Wombling About Jane Austen Country

Today I took a much anticipated trip to Bath and Avebury.  Before coming to the UK I did some research about different places in England that I was interested in visiting. Watching a DVD of my favorite travel guide Samantha Brown in Bath I knew that this was a place I simply had to visit!  Because of this, it was with much excitement that I boarded the bus this morning.

The two-hour long bus ride featured some of the most beautiful countryside that I have ever seen.  The rolling green hills covered with hedges, sheep, cows, and horses were so peaceful and pretty.  It is easy to see how authors such as Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters were so inspired by their surroundings.  How can you not be moved by such gorgeous scenery?

Countryside from the bus

The bus ride also introduced us to our tour guide for the day, Dave.  Dave was by far the best tour guide that I have had on any of the daytrips.  He had a great sense of humor and had very interesting facts to share with the group.  I especially appreciated how he used references to musicals such as The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof.

As we approached the city of Bath, Dave shared the history of the town.  It was very interesting to hear how Bath was a Roman settlement and site where individuals would come to worship the Gods and soak in the baths.  Later, it became a place where rich families would come to socialize in the grand assembly halls.  Dave compared the city to something like a giant mixer event for the wealthy and noble. He also told us that the buildings in Bath feature a very distinct golden colored stone.  Whenever buildings are rebuilt, the stones are recycled to keep the city the uniform color and style.

Our first stop in the city was the Roman Baths.  The temple and baths located here were built between 60 and 70 AD at the location of a Sacred Spring.  It was a place of veneration for local people before the Romans came.  Its sacred pool is where the spirit of the Goddess Minerva dwelt and the hot waters were used by the Romans to supply the baths. 

Me at the Roman Baths

Statues of famous Romans

The remaining remnants of the temple and the baths were so well preserved and it was amazing to get to see them in person.  It was really fascinating to see all of depictions of the Roman Goddess of Wisdom, Minerva, as well as all of the stone relics.  Although you cannot bathe in the water, it was neat to be able to walk around the Great Bath and smaller East and West Baths and to imagine what it would have been like during the time of the Romans.  The audio tour that we were provided with gave great insight into what each of the areas of the site were used for and the layout of the museum really gave you a feeling of what it would have looked like.

Remnants of a part of the temple

Following our trip through the baths, we grabbed a quick lunch.  We had pasties which are basically flaky dough pies filled with beef, potatoes, and vegetables.  The traditional one that I had was delicious.  Soon after this, we met up with Dave who agreed to take whoever was interested on a walking tour around the city to see the sites. "Wombling" around the city, to quote Dave, we saw some of the best architectural features.  To start, we saw the Bath Abbey which is decorated with scenes from the Bible.  Dave pointed out the depiction of Jacob's Ladder showing individuals climbing to the heavens and one demon looking individual climbing down to hell.   

Bath Abbey

Continuing on, we saw the Assembly Hall which used to be used for social balls and gatherings.  Being the Jane Austen fanatic that I am, I loved picturing the social functions that would have taken place here.  I also enjoyed how Dave related many of the sites we were seeing to Pride and Prejudice characters, such as Elizabeth Bennett, and key plot points.

The coolest architecture that we saw on the tour were the famous Circus and Royal Crescent.  Designed by John Wood Sr and John Wood Jr, the Circus is a large circular roundabout of uniform houses.  The exteriors of these buildings featured beautiful columns, windows, and decorative features.  Acorns found on the top of them represented the founding of Bath by Gladud.  Gladud was a royal who was banished from the capital due to his contraction of leprosy.  It is legend that he was cured of his leprosy by rolling in the mud fueled by water from the hot springs like his pigs.  Because pigs eat acorns, the acorns tie this legend into a major site of the city. 

The Circus

The Royal Crescent is a large half-circle of extravagant buildings featuring tall stately columns.  This building overlooks a beautiful green park. 

Myself, Brittanee, and Miranda in from of the Royal Crescent

Dave said that many period movies are filmed in front of this building due to its preservation of the classical style. On our way back to the bus, we passed the Jane Austen Centre, which is dedicated to the great author and her works. Jane Austen lived in four different locations in Bath and spent some of the happiest and saddest times of her life in the city.  It was so cool that I got to trod on the same streets that one of my favorite authors walked on during her life.

