Saturday, February 9, 2008

The Love Run

I ran the 10k Love Run today in Battersea Park! It was a such a gorgeous day to run, I didn't even need a jacket. There were about 2500 people who signed up for the race. The race started at 10, which was nice. Joe, one of my professors came with me and Kristen to cheer us on. The park runs along the river Thames, and is right near Chelsea Bridge. The course was three laps around the park. I'm not the biggest fan of laps when it comes to running a race - but it was such a fun time I didn't care! Kristen and me just before the race. The finishing point, even though it says START. Obviously, this is right after I finished. I couldn't see my time, but Joe said it was barely under 45 minutes. Running this race was such a fun experience!

Friday, February 8, 2008

The Theatre

This week I have seen two plays! Tuesday night, we went and saw Woman In Black. It has been running in London basically forever, and it is said to be winding down pretty quickly. We wanted to see it before it ends. The theatre is right in Covent Gardens, so we got our pre-play dessert (Ben's Cookie), and were off!Hannah, Kate, Me, Soj, and Liz - little did we know we were about to scream so much!
The plot: When a friendless old widow dies in the seaside town of Crythin, a young solicitor is sent by his firm to settle the estate. The lawyer finds the townspeople reluctant to talk about or go near the woman's dreary home and no one will explain or even acknowledge the menacing woman in black he keeps seeing. Ignoring the towns-people's cryptic warnings, he goes to the house where he discovers its horrible history and becomes ensnared in its even more horrible legacy.

Thursday night, I saw Othello! This is hands down the best play I have ever seen, and I will probably ever see! Although it's not my favorite Shakespeare play, the actors were phenomenal. Iago was played by the one and only Ewan McGregor, and Othello was played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. I was ten feet away from Ewan McGregor for over three hours. The Donmar is a very very small theatre, which means every seat in there is a good one. I was surprised at how small and compact the actors, stage, and audience were to each other.Right before the play, enjoying some bubbly water and a lime. Look how creepy my hand is!Me and Soj, at intermission. After the play, we hung around hoping to get a few signatures, but the big stars 'dipped out' the back immediately after the play ended. This is the guy who played Cassio.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Oxford

I went to Oxford today! It's about an hour and a half bus ride north of London. It was so much fun! It is a beautiful campus, unlike anything in the States, and incorporates a fun atmosphere for college students in the small town. Christs Church. One of the largest, and most famous of Oxford colleges, has the reputation of drawing the most aristocrats.
The outside of the Great Hall that's in the Harry Potter movies.
Along Christ Church Meadows... the boys are the director's sons, Sarajane, Me, Kristen, Brittney, and Lindsay.
The streets of Oxford are almost all cobble-stoned.More cobble stones!The Radcliffe Camera, the most famous part of the Bodleian Library, the main university library. It's the the single most-recognized building in Oxford. Another ancient beautiful building in Oxford. The covered market is the perfect place to combine history and shopping. It's filled with British chain shops, but has unique stores as well. You enter Covered Market through a little alley called the Golden Cross Arcade. It's basically a maze of shop. Balliol College. This is the most prestigious of all the colleges, and the hardest one to get into. To be a "Balliol man" in British culture means to be the top of the intellectual elite.We climbed to the top of St. Mary's church in the ancient centre of Oxford known as Carfax. Oxford is filled with rows of and rows of shops like this.Standing at the entrance to the Botanic Gardens. Kristen, Me, Soj.Finally, I found my boat!

This was such a fun day trip. A few of us are going to go back and spend some more time walking around. I was surprised at how much there is to see and do in Oxford. It's so much more than a University.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Art in the Park

Today I went out and did one of my art assignments for my Conceptual Art class. The assignment is to create something in nature, using only things found in nature or around the project. With the requirements in mind, I headed to the park. Because I like to run in the parks, I decided to incorporate foot prints into my project.

Luckily for me, it has recently rained, which made it easy for me to find foot prints. I used some newspaper that I found in the park, sticks, and leaves to fill up the shape of random footprints. For the footprint with sticks, I was quickly gathering all I could nearby because it was starting to rain. What I didn't realize is one of my 'sticks' was a worm. Gross! I hate worms.

Monday, February 4, 2008

The very last of Paris

The last couple of days I had such a fun time just walking around the streets of Paris, we went back to a few shops that we thought we'd never find again, and I ate more excellent food, and went to a few more museums. This trip to Paris was absolutely amazing!

MUSEE D'ORSAY One of my favorite parts of this museum is the building itself.The Bedroom by Vincent Van GoghThis is one of a few by Vincent Van Gogh called Starry Night. A little close up on the Starry Night. These were only a few of some of the beautiful oil paintings I saw in this museum. Musee D'Orsay was my favorite museum!

MUSEE RODINThe Thinker by Rodin. There are two versions, one inside and one outside. It was raining so hard outside, so I only snapped this one. The one outside in the gardens is much bigger, and is surrounded by beautiful landscaping.The Kiss by Rodin. Sarajane and me, having yet another fromage and jambon (ham and cheese) baguette before we head back to London. Delicious!Paris was so so so so much fun! But as you can see, I was excited to get back to a nice hot shower and some clean clothes! Au Revoir!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

The rest of Paris - literally

If you didn't get enough of Paris from those pictures, hopefully this will do the trick! Some more museums, paintings, sculptures, and more! Thursday morning started off at the Arc De Triomphe (A patriotic focal point). The Arc was built from 1806-1836. It was built to glorify the armies of the Republic and the Empire.

ARC DE TRIOMPHEI don't remember it being this big the last time I was here!Climbing more and more stairs to get the top!At the top, overlooking the Champs. Isn't it such a beautiful day?Hannah and me at the top!

From there, we shopped on the Champs for a little bit. I got a few things I'm pretty excited about (thanks dad!). It started to rain so instead of taking the walk to the Louvre, we took the metro.

LE LOUVREThe Louvre triangle. Thanks Britt for the great directions and advice for getting around.There she is! Mona herself.Mona and me. We're such good friends.Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix The Winged Victory of Samothrace - this was my absolute favorite!The Dying Slave by MichelangeloVenus de Milo, and me hanging out together.Hammurabi Law Code - The text contains a list of crimes and their various punishments, as well as settlements for common disputes and guidelines for citizens' conduct. The Code does not provide opportunity for explanation or excuses.Napoleon III had an apartment that is part of Le Louvre. It reminds me of my own room.
I had a little fun of my own out in the courtyard of Le Louvre.So close! After we were done there, we headed to dinner and crepes.
One of the best parts of Paris was all of the great food! I got the best crepe ever inside this little shop. We were in the Latin Quarter of Paris, where As if crepes weren't enough for the night, Liz, Sarajane, and me went back to the Champs Elysees and into a store called Laduree. This store has incredible macaroons. The vanilla is by far the best flavor. The four in my hand were actually bought by the man in front of me in line. He overheard me say to Liz that the vanilla was my favorite, and they had five big vanilla ones left for the day (it was ten o'clock). He said to the lady he wanted all the vanilla she had left, and then bought them. Then, he gave them to me! What a nice man! I'm pretty sure it was a big roller like Armani or Valentino. What a great night in Paris!