Beyond The Blue Line

I really did have intentions to keep up a regular blog on here but my school work took me by surprise.  I will make no promises to regular posting yet, but for now I have a goody to share with you all.

This past semester I have been a part of a student production for my Sports Production class at school.  Between the filming, editing and promotion of the show I caught few hours of sleep, but it was all worth it.  Now I have a finished product that am happy to share with everyone.

The show is called "Beyond The Blue Line" and it follows the lives of three USHL hockey players.  I like to think of it as a True Life meets the Mighty Ducks.  I was a line producer and am really proud of this production.  So I encourage you to watch the show and let me know what you think.  Don't forget to look for my name in the credits.


Beyond The Blue Line from Todd Evans on Vimeo.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

My Last First Day of School

Time really does fly.  I can't believe that I'm a senior in college already.  What am I going to do with my life?  First thing is first, I need to find myself an internship.  Actually before that, I need to get myself acquainted with my classwork.

Monday was my last first day of classes.  I'm about 90% positive that I won't try for any sort of masters or doctorate, I just want to get out there and work in a field that I love.  I start off every day with a 9:30 class in Advertising with the same professor.  Monday is account management.  I mostly excited for the fact that we are going to take a whole bunch of field trips to agencies and I will hopefully make some big time connections for later.

After a wonderful meal from our cook, Rob, I went to my next class which is sure to be one of my favorites, Broadcast Sports Production.  As a person who loves sports, shooting and editing, I can tell you that this class is culmination of all my loves.  Today we pitch an idea of a long form sports production.  I know what I will pitch but we will see how it stacks up against the other ideas.

Tuesday starts out with a Advertising research.  The teacher had us go around, introduce ourselves and say whether or not we would take a research class if it wasn't required.  I'm pretty sure I was the only person who was honest and said "No, I wouldn't take a research class if I had the choice."  It made me feel like a jackass but it's the truth.  Who really enjoys doing research anyway?

From ad research I went to marketing: consumer behaviors.  It seems like a decent enough class.  For those introductions, everyone stated who they were and a brand they were loyal too.  Me, I'm loyal to Target and Old Dutch Pickle Chips.  If you haven't tried them, you must!  They are simply delicious.  No one makes pickles chips like Old Dutch.

I ended the day with  my short stories class.  That I think I am going to love.  I will post some of my stories here if I deem them worthy.  I found some other fellow Jane Austen lovers and I'm thinking about starting a club devoted to her works.  NERD ALERT!  We will see how it goes.

So far I am really enjoying this years class schedule.  I hope drama doesn't interfere.  It always seems to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune moments.  Anyway, that's my update for now.  I'll update again soon.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

PS - If you would like to see some of my movie reviews check out my other blog: Rachel's Reviews

Almost Back to School

It's so hard to believe that my summer is almost over and I have successfully accomplished next to nothing this summer.  A whole two months of near pure relaxation with some chores thrown in there.  But on Friday I will be moving into a new house around campus.

This so called "house" is still under renovation that was supposed to be done on August 1st.  We still don't have the furniture that we ordered.  It's getting a little ridiculous.  The furniture was supposed to arrive on Monday, then that was pushed back, then again on Tuesday, and Wednesday, but today Wednesday has come and gone and still no furniture.  This will be an interesting weekend if I have to assemble beds, dressers and wash all new dishes.  Yikes!

I've been helping around this new house where I can.  Two weeks ago I painted, last week I gardened and today I helped with some closets.  So now when I leave, part of me will always be in that house.  I have also been busy around my house.  Before I leave I have been instructed to basically pack up my whole room.  Yesterday, I went through all my clothes and picked out the pieces that I can finally part with and tomorrow's task is to go through all my papers and crap.  That will probably be more painful than getting rid of some of my clothes because it involves reading.

It's weird to think that I will be a senior this year.  I've already had one future-freak-out session and I'm sure there are more of those to come.  School has gone by a lot faster than I thought it would.  I was so confident Junior year and now all that confidence seems to fade in and out of uncertainty.  I hope that through my last year of classes I can gain back that confidence that I once had.  I know I'm smart and talented but I hate it when I forget.  Perhaps I should start some daily affirmations to get my mind back on the right track.  Or maybe I just need to write some more.  Only time will tell.

