocery store we got back on the bus and headed for Vaux le Vicomte. Vaux le Vicomte has quite a history behind it. It was built by Louis XIV minister of finance, Nicolas Fouquet. He was a very wealthy man, and while Louis XIV was building Versailles he decided to build a palace of his own. When Vaux le Vicomte was completed Fouquet invited everyone, including the king, to a grand dinner party. When the king arrived at the estate he realized that Vaux not necessarily was larger than Versailles, but was grander in it's own way and everyone at the party loved it. He was very envious of Fouquet for his house and he immdiately had him arrested for 'high treason'. Fouquet had to go through many trials and was found guilty and was put in prison. Louis XIV went back and changed his sentence to life in prison. Fouquet spend 19 years in confinement before he died.
I found this story very sad. All in all it reminded me a lot of the Count of Monte Cristo. It followed a similar story line. When we approached Vaux le Vicomte I immediately understood why the king was so upset. The house is magnificent. Seriously nothing even compares. A large front courtyard and beautiful entrance with a painted dome. I loved it as soon as I stepped into the house.
We were lucky and had tickets to the candelight tour. All of the lights were turned off in the house except for candles that lit the way. It was so neat!
The gardens outside of Vaux are very beautiful too. It was raining really hard though so we couldn't follow the gardens by candelight. It made me very sad because I was looking forward to seeing it. Overall Vaux le Vicomte has been my favorite chateau of the trip.

2009-07-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

The back of Vaux le Vicomte. It was so pretty I was so sad that it was such a rainy day.

A close up shot of the back. It does not give the place enough credit at all.

Me balancing on this sweet barrel at the front of Vaux.

The front of Vaux le Vicomte from a distance. It's beautiful!

7/17/09

2009-07-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I accidentally did this blog a little bit backwards so sorry! We went to Versailles earlier today and then after it was starting to get so cold and I was headed to the Eiffel Tower to climb to the top. I decided to stop at H&M and do a quick little shopping trip and buy myself some pants because I didn't bring any. Brilliant I know. But we went in and were looking for some pants and I found some, but they were closing so the employee would not let me try them on. I ran into the corner really quickly and Julia made a wall around me and I tried on the pants. They looked cute and fit well ha ha so I bought them. It all took a total of 10 minutes. My fastest shopping experience that is for sure.
I got the pants and then Jeanette, Julia, and I headed toward the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is Paris's main icon. Climbing to the top is a must do in France. We just hapened to pick the coldest night ever! It was raining almost the whole time and the wind was blowing so hard. We had to wait in line for about an hour to get up to the top, but it was completely worth it! The view from the top was one of the best I've seen yet.

2009-07-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Eiffel Tower after we got to the bottom. It was so cool!

Jeanette, Julia, and I freezing on the way up to the top!

The view from the top! We got to the top right when it went dark. It was beautiful!

2009-07-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Versailles. Words honestly can not describe how beautiful that place is. I can understand why the french people were so upset with the kings for having what they had when they had so little because that place is breath-taking. The day began cold and wet which was dissappointing because I wanted a good day for Versailles, but it turned out for the best. We got this great tour guide named Sid who was very animated and interesting to listen too. I thoroughly enjoyed him. He also had this sweet mullet on the back of his head that was braided. Don't worry as soon as we all saw that, camera's were out and we were trying to get some sweet shots of his braid. I think mine is pretty good.
The palace of Versailles started out as a hunting lodge. Louix XIII was the first king that started to build more onto the palace. But Louis XIV was the king that really got the palace going. When he became king he told parliament that he wanted the capital of France to be changed from Paris to Versailles and waned a beautiful palace built. That same day he told parliament that he did not want a prime minister and so Louix XIV ran the country almost entirely by himself. He was such an important factor in the building of Versailles that his mark 'the sun' is seen throughout the palace. The inside of the palace is beautiful. Large glass windows, huge diamond chandeliers, large paintings that go from floor to ceiling, and intricate furniture. I honestly could not imagine that anyone lived there.
When I walked outside the palace into the gardens I honestly could not speak. It was so beautiful. The land around this place is huge! Just acres and acres of space, covered in trees and flowers and bush mazes (i'm not sure what they're called ha ha). One of my favorite parts about the gardens at Versailles was what Louis XIV called 'Little Venice'. It was this lake that was surrounded by trees and there were little boats all along it. Sid said that he used it to transport things back and forth. It was very beautiful.
Every king and queen that lived in Versailles added something new to the place. Louix XVI and Marie Antoinette's changes I feel were the greatest and the most beautiful. Marie Antoinette hated living at Versailles and being in the public eye all of the time. Her husband really loved her so he built her a Petit Trianon or little palace where she could go to get away from Versailles. Around the Petit Trianon there is a place called Hamlet which is suppossed to resemble the countryside in Austria where she was from. It is the cutest little place. Honestly it is magical. There are little houses and gardens everywhere and a beautiful little pond. It was my favorite part of Versailles. I could see why Marie Antoinette loved being there so much.
There is just too much to tell about Versailles! It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I'm really glad that I was able to see it.