The Jane Austen Centre

Our next stop of the day was Avebury and its famous ancient stone circles.  About 5,000 years old, imonuments in Europe. It is made up of two small stone circles surrounded by one larger outer circle of stones.  Much larger than the more well known Stonehenge, it surrounds a small village and allows visitors to get up close and even touch the monuments. Due to the rainy winter season, the ground was quite muddy around the stones.  This only added to the adventure of the day.  We had lots of fun trouncing through the mud and trying to avoid slipping and falling as we hiked up and down hills.  The circles were really cool to see.  It felt a lot less touristy than I can imagine Stonehenge is, because you can walk right up to the stones while relaxing and taking in the natural elements of the fields.


Path leading to the stone circles



Katherine with a row of stones

Me with one of the famous stones called the "Devil's chair"

What struck me most about this location was that just how inspiring it was.  The amazing landscape and stones provided a backdrop for a place that I could see myself just sitting and contemplating life.

On the way back into London the bus driver shared a copy of The Kings Speech in honor of the Oscars taking place this evening.  I must say, it was the perfect end to an even more perfect day.

Time to Intern

This past week I began my internship at Public Eye Communications.  It is a personal public relations firm which handles the publicity for many actors and athletes.  So far, I am really enjoying my time there.  Everyone is very welcoming and friendly.  They organized a lunch in honor of the start of my internship on Thursday which was a very nice way to get to know everyone a bit better.  Many people have come up to me on multiple occaisions to ask if I have any questions and to offer their guidance as I start to learn all about Public Eye.  Each day begins with looking through magazines for press coverage about any of the clients.  Next, I scan any of the articles that are found into the computer system and email out a short message transferring the information to the publicists who handle the mentioned client. The middle of the day is consists mainly of answering and transferring phone calls and working on various projects for individuals.  So far it has been a great experience! I have enjoyed learning all about the work that the publicists do as well as learning about the various clients.

Fiesta Forever

Spring Break 2011 was definitely one for the record books.  Three days in Barcelona, two days in Madrid, and many wonderful and memorable times.

Last week I finished up finals on Tuesday afternoon and then prepared the forthcoming trip to Spain.  Although Spain wasn't on the top my original list of trip destinations because I had already visited it, I was very excited when Tuesday night came around and I was preparing to leave.  After the crazy weekend of studying, I was more than ready to travel and experience some Spanish culture.

Our journey began very early in the morning on Wednesday.  I woke up at 2:10am to finish my final packing before catching a cab at 3:00am for the Easybus station near Earl's Court.  Our bus departed at 3:30am and we were finally on our way to London's Gatwick Airport North Terminal. The line for security was very short because of the early time we arrived and we quickly made our way inside the departure area. Since we had some time to kill before the plane boarded, we ate breakfast sandwiches at EAT and did some people watching.  A little over 30 minutes before our flight we were able to head to Gate 106 to board.

The flight left right on time and was very smooth.  We all caught some extra shut eye, falling asleep even before the flight attendants finished their safety protocol announcements. I woke up to a plane filled with blazing sunshine and one of the most amazing views I have ever seen out of a plane window: the peaks of the Pyrenees mountains.  It was so awe-inspiring to see the aerial view of all of the snowy peaks shimmering in the sunlight.

Once we arrived at the airport we proceeded to the Aerobus stop to purchase tickets for a bus to the city center.  Unfortunately at this time, Katherine realized that she had lost her wallet somewhere between London and Barcelona.  She was so calm about the whole situation though and insisted that we proceed to the hostel so that she could contact her banks and cancel her debit cards.  The bus ride was a great introduction to the city.  The immense amount of palm trees definitely made a bold statement that we were some place warm and sunny.  We got off of the bus at the Plaza de Catalunya and then made the short walk to the Equity Point Centric Hostel.

After checking in and Katherine finished settling her affairs, we decided to answer our growling stomachs' pleas with lunch.  We asked for a recommendation from the hostel and then departed heading west towards the less touristy part of town.  Along the way we walked along Passeig de Gracia which features many high end shops.  We also stumbled upon a beautiful courtyard filled with tropical palm and orange trees, benches, and flowers.  We at lunch at a small cafe that had a fixed price lunch menu.  I had an egg, ham, and peppers dish to start and a hamburgeusa for the main course.  For dessert I had the traditional custard dessert, flan. It was a great start to the tastes of Spain.