I think that we can consider this the restart of my blog.  I'm rusty, I can tell.  It will get better and more interesting as things pick up.  I promise :-)

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Back in the States

I have bee back in the states now for a little over a month.  It was more of an adjustment coming home than it was leaving.  So now that I am back I think that I will keep this blog and turn it into more of a daily blog.  I will try my best to keep it up with interesting things that I have been doing.  Stay tuned.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Finals, Goodbyes and Mom Arrives

Finals week went by surprisingly smoothly.  I finished one paper on Monday, a second on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday after my Art Final.  Art was by far the most strenuous because I had to basically memorize the artist, title, method and year of over 100 works of art only to be tested over 20.  We had a very enjoyable study session for that test.

On Thursday morning my Mom arrived.  I was supposed to pick her up around 6AM to help her navigate the tubes but her flight was delayed and I had to get to a few finals, so I wrote her an e-mail so she and her friend Lee could navigate the system themselves.  However, at the bottom of the instructions I clearly stated that it would be easier to take a taxi, but they didn't read that part.  The two boarded the tube in rush hour traffic with big suitcases for an hour and twenty minute ride.  Now there are a few things everyone should know about the tube.  First is that tube etiquette is very similar to elevator etiquette, you don't talk to anyone and you don't take up much space.  Along with this knowledge everyone should know that the tube gets very congested and hot in weather over 60 degrees.  So my mom and her friend stood out like a sore thumb with there big luggage and semi-constant chatter.  She loves to tell the story, so if you see her, you should ask her to tell it.

While this is happening I was taking my Contemporary Britain final and my BES exit survey.  Neither were too strenuous, but they did leave me with a hand cramp.  As it was a Thursday, a whole group of us went for our last burrito at Tortilla.  Absolutely delicious!  It was a great sort of ending for our group.

I checked in on my Mom to make sure she made it and then went for my exit interview.  That was really our time to gripe and praise the program.  My group was the last and consequently, the longest.  I'm sure our Program and assistant director loved us after that.  I then met my Mom and Lee for a quick drink in their hotel.  I then showed them where I lived and pointed them in the direction of Buckingham palace because I had to leave for our exit party at Vandon.  There were contests for journals and pictures.  To my surprise this blog got me the award for best journal.  Woot!

While all this was going on my Mom managed to see Prince William through a car window exiting Buckingham Palace.  I had been there four months and never seen a member of the royal family, she is there 10 hours and sees a prince.  Where is the fairness?

I met my Mom and Lee for a pub dinner at the Albert.  That's where Mum fell in love with Fish 'N Chips.  I can't blame her though, that stuff is delicious.  We had a big day planned for Friday so we made it an early night and I had to pack still.  That was a chore and a half.

Stay tuned for the rest of Mom's London Visit.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Barcelona: Day 2 - The trip from HELL

I'm guessing you are thinking right now "Rachel, how can you be in Barcelona and have a trip from hell?" Well I am about to tell you.

The day started out wonderfully.  We woke up and watched election results during breakfast before heading towards the meeting place for our Gaudi tour.  Gaudi was an extremely famous architect from Barcelona.  He was sort of a mad genius and designed some amazing houses, parks and other things throughout Barcelona.

We met our tour and immediately set off.  We saw lots of Guadi's work and ended at La Segrada Familia.  It's a cathedral that Gaudi designed and it's absolutely gorgeous.  Halfway through the tour we got first word that the stupid Iceland ash cloud was heading towards Spain.  Greaaaaaat!  But our guide didn't think it would be affecting Barcelona.  It is also unfinished even though it has been under construction for over 100 years.  Supposedly it will be finished in 2038 and that is the only time I will ever agree to return to Barcelona.

The tour ended at La Segrada Familia, so we caught some lunch before going inside.  It is just as fabulous on the inside as it is on the outside.  From the cathedral we went to Guell Park.  The park is incredible.  We got some amazing views of the city and saw one of Gaudi's own place of residence.  We left the park and tried to catch the train back to the airport.

La Segrada Familia

The climb to the park

We finally made it to the top.

La Segrada Familia is on the right.