2009-07-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hamlet! It is the most magical place on earth. Me inside the vines of the arch on the way to the Petit Trianon. There are the greatest gardens at Versailles. So beautiful.

The Petit Trianon. I could see why Marie Antoinette preferred it to Versailles. It was the cutest little place.

Around the Trianon Marie Antoinette had her own theatre where she put on plays and also acted in them. It was beautiful. Very ornately decorated and had frescoes painted on the ceiling and the walls. Carrie you should get one of these. You can put on your one women acts. ha ha ha.

Versailles had some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen!

2009-07-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

The pond outside of Versailles right before you get to little Venice.

Me outside Versailles. It was the most beautiful place.

The view of the gardens from inside the palace.

Our tour guide Sid! And his sweet braid.

Louis VIX the king that did the most work on Versailles.

7/16/09 -- Villa Savoye, KONG, Musee d' Orsay

2009-07-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Today we started out with Villa Savoye. Villa Savoye is a home that was designed by the architect Le Corbusier. It was built in the 1920's and is based on Corbusier's five points of architecture. The five points are: pillars lifting the house from the ground, horizontal windows, a free plan, a floating facade, horizontal sliding windows, and a roof garden. Corbusier believed that a structure that is built with these five points is architecturally perfect. The part of his five points that I really enjoyed was the roof top garden. He says that this is important because it restores the area of ground covered by the house. Villa Savoye is built in the prettiest place. You walk off this street into an area that is completed surrounded by trees and the house is sitting right in the middle. The outside of the house is very cool. On the inside there is a famous staircase that is spiraled. It was really neat to see it! My favorite part about the house was the fact that it's an extremely modern building, but was built in the 1920's. It's a pretty amazing hting. I lovd seeing Corbusier's work.
After Villa Savoye we went to Phillippe Starks restaurant 'KONG'. Phillippe Stark is a modern designer today and designs some pretty cool stuff. His restaurant? Awesome. Lots of bright colors, cool lamps, good food. It was great! It was pretty expensive, but Julia and I shared this club sandwich it was delicious. My favorite part of it was the random egg on top. A lot of French food has eggs in it. I think my little sister Aimee would hate it. But I loved it. We all had a really good time.
We headed to the Musee d' Orsay after the restaurant. This museum was a lot easier to get around and a little bit smaller than the Louvre. There was works from Degas, Monet, Manet, Causset, Rousseau, and lots of other reall great paintings and sculptures. My favorite of the ones I listed is Degas. A lot of his work is of dancers, and they are beautiful. Also in the museum was the original plans and models of the Paris Opera House. This was really neat to see. They had a huge model by Charles Garnier of what the Opera House was going to look like. We also noticed that the ceiling that is in the Opera House is different than what was in the model. We found out that there was a fire and they had to re-touch up the ceiling so the the painting got changed a little bit. The Musee d' Orsay is my favorite museum so far!
After the museum Erica, Ali, Julia, Jeanette, and I all went to the Arc de Triomphe. On our way to the Arc we walked the Champs d'Elysees. It's Paris's most famous street! It has a ton of designer shops and fun restaurants. We also saw the great Obelisque that now stands where Marie Antoinette and Louis VXI were beheaded. I really enjoy history a lot so to see these important places in history are really cool for me. We finally made it to the Arc de Triomphe at about sunset, which was perfect because we got to hike to the top and see beautiful views of Paris. The Arc itself is a war memorial and also a memorial for Peace. It stands above most buildings and is suppossed to be a reminder to all. Whenever important world figures come to Paris they stand on top of the Arc to support peace. My favorite part about the Arc was not only the view, but the fact that every street in Paris leads to the Arc. All eyes toward peace. It was a really neat experience.