Flan

Following lunch, we had Starbucks to combat some of the tiredness of the early morning. Then we walked towards the Plaza de Catalunya to check out the fountatins that we had seen when we first got off of the bus.  This plaza was so pretty.  It has two large fountains that constantly spray water towards the sky surrounded by statues. In the center of the plaza there was a large open area which was filled with pigeons during the day.

Plaza de Catalunya

Continuing on, we began our relationship with one of the MVP's of the trip: Rick Steves.  Nikki brought along a travel book by Rick that was literally a lifesaver while in both cities of the trip.  We ended up taking many of his walking tours around Barcelona to see the sites and even took a few of his suggestions for places to eat. Following Rick's walking tour route of the Old Town, we made our way down Las Ramblas.  This is basically a wide boulevard with many tourist shops and sites to see.  Along the path there are many street performers (some creepier than others) and cute cafes to sit and enjoy the bustling scenery.  One of the coolest things that we saw here were the Roman ruins.  These ruins were discovered when construction workers in the city began to dig into the ground to build the foundation for a new hotel.  As they were digging the ruins were discovered and the plans had to be relocated to preserve this piece of history.

At the end of Las Ramblas we made our way towards the harbor.  We saw the famous statue of Christopher Columbus surrounded by lions, the pier filled with seagulls, and hundreds of sail boats.  Even though the sun had already set we decided to head off to the beach which was further north along the coast line.  It was so relaxing to stop and take in the ocean waves reflecting in the moonlight. Katherine and Leorah decided to run out onto a rock that was near the splashing tide.  Just as I was capturing their epic dash on film they were doused with a huge splash of water.

Lion by the Christopher Columbus statue

Returning back to Las Ramblas for dinner we found a restaurant located just in a large courtyard off of the main street.  We enjoyed sharing tapas and sangria before returning to the hostel to prepare for the pub crawl that our hostel was hosting.  The pub crawl group consisted of our group and about 20 Irish UCD students.  We enjoyed taking in the crazy, loud Irish students and hearing about their trip. Our first stop was a cute, small Irish pub.  The second was a posh, swanky bar that was filled with white furniture and red light.  We ended the night at a dance club that featured a house techno DJ, flashing lights, and steam.  Exhausted from the long day, we headed back to the hostel and got a good night's sleep.

We began our second day in Barcelona by quickly getting ready for exploring the city, despite the rain.  I decided to try my luck at the showers only to discover that there was not a single drop of hot water to be had.  Brrr! Warming up, I enjoyed a cup of cafe con leche, toast, crackers, and cocoa crispies for breakfast.

Soon we were on the road walking towards La Sagrada Familia, a huge cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi.  The cathedral began construction during 1882 and is just over half way completed today.  It is expected that the cathedral will be completely finished by 2026.  I have seen a fair number of amazing cathedrals during my travels and I can say without a doubt that one takes the prize as the most spectacular.  The exterior of the cathedral has three different facades (the Passion facade, Nativity facade, and Glory facade) and is filled with symbolism.

View of the Passion facade

Sculptures on the Passion facade

Me in front of the Nativity facade

The internal of the cathedral was filled with beautiful stained glass and stunning high ceilings.  In the exhibit in the basement of the church we learned that Gaudi used gravity and models to design the structure of the building.  He hung sandbags of a relative weight on strings and organized them in such a way that they represented the layout of the building.  He then used mirrors to flip the image of the inverted arches right side up. So brilliant!

Depiction of Gaudi's models

What really set this cathedral apart from all other ones that I have seen was the immense spaciousness of the architecture and the brightness inside.  The sunlight shining through the colorful glass windows and bright lights combined with the domes and high arches made for a joyous, inspiring environment.  Absolutely spectacular.

Alter with stained glass behind

Following our visit to the cathedral we took cabs to Parc Guell which is filled with Gaudi mosaics and architectural pieces. Even in the rain it was so amazing to be able to see the colorful mosaic tiles decorating buildings, the ground, and benches.  From the top of the park there was a great view back down towards the city center.  We visited the Gaudi house museum and learned more about Gaudi and the home's other inhabitants.