I have kept you in suspense long enough.  Here is where the drama starts.  First off, I was pickpocketed on the way to the train station.  A man kicked my suitcase and as I turned to see who did it he walked by, put his hand in my coat pocket and took my phone and a pack of gum.  Luckily it was a POS phone that wasn't connected to my credit card, but annoying nonetheless.  At the train station we were getting very confused and asked for help.  The attendant told us that platform 9 carried the train to the Airport, so we went to platform 9 and boarded the train.  Here a piece of important travel advice: always check the departure board to make sure you are boarding the right train.  Platform 9 is where the train to the airport leaves, but it's not the only train to leave from that platform.  That's right, we boarded a mid-distance train that did not stop at the airport.  When the ticket man came around, he read our ticket and informed us of our horrible blunder.  The first stop was an hour out of the way.  Luckily the ticket man didn't make us pay for a new ticket.  He probably saw the panicked faces and knew we weren't lying.  Being on that train meant we were going to miss our flight.  About 10 minutes after the ticket man passed us, Steph got a text saying our flight had been cancelled due to the ash cloud.  On one hand it was a relief that we weren't going to miss our flight due to stupidity, but on the other, if we didn't get to the airport before our flight was scheduled to leave, we wouldn't get the free rebooking.  So one panic was replaced with another.

At the first stop we got off bought new tickets and nearly missed the first train heading back towards Barcelona.  On the train we encountered some Spanish men who, at first, seemed to want to help, but later ended up annoying the crap out of me.  We were having communication problems because we spoke very little Spanish and these boys spoke very little English.  After discovering that the main guy was not in fact insulting me, but instead hitting on me by asking if I was married I had had enough, and luckily they left the train.  Note to all men:  Women who looked annoyed will only get more annoyed when bothered.

So we finally made it back to the airport and in time and rebooked our flight with EasyJet to a flight to Newcastle (in Northeastern England) for 2 PM the next day.  It was 9 by this time and EasyJet was supposed to provide us with accommodation for the night, but not dinner and we were starving.  We left Terminal C to Terminal B to eat, but when we returned the Terminal C was CLOSED!  So no accommodation for us, which meant a wonderful night in the airport for us.  I never knew that Spain could be so cold.  People tried to scam me, I was hit up for money, and it was nearly impossible to fall asleep because there was no warm part of that building.

The next day, after failing to standby on an earlier flight we made our way to our gate only to find out that our flight was, once again, cancelled.  We had to "re-enter" the country in order leave the gate.  Starting to sound like a trip from hell?  What really stumped me was that flights were leaving for London, but our flight for Newcastle couldn't handle it.  Once again we waited in line to rebook for a flight to Bristol (Southwest England) for 2 PM on Monday.  Even though we rebooked, we really couldn't wait that long.  We all finals and papers to complete by then so we began a mission to find a flight to England for that night.  Mission Impossible?  Maybe.  It looked that way.

For the next 6 hours we ran all around the Barcelona Airport and train station trying to find a flight/train, ANY flight/train back to the UK.  Trains would have either taken three days for the cost of nothing, or 900 Euro for a 12 hour journey.  Neither a viable option.  We finally found a flight to Manchester with open seats, but it cost an ungodly amount.  Even after purchasing a 200 euro ticket we didn't even get a free snack.  Where is the justice?  In Manchester, we found there were no flights or trains leaving.  Our only shot was to try to catch a coach at 12:30 AM.  It was at this time that I called my Mom.  It was Mother's Day back in the states and I wanted to explain to her why I wasn't on Skype and to wish her a happy day.  It took all I had not to break down while describing the situation.

When the coach arrived it turned out that we couldn't board without having pre-purchased tickets.  Snubbed again.  The only way home now as to take the train to Euston, London that didn't leave until 5 AM.  Another night in a transportation station... Grrrreaaaat!  Manchester train station.  was even colder and more uncomfortable than the Barcelona Airport.

I don't know if there is anything more torturous than being sleep deprived and impatient.  I would close my eyes open them, and realize that two minutes had passed since the last time I had looked at the clock.  I tried to watch a movie on my ipod, but I could barely get through a scene before pressing the menu button to find out how much time had passed.  I was physically shaking for hours from cold and exhaustion.  Longest night of my life.