2009-07-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

My favorite sculpture at the musee d orsay.. It's by Degas and it was beautiful! The little dancers tu-tu is real material.

My food at Kong! It was so so yummy.

2009-07-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Villa Savoye.

Me by the famous interior staircase.

Corbusier's Pony Chaise. It is the most comfortable chair!

The Arc de Triomphe.

The view from a top the Arc de Triomphe.

2009-07-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

7/15/09 -- St. Chappelle, Pompidou, The Louvre

2009-07-22T12:41:00.001-07:00

We started today off with St. Chappelle. It's a church that is suppossed to have some of the prettiest and largest stained glass windows in the world. It was really cool on the inside. The windows were huge and the stained glass windows told stories from the bibles starting from the bottom to the top. They were very beautiful. After the church we walked to the Pompidou.

2009-07-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Pompidou is a modern museum that was designed by Richard Rogers. It is the coolest building on the outside! On the inside it's full of modern furniture, and paintings. My favorite part was all of the furniture. It's fun to go to these museums and see things that I have been studying in school all year.

2009-07-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

I found myself a handstand partner! Ha ha so this is Brady and I doing some handstands at the Pompidou.

There were so many cool modern designers at the Pompidou. Including Eileen Gray.

Just relaxin on some sweet purple modern furniture.

The view from on top of the Pompidou.

On your way to get to the top of the Pompidou, there are these escalators on the outside that let you see some pretty views of Paris!

2009-07-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Going to the Louvre was a dream come true. It's something I've been hearing about since I was very little so I was extremely excited to see it. As you walk up to the Louvre there is an archway and through the archway you can see I.M. Pei's pyramid. When I saw this view I was so pumped! The pyramid is breathtaking and it adds so much to the whole feeling of the museum and the palace itself. We took pictures outside of it for awhile and then headed inside of the museum. The museum itself wasn't my favorite part. It is very crowded and so large it's impossible to see everything in one trip. I went to the Mona Lisa and was dissappointed. It is the smallest painting in the entire museum I swear. There are so many people around it and there is so much bullet proof glass that you can barely even see what's going on. My favorite thing in the Louvre though was the Winged Victory. It's this huge sculpture of a women with wings that is standing upon a cliff reaching towards the sky. I thought it was very inspiring.

2009-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

More handstands.. at the Louvre this time.

Most likely the best picture ever. I was pretty pumped to be there.

This is my favorite view of I.M. Pei's pyramid. It was so cool to look from the inside up. It is such a good design.

The Winged Victory.. One of my favorite things in the Louvre. It's breathtaking.

Can't quite remember what this one is called ha ha but I loved it all the same.

2009-07-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

So.. after deciding to leave the Louvre, Josie told Julia and I that there was this library in Paris that Joanne, the Dean of our college, said was a must see. We figured out how to get there and realized it was going to take about 45 minutes or so on the metro. But Josie said that we had to see it. We jumped on the metro and got lost. So I had to try out my french skills once more and try to figure out how to get to the lirary. We finally made it and it was NOT cool at all. We were all very dissappointed. We walked inside to get a drink and inside the vending machine was a snickers. An AMERICAN snickers. So I had to get it. I think it ended up being around $2.00 but it was divine. We took the metro back and then went straight to bed because it had been a very exhausing but exciting day.