Parc Guell

Famous Gaudi Lizard

Mosaic benches

After exploring in the rain we took Bus 24 down the hill to the city center.  Starving from the morning, we stopped at Cafe Zurich which is frequented by locals. I had one of the most delicious jamon y queso sandwiches ever.  The restaurant added an olive oil tomato rub on the bread which was awesome and really set it apart. Feeling the need for some sweets, we decided to partake in Rick Steve's walking sweets tour which took us through some of the side streets off of Las Ramblas.  At the first location we tried a traditional dessert called Torron.  It was a flaky, nutty treat made out of butter and almonds. Due to the Spanish siesta and closed stores, we took a brief hiatus from the tour and decided to go to a Jewish temple located close by.  After 30 minutes of searching in the rain for the temple and only finding plaques commemorating the Jewish quarter, we gave up and headed back to the tour route for some churros. We ordered five orders of chocolate con churros at a cute cafe with a fun owner.  When we received our order we dug into the cups of rich, hot fudge-like chocolate while being judged by the locals savoring each bite.  It was a great first churro experience of the trip.

Chocolat con churros

Our final stop on the sweets tour was a small chocolate shop where we tried a few of the chocolate bon bons from the window.  Having successfully filled our sweet tooths, we decided to head to our next cultural attraction, the Museu Picasso. I thought that was very interesting to see how much Picasso's work changed throughout his career.  He is known for a very distinct modern style, however he started out with very classical works including portraits and landscapes. The museum was split up by each separate style of his works making it very easy to see the stark differences between them. 

My favorite pieces in the museum were Picasso's recreations of Velasquez's painting Las Meninas

Unfortunately while we were at the museum we heard from our friend Stacey who had decided to sleep in and get some additional rest at the hostel.  She was so sick that she needed to go to the hospital.  She had had a cold for many weeks but it escalated to a new height forcing her to need to seek out the help of a doctor.  In the end, she was fine but a bit dehydrated and in need of medicine. 

After the museum we visited the Cathedral of Barcelona.  One of the most famous sites of the city, it exhibited great examples of Gothic architecture.  Inside, the cathedral had many different chapels which were each decked out by different groups of wealthy community members.  Also, the cathedral contained the tomb of one of the patron saints of Barcelona, Eulalia. The building featured many gilded statues and dramatic chandeliers.



Inside the Barcelona Cathedral


For dinner we headed back to Las Ramblas to meet up with Stacey.  Exhausted from the long day we decided to walk towards our hostel to search for a restaurant.  We ended up at a restaurant called "Obama."  It was a British African Restaurant which pretty much was equivalent to American.  Being so hungry we gladly accepted a dinner of sandwiches, pasta, mozzarella sticks, and pizza. After dinner we headed back to the hostel and turned in early.

Our third day in Barcelona we ate breakfast at the hostel and then headed for the Plaza d'Espana. There we saw the stadium which used to be a bullfighting ring and the monument in the center of the roundabout. Continuing on, we walked towards the base of Montjuic which was our main destination of the day.  Translated to mean "Mountain of Jews," it is a large hill located near the coast.  We took an underground shuttle and a Gondola to get all the way up to the top of the mountain. At the top of the mountain is a castle which provides the best views of the city ever.  Because of this we took advantage of the view with many photo opportunities.  One side pf the castle offered an aerial view of the city and the mountains while the other side gave you a view of the ocean and more industrialized port.

The Palau National and view out over the city

Taking in the amazing views

Statue on the ocean side of the castle

After soaking in the sun on top of the mountain, we took the gondola back down the mountain half way and then continued on foot.  On this path we saw the 1992 Olympic stadium and the Palau Nacional which contains the Museu Nacional D'Art Catalunya. Inside, we had the chance to see more famous Picasso works as well as relics from a variety of churches and paintings by Salvador Dali. The view of the city from this museum added to the already fabulous collection of art.


Overlooking Barcelona from the museum steps



Palau Nacional

After hiking down the rest of the mountain we caught a bus headed for the beach that we visited earlier in the trip.  Because of the warm sunny weather we thought that a second trip to the beach was more than called for. Grabbing some delicious gelato, we found a spot on the beach to rest for a while.  The beach was very busy with people soaking in all that the beach had to offer.  There were a few individuals who took it even further, shedding their clothing to sunbathe and go into the water. We all decided we would still be American and remain bundled up in our spring clothing.