Proof I was in Manchester

At 7:30 AM we arrived at Euston train station, and shortly after 8 we arrived back at our dorm.  I entered my room, broke some drinking glasses that were poorly positioned on the desk, sent a few e-mails (like to my professor and boss to say why I wasn't going into work that day), showered and fell into the most rewarding sleep of my life.

I had been awake for nearly 66 hours, suffered a wrong train, two cancelled flights, two nights in a transportation station and completed no Homework or studying while wasting nearly two days in travel debacles.  Now that's a story for the kids some day.

Wooh, that was exhausting to write about let alone live.  My next post will be a quick overview of my last few days in the Central program followed by my Mom's visit to London.  More travel stories to come.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Barcelona: Day 1 - Beach, Sangria, Clara and La Rambla

So this was a month ago, but trust me, the memory of this trip is as fresh in my mind as ever.

Before I start this joyous tale, I should give you a little background to keep in mind.  First, this particular weekend was my last weekend in London as a part of the Central program.  That also means that it was my last weekend before finals and all my papers were due.  Now, a smart person might not plan a trip on this weekend, but heck, I was in Europe.  I had booked this trip two months previous for about 60 pounds round trip.  That's a steal in the travel world.  It was also the UK national elections. You should also know that I had three papers due totaling 7200 words (roughly 18 pages) and two finals the coming week.  The Barcelona trip was supposed to be from Thursday night to Saturday night.  My logic here was that I could get all my homework done on Sunday.  Solid procrastinating plan to me.  Well, the fates had other plans, and that's where I will begin this story.

Our small group of four left for the airport just before 4 PM and we were in Barcelona by 9ish local time, hopped on a train and made our way to our hostel, Hello BCN.  It's a great hostel and we had excellent service.  They also had an interesting lock system that I had never seen before.  They give you a bracelet that gives you access to your building, room and specific locker.  Lose that bracelet and your screwed!

I was the first to enter our room.  I had taken two steps inside when I was stopped in my tracks.  Our room had roommates.  Two half-naked Brazilian men who were just about to go to bed.  Hello Barcelona.  I had stopped and stuttered hello in my shock, my travel partners become aware of my shock and pushed past me to see what was going on before they shared my expression.  I should have known that this trip would be different.

None of us slept well that night.  It was extremely cold in our room and we weren't given blankets.  We thought it was because we were in Barcelona and thought it was some sort of custom.  Who knew what we were thinking.  But we got up around 8 AM because we wanted to catch some sun.  All weather forecasts had said that it was going to be extremely stormy all weekend so we wanted to hit the beach while we could.  It was only 58 degrees when we went, so we didn't wear swimsuits but we laid on beach.  Even though it wasn't entirely sunny outside we all got some red coloring to our skin.  I swear the sun is harsher in Europe.  I would lay out all day in Iowa, under a blaring sun and 90 degree weather and not get so much as a light brown tint, but in Barcelona I can lay out in 60 degree weather and sparse sun and get burnt.

Sangria!

We enjoyed lunch along the beach and a pitcher of Sangria.  After lunch we explored the Rambla.  It's basically a street with a market running down the middle.  We bought some souvenirs and scouted where we wanted dinner.  We made it to the end of the Rambla and into a square where the pigeons were crazy.  I had never seen so many pigeons in one place before.  After messing with the pigeons for a while we took a walk through the gothic quarter before heading back to the hostel.  Two of the four in our group wanted to study for a bit.  Guess which twosome I was in?  That's right, the two that decided to take a nap instead.  Brilliant!  It felt wonderful though.

La Rambla.  This is where you need to really guard your belongings.  This pickpocket central.

The Cathedral in the gothic quarter.

Just before sunset and right at the beginning of the Magic Fountain show.

Me at the Magic Fountain!  So worth it!

After the study/nap break we made our way to the magic fountain show before dinner where we all enjoyed some paella (a spanish rice dish) and I tried my first ever Clara.  Don't know what a Clara is?  It's lemonade-beer.  Now before you write it off as completely disgusting hear me out.  People sometimes put limes in their beer right?  This is the same concept, and its delicious.

Me and my Clara.

We came back to the hostel to see some of the election results as they were being reported.  Labour was winning at this point, but the conservatives were dominating the exit polls.  It was shaping up to be a real nail-biter of an election, but since we were leaving the next night and had tour plans we decided to go to bed early.