2009-07-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

This snickers was the greatest thing I have ever eaten. It's weird how much you miss American food after you'be been eating new things for 3 weeks.

The French National Library... It was not very cool at all.

7/14/09 -- BASTILLE DAY!

2009-07-20T16:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Bastille Day! Ha I think that's what the French say. Bastille Day in France is like the fourth of July back home. So of course there was a parade in the morning. Julia and I got up at seven to get a good seat at the parade. We went with Nancy and Courtney who are costume designers on the trip with us because no one from our group was awake! The parade didn't start until ten so we sat around and talked. It was so crowded though I could barely move. The parade started at the Arc de Triomphe and then went down the entire Champs e Lysee. There were so many peopled lined up on both sides of the street. The parade finally started and there was some sweet stuff! They had tons of planes and helicopters that flew over the road and then they started the procession of the soldiers. While the soldiers that ride horses ( I don't know what they're called) were waiting for their turn to go, they were parked right in front of us. The horses were massive! It was really fun to see. The parade was just the beginning of a very eventful day.

2009-07-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

At the parade there were these HUGE horses! They stopped right in front of us and we got a really good view of them. You can see how big they are because the man next to the horse barely can reach it's head.

Throughout the parade there were tons of planes and helicopters that flew across the sky. It was sweet.

When the planes flew across the sky they left red, white, and blue stripes and other shapes across the sky.

2009-07-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

So... after the parade Julia and I left Nancy and Courtney and headed for Notre Dame. We looked at the map and from where we were at it didn't look that far. We started walking and the cathedral just seemed to get farther and farther away. We were both so tired and onry we didn't talk the entire walk there. ha ha. We had to stop a couple of times to go to the bathroom. It is impossible to find a public bathroom anywhere in Europe! We finally got the courage to ask a restaurant owner. I tried to practice some of my junior high french.. such as "bonjour monsieur, toilette?" ha ha ha. They always answer in English. Luckily the restaurant owner had a bathroom upstairs. When we got out of the bathroom there was a whole line of American girls behind us. I guess they had the same idea we did.
After the bathroom we stopped for a crepe. It was really gross too. The one we had in Venice had been way better! I was very dissappointed too because France is suppossed to be known for crepes.. but whatever. Anyway we finally made it to Notre Dame after 2 hours of walking. We sood in line for about twenty minutes and then were led into the cathedral. It was so cool! The Rose Window was my favorite part. The one thing I hate about all of the Catholic cathedrals is how dark they are. They are scarier then they are religious.

2009-07-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

The outside of Notre Dame.

Me inside a gothic arch at Notre Dame.

One of the stained glass windows in the cathedral.

The Rose window in the Notre Dame. It is so pretty.

2009-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

So after Notre Dame we hopped onto the metro and headed for the Paris Opera House. Julia and I are getting really good at figuring out the cities transportation systems. We haven't gotten lost once! Which I think is pretty impressive. So of course we got to the Opera House in really good time. Out front there were tanks and army trucks for Bastille Day, and they had a band out front playing French folk tunes. Ha ha it was so fun. We stopped and took pictures in the tanks and the trucks, and then went inside the Opera House. It is the prettiest building I have ever been inside. Huge chandeliers, long marble staircases, the works. My favorite part was the huge hallway that had mirrors on both sides and these beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling from both ends. When I walked into that hallway I was completely awe-struck it was so amazing. The auditorium itself is unbelievable. Red velvet tapestry's and furniture coverings, and the entire ceiling was painted. Ah I can't even explain how unreal it was.

2009-07-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite place in the Opera House. The whole hallway was lined with mirrors and the prettiest chadeliers. The picture does not even come close to what it actually looked like.

Me on the grand staircase up to the auditorium This is where they filmed the 'masquerade' part in the Phantom of the Opera.

Julia and I in a box inside the auditorium. It's so cool!

The outside of the Opera House.