For dinner we made our way to Port Olimpica for Paella.  Along the way we climbed on a red rope climbing jungle gym and walked out on the rock piers. The rising moon took on a great red color as it rose above the horizon as we continued to walk towards the port.  We came across a casino along the coast and we couldn't help but stop in for a few minutes to try our luck at the slots.  Katherine and I decided to put in 5 euros each and in the end just enjoyed the sights and sounds of the casino floor.  For dinner we found a restaurant and ordered delicious bread with olive oil and tomatoes and Paella.  We ordered the mountaineer style which featured chicken as opposed to seafood and it arrived in a huge cast iron skillet.  It was so great!

Following dinner, we took the Metro back to Plaza Catalunya and searched for churros and someplace to relax before having to return to the hostel for our bags.  We ended up at a fun bar filled with crazy Spanish hosts who started yelling random cheers and belting out tunes.  As we entered the bar they shouted "Hola Hola Hola!" and were joined in by all of the other bar guests.  Our favorite song was Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby!" and we gladly sang along.

We then returned to the hostel to grab our things and then headed for the bus station.  When planning our trip we decided that the best way to get between Barcelona and Madrid was by night bus because we then saved the charge for an additional night at the hostel and were able to sleep throughout the long 8-hour ride.  Our bus left at 1:00am from the Estacion Nord and we quickly fell asleep once we located the correct seats.  I thankfully was able to sleep the entire length of the trip and was only awoken when the bus stopped to let other passengers on or off the bus because of the freezing cold air that seeped into the bus when the door was opened.  By 9:30am we arrived in Madrid and were on our way to our second hostel amidst rain and puddles aplenty.

For this stay, we decided to stay at the Cat's Hostel which was recommended both by Hostelworld.com and many friends.  When we arrived at the hostel we weren't allowed to check in yet so we dropped off our bags and went to find breakfast.  We ended up at a chain called Pans and ordered a variety of coffee, orange juice, and pastries.  While there I was able to coordinate a time to meet Alicia, a friend from home, who had traveled to Madrid for the weekend to explore the city together.

After meeting up, we all left to take Rick Steve's walking tour through the main points of town. We started in the busy square Plaza del Sol by learning about the old post office and the plaque marking the center of Spain. We also saw the statue of Carlos III and of a bear climbing a tree. Next we stopped at an amazing pastry shop that Rick recommended to try Nepolitanas filled with chocolate.  They were beyond awesome.  The dough was so flaky and the chocolate was just the right sweetness.

Enjoying our Napolitanas

Our next stop on the tour was the Plaza Mayor.  It is a large courtyard that is filled with cobblestones, pubs, and street performers.  Our favorite performer was coined "Bubble Man" because he used string to create the largest bubbles I have ever seen in my life. There also was a man dressed up like Spiderman who loved to pose with tourists.

Bubbleman in the Plaza Mayor

Continuing on, we stopped in a Mercado to purchase a snack.  Katherine and I split a baguette loaf while others tried some fresh Spanish fruit. We then found our way to Palacio Real or the Royal Palace.  Because of the heavy rain falling we decided to return to the hostel and dry off while we settled into our room.

The inside of the Cat's Hostel was so cool.  It used to be a palace and in the center there was a large courtyard room that was decked out with decorative tiles and stained glass.  There was a fountain in the center and many floor pillows found around the room. 

Courtyard in our hostel

As we were settling into our bedroom Stacey had a bit of an accident.  She stood up and hit her head on the sharp corner of one of the locker doors.  Although Katherine and I originally just thought that she would have a large bump as proof of the incident, we soon realized that the situation was much more serious.  Stacey insisted that it really hurt and moved her hand from her head to find that it was bleeding quite profusely.  Katherine and I tried to calm her down and get the blood to stop running while a nice British woman who was sharing our room ran to get the hostel owners to call for an ambulance.  We eventually were able to get Stacey calmed down and thankfully she did not have to make a trip to the hospital to get stitches.

After the incident Alicia and I went to meet up with her two friends from Sevilla who were also coming up for the weekend, Cait and Grace.  We stopped at a small cafe and grabbed coffee and sandwiches.  Then we went to the Reina Sofia Museum to meet up with everyone else from the group.  The Reina Sofia Museum is dedicated to 20th century art with a focus on Spanish artists.  Inside we explored the second and third floors, enjoying the multitude of fabulous works.  While some paintings left us pondering what the artist was thinking, others were brilliantly intricate.  My favorite rooms were those containing Salvador Dali's pieces, Picasso's Guernica, and local photography.

Salvador Dali's Portrait of Joella

A classic Picasso

Picasso's Guernica

Following the Reina Sofia, we visited the Prado, another prominent art museum in Madrid.  It contains one of the world's most extensive collections of 12-19th century European art.  Because of the sheer size of this museum and our limited time in which to see it we decided to focus our visit on pieces by Goya and Velasquez.  For me it was really awesome to get the chance to see Velasquez's painting Las Meninas.  In the Picasso Museum in Barcelona I got to see Picasso's recreations of this painting and it was spectacular to see the original in person as well. Goya's works were very interesting.  His portrayals of people were somewhat creepy and yet still very intriguing.  These pieces left us contemplating long after we left the museum.

For dinner Alicia, Cait, Grace, and I headed to La Latina.  This is an area of the city known for its great restaurants.  We found a small cafe that featured many tapas and made ourselves right at home.  We shared garlic shrimp, a chicken and cheese crepe, potatoes bravas, and potatoes with fried egg and chorizo.  We washed everything down with a glass of a specialty concoction: half red wine and half lemonade.  I would describe it as a refreshing take on sangria. Finishing our great meal, we returned to the hostel to meet up with everyone else, getting lost only three times along the way.

We ended our evening with a trip to a club called Boom which is known for its Indie music flair.  It was a great place to sit back, relax, and enjoy being with friends.  Unfortunately for us the venue didn't get very busy until nearly 2:30am at which point we were very exhausted from the day.  We headed back to the hostel to turn in for the night.

In the morning we woke up and packed our bags so that we could check out of the hostel.  We left our bags in the luggage room once again and then headed out the door.  It was a beautiful day filled with sunshine and a mild temperature.  It was greatly appreciated after the rainy day on Saturday.

Our first stop of the day was the Royal Palace.  We all decided that we had to see the interior of the extravagant palace.  The Palace is the third largest in all of Europe and is known for its ornately decorated rooms, 24 of which are open to the public.  My favorite rooms were those of Carlos III's bed chambers. Featuring beautiful chandeliers, painted ceilings, and furniture, it was so elegant. It also was amazing to be able to see the quartet of Stradivarius instruments in the Queen's rooms.  The "orchestra dork" in Alicia and I were overwhelmed by the sight of them.  So cool!  After touring the house we went on to see the armory.  Out of all of the different displays of armor that I have seen during my time abroad this display was by far the coolest.  The representations of the full horse and knight together were so neat to see.  All of the armor was also much more decorative than those I have seen other places.

Alicia and I at the Royal Palace

We left the Palace all together and headed to the Plaza Oriental and then back to the Plaza Del Sol to pick up some additional pastries for lunch.  This time I ordered 2 Napolitanas: one with ham and cheese and the other with chocolate.  Being a gorgeous Sunday afternoon the Plaza del Sol was much busier.  There were many street performers and hundreds of people milling about. Continuing on we walked to the Botantical Gardens to see some pretty flowers and exquisitely trimmed hedges. It was so great to see blooming flowers and green bushes and trees.  It was as if spring was being hinted at.

Some of the beautiful flowers in the Botanical Gardens

Cait had heard of a city bus that would take us past the football (or soccer in America) stadium where the Real Madrid team plays as well as other newer buildings.  We hopped on Bus 27 near the gardens and road it towards the more modern section of town.  Throughout the ride we saw some of the futuristic buildings that were under construction and many other historic buildings. 

Real Madrid Stadium

Awesome new buildings

We ended our afternoon together sharing stories about studying abroad and the visa application process over one last cup of cafe con leche.

The group of Londoners met back up at the hostel and we said our goodbyes before heading to the airport on the Metro.  Our flight back was relatively smooth besides the short delay to take off and unboard the plane.

Overall, spring break was an awesome experience.  It was so cool to get to see both of these cities because they were so different and extraordinary in their own way.  Although it was exhausting, it was an amazing experience that I will always remember.

Finishing Strong

This week has been a crazy one.  Between group projects for both of my classes, my first paper due, and the internship placement phase coming to a close, I have been very busy.