2009-07-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

After the Opera House we decided to make one more stop, even though both Julia and I were exhausted. We made the long metro ride to Le Sacre Cour or the church of the Sacred Heart. We got off the metro and it seemed like we were in a pretty sketchy area, so we started booking it as fast as we could up the hill to the church. To get to the church we had to hike probably about a million stairs. It was exhausting. But we finally got up there and like always it was totally worth it. You could see all of Paris from the top of this church. There were so many people around though so we didn't want to stay too long. We took some pictures and walked around the church and then got out of there and headed back to the hotel to try to get some rest before the firework show.

2009-07-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Le Sacre Cour- The church of the Sacre Heart. It is so cool.

There were some sweet break dancers out front. You can see the beautiful view behind them.

The view from the other end. Plus the million stairs we had to climb.

2009-07-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

After our quick power nap, Julia and I met up with some of the other girls and we headed out at around 6:00 to get good seats for fireworks. They didn't even start until ten so we had a long night ahead of us! When we got to the Eiffel Tower it was so crowded. I have never seen so many people in one area at a time. They said on the news later that there had been over 1 million people there. While we waited we chatted with some fellow english speakers next to us. They were from Vancouver. The show finally started an for the first two hours they had Jonny Hassy singing. He's some french singer, but he totally reminds me of Neil Diamond. He was terrible. Finally the fireworks started, and it was definitely worth the wait! It was the coolest show I have ever seen. They had this projector on the Eiffel Tower that made it look like it was changing shape. Then they went through the procession of France gaining Independence, and then just through the main periods of time. They had a hippie time where the entire tower was covered in flowers and peace signs. It was pretty cool.
When the show ended it was pretty close to impossible to find our way out of there. We were told that it was really dangerous to be Americans and out at this party so we made sure not to speak any english. We all hooked arms and tried to stay connected through the mob of people. I felt like we were a herd of cows. It probably took about 45 minutes to get back to the hotel. But it was so worth it! Check out the fireworks video and the pictures. Bastille Day is such a great day.

2009-07-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry I know it's the wrong direction! I couldn't figure out how to switch it, but you get the idea still of how cool this show really was!

2009-07-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

FIREWORKS! This really was the best show I have ever seen. Hooray for Bastille Day!

All of us waiting for the fireworks to start.

7/13/09 -- Arrival in Paris, Sketching, Shopping, Boat Tour

2009-07-16T13:30:00.001-07:00

Today was a really good, relaxing day. We got to Paris at about 8:30 in the morning. We got on a bus at the station and got dropped off at our hotel. It's not as bad as the hotel in Florence, but it does not even compare to the one in Venice. But it will do. Darrin gave us about 20 minutes to freshen up and then we were heading out to sketch. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and sat at a park across from it. We did a 20 minute sketch and then played a game and did a 3 minute, a 1 minute, and a 30 second sketch. Ha mine turned out pretty hilarious. After we finished up sketching we got the rest of the day off. So I came back to the hotel and tried to get a little sleep and then did some laundry. At about 4:00 Julia and I went out with a couple other girls. We went shopping and grabbed some dinner. I ended up eating this strange Lebanese food. It was really good at the moment, but made me so sick later. I have decided I just need to stick to the simple foods.

2009-07-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

The usual H&M picture! I have to get on in every city I go to.

Handstanding it outside the Eiffel Tower.

All of our sketches lined up outside the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower. It is so cool! And somehow Julia ended up in this picture I did not notice that until I just posted it now.

2009-07-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

After shopping and dinner we all met at the hotel and went on a walk along the Seine River. It had the most beautiful sunsets. Although the river itself is disgusting. The entire thing smells like urine. It's pretty sick actually, but the views were pretty! We walked to this boat dock and waited for like 2 hours for this boat tour. By the time we got on the boat it was 10:30 at night. The boat took us around the Seine and showed us major sights in Paris. It was really pretty at night, but I could not understand our tour guide so it was a little difficult to know what was going on exactly but we all had a good time! After the tour we just headed back to the hotel and went to sleep to get ready for the following day.