In my Advertising course on Tuesday I gave a presentation with two of my classmates analyzing a group of six adverts.  First we needed to share three controversial advertisements that were complained about to the ASA, or the Advertising Standards Authority.  This is a government body which is responsible for monitoring of a variety of advertising mediums in the UK and fielding complaints from the public. They analyze the complaints that come in and decide if advertisements need to be removed from publication.  We chose to present three advertisements that were related to PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  Two were adverts that PETA released in the UK themselves and the other one was an ad that PETA complained about.  The second part of the presentation was to criticize any three ads that we wanted to.  For this portion, we decided to analyze three retail holiday adverts: one for Marks & Spencer and two for John Lewis.  Our presentation came together successfully and went very well in class.

Today I gave a second presentation, this time for my Marketing course, with five other classmates.  The premise of this project was to take a brand or product and create a one-year promotional plan for entry into the UK.  My group chose the American favorite Trader Joe's.  After completing a lot of research and spending many hours working on our PowerPoint, the presentation turned out great.  Our professor seemed to really like our promotional ideas, and I am very happy with how everything went in class.

After class today I had an internship interview at Public Eye Communications Ltd.  Following many conversations with my EUSA placement manager this week and two additional internship offers, this opportunity came along.  It really seems like it is going to be an amazing experience and a great fit for me.  Public Eye is a personal PR firm which represents around 50 actors.  I will be helping out with many different PR related projects and may even get to attend a special event or two.  Everyone that I met at the firm seemed very welcoming and appeared to really love what they do.  I can't wait to start my internship on the 21st of February!

Tate Britain

Today was a lovely and relaxed Sunday.  I finished a paper for my Marketing course this morning and then decided to spend the afternoon taking in some wonderful pieces of art at the Tate Britain. 

The Tate Britain houses the world's largest collection of British art from the 16th to the 21st century.  All of the pieces that are found at the Tate Modern, which I visited during January, used to be housed in the Tate Britain but were moved when the collection grew too large for the available space.

I began my visit by viewing the exhibits focused on British art from 1880-1960.  I enjoyed reading the short write-up on the history of the art or on the featured artist as I entered each room. In this first section, my favorite piece was John Singer Sargent's painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. I loved this piece because it was so colorful and vibrant and the girls in the painting were so life-like.  I thought the portrayal of the light given off by the lanterns was spectacular too.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

After this area of the museum, I went through a section devoted to modern art as well as a special exhibit based on the idea of form in sculpture.

One of the main reasons that I was so interested in visiting this museum in the first place is the fact that it has an entire gallery devoted to Joseph Mallord William Turner.  He has quickly become one of my favorite artists throughout my time in England.  His distinctive style of painting is truly breathtaking because of the colors and fluid brush strokes.  Also, his portrayals of landscapes, sea, and sky are some of the best that I have ever seen.  I have come to love seeking out his works at each museum that I visit.  Because of this, I couldn't wait to see the area of the museum called the Clore Gallery.

During my visit, they had a special exhibit called Romantics which showcased many paintings by J.M.W. Turner and others British artists in the Clore Gallery. The display is described as revealing "the imagination and innovations of a generation defined by belief in creative freedom, rather than tradition or style."  I loved reading about the inspiration of many of the artists for the works and about the curator's goals with the exhibit. Here are a few of my favorites from this display:

J.M.W. Turner's unfinished painting Sun Setting Over a Lake (If it is this amazing unfinished I can't even imagine what the final product would have looked like!)

Harvest Home, Sunset: The Last Load by John Linnell (The clouds and landscape are so beautiful and detailed.)



Heidelberg by J.M.W. Turner (Simply Turner just doing what he does best.)



Richard Westall's The Reconciliation of Helen and Paris after his Defeat by Menelaus (A very pretty composition.)

After looking around this exhibit I went up to a special display dedicated to the methods of J.M.W. Turner.  In these rooms, I learned that in Turner's time reproductions of prints were produced by professional engravers who specialized in translating the effects of color in paintings into black lines.  The examples of these black and white prints were so intricate and exact!  It is amazing to think of the progress that we have made since that time.  Today we can easily scan and copy paintings in a heartbeat.  Additionally, I learned that Turner made over 40 different sketching tours of Britain and mainland Europe to look for inspiration for his works.  From these sketches, he would discern specific color palettes, styles of architecture, and composition designs for each location around Europe.  It was very fascinating to learn more about an artist whom I have come to admire greatly.

The Tales Of A Day In Kent

Today I took my second BU daytrip.  This time it was to the southeastern coast of England, the county of Kent.  Our destinations today were the towns of Canterbury and Dover.  This morning Katherine, Leorah, Erin, Heidi, and I boarded the bus at 8:45am and met our tour guide for the day, Ross. The trip to Canterbury took a little over an hour and a half but went by quickly because of the beautiful scenery along the way.  It felt great to get out of the city for a while and be able to see some wide open green fields, horses, and sheep. 

When we arrived in the city of Canterbury, we disembarked the bus and headed for the city center.  Canterbury is most famous for two things: the Canterbury Cathedral and it's connection to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The Cathedral was first founded in 597 by St. Augustine and was later rebuilt between 1070 and 1077.  Thomas Becket, named the Archbishop of Canterbury in1162, was murdered in the Cathedral in 1170.  It was well-known that King Henry II disagreed with the strong-willed Becket and ordered for his knights to kill him. Since that day, Becket was acclaimed as a saint and martyr and many individuals visited the Cathedral each year on pilgrimage.  This in turn inspired Geoffrey Chaucer to write The Canterbury Tales. I am really glad that we took time to visit the Cathedral because of its beauty and historical past.  It was really cool to get to see the tomb of Edward the Black Prince and to take in all of the stunning stained glass and architecture.

The Canterbury Cathedral

Quire of the Cathedral

Some of the gorgeous stained glass windows

After seeing the Cathedral we only had about 40 minutes to grab lunch before meeting up with the group to head back to the bus.  Because of this we ordered burgers and chips at a small pub down one of the side streets.  Unfortunately for us, the pub only had one chef on hand and our food took about 35 minutes to come.  We devoured our burgers as fast as possible, laughing all the while because of the ridiculousness of the situation.  During this process Erin exclaimed, "Everything is funny when you don't have time to laugh," which of course sent us into another raging fit of laughter only making it harder to eat quickly. After finishing what we could of our meal we sped back to our meeting place. We headed back to the bus as a group and then continued on to Dover. 

Dover is located at the shortest crossing point to France on the English Channel.  Driving into town we could see the amazing silhouette of Dover Castle.  For over 2,000 years there have been fortifications in the location of this castle on 'Castle Hill.'  The current layout of the castle was developed by Henry II in the 1180s.  I have to say this was one of the coolest sites that I have ever seen!  It is one of the largest castles in all of the United Kingdom and provided the most awe-inspiring views of the channel and village below.  Our visit began by braving the windy grounds to explore the Great Tower which featured many rooms set up like they would have been in Medieval times.  We had fun climbing the spiral staircase up to the top of the tower to see the spectacular view of the castle grounds as well as snapping photos in the decked out rooms along the way up.

View of bridge leading to Great Tower

View from top of Great Tower of Roman pharos and St. Mary-in-Castro

Leorah, Katherine, and Me next to the battlements

Amazing view down towards the city

Next, we traveled down the hill to visit the Secret War Tunnels.  During the Napoleonic Wars, tunnels were dug into the chalk cliffs to provide additional barracks and storerooms for troops and their equipment.  Later during World War II the tunnels were converted into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command center and underground hospital. Our tour took us through the mess hall, dormitories, and kitchen.  I was really enjoying the tour until we got to the operating room.  I did not appreciate the sound effects and detailed story about a fighter pilot who had to be operated on and ended up feeling a little woozy and lightheaded.  Thanks to my friends I quickly recovered.

Leaving the tunnels we attempted to get a glimpse of the famous white cliffs of Dover.  Struggling to make the hike down the steep hill, we decided to turn around and visit the Roman pharos and Church of St. Mary-in-Castro before returning to the bus.

Our last stop in Dover was at the beach down in the town to take a few pictures of the white cliffs.  Because the day was so rainy and overcast, we couldn't see the cliffs in all their glory but still enjoyed seeing their massive presence on the coast.

White chalk cliffs of Dover

All in all, it was a very eventful and interesting daytrip, and I am very glad that I decided to go on it.