Seems like a good trip so far doesn't it.  Well it's about to get interesting.  Stay tuned for the next post to hear about the nightmare that was the end of our trip.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Internship: Week 12 - My last working week

What can I say about this week.  So much happened so I will only cover the main events.

Tuesday was my last day at tdg.  We finished up our work and headed out for a celebratory drink.  We seemed to walk forever as Patrick played a sort of tour guide as we tried to figure out where we were going.  We did get to see the outside of Patrick's new apartment.  The building and location made me jealous.  It reminded me that people actually live in London for more than just months at a time.  Lucky!

We ended up at a wine bar to share a few bottles of Champagne.  It was so much fun!  It was kind of the perfect end to a great internship.  We talked about everything it seemed like.  We even touched on politics, seeing as the election was going to be the next weekend.  But we all left the night with a feeling great.

This was the same night that the program was going to the dog races at Wimbeldon, and also the night that I had to prepare for a presentation the next day.  Sweet procrastination.  Luckily it was a presentation on Advertising, and that's sort of my thing, or at least I like to think that it is.  My partner, Alex, and I kicked out a powerpoint in an hour and were going to refine it in the morning.  Needless to say, we rocked it, with top marks.  Sometimes it pays to have good public speaking skills.

After advertising we sat through the maybe the most painful Art class ever.  We sat in a classroom for our review session for three hours.  We looked at paintings that we had already seen but were asked questions about them that made me realize how screwed I was for the final.  I was going to need to study, study, study for this test.  We are to know the artist, title and relative date of creation not to mention how it was created.  AHHHHH!  Freak out.

Thursday was our last BES class and it was actually a reentry seminar.  The whole thing was too depressing.  I didn't want to think about leaving London.  It was followed by our last Contemporary Brit class.  It was all about Britian's relationship with America.  Talk about opening a can of worms.  Everyone seemed to agree that America like to bully Britian, and even though the Brits love the products of American culture (like TV, movies, music) they don't want to be associated with them.  But all this just reminded me that I was going to leave.  To cheer me up, we made out last trip to our favorite burrito shop, Tortilla.  It was delicious.

After Tortilla I had to go back and finish packing.  I was going to Barcelona later that day.  That's a trip to remember.  I will tell you about that next.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Brighton

Of all the trip our program had planned, this had to be the one I was most looking forward too.  A part of that was simply because Jane Austen mentioned it in Pride and Prejudice.  It's where Lydia hooked up with Wickham.  Scandalous!  As it turns out, there was a reason had the "hook up" happen in Brighton.  The Regent Prince George IV and his playboy ways made it a sort of party hip party spot for men of fortune and their mistresses.

We got up relatively early to catch a train.  It's about an hour down.  Brighton is located on the English Channel and features a pebble beach.  We were all hoping for amazing weather so we could lay out on that pebble beach but sadly it was windy and overcast the whole day.  Shocking, I know.

The first thing we did as a group was tour the Royal Pavilion, which is the place that the Regent Prince built as his sort of play house.  The building is incredible and there is no words that can really do it justice.  Pictures weren't allowed so I will do my best to describe it to you.  It has visible influences from the east on both the outside and the inside.  The great dining room had the most amazing chandelier.  The ceiling is painted in leaves and the chandelier begins with a dragon springing from the leave and the light fixture itself is supposed to be the flames that the dragon spits.  Gold is everywhere and the ornateness of the building is off the charts.  I'm so glad that I was able to see it.

The Royal Pavilion

From there we set out to find some fish and chips.  Our program director Mark told us that Brighton had some of the best fish and chips in the nation, so of course we had to test it for ourselves.  He was right.  It was quite delicious.  Traditionally, you would get the fish and chips to go and eat them on the beach, but since it was so windy, we dined in.

From the Fish and Chips shop we went to the pier.  There were little shops and bunch of games to play.  At the very end of the pier there were carnival type rides.  I of course had to ride one.  So much fun.  I went on a a crazy upside down ride, a haunted house type ride, and of course ended my pier rides on the Marry-go-round.

View down the beach from the pier

Taking off on the BOOSTER

From the pier we went to the beach.  Don't ask me why I thought this would be a good idea, but I took my shoes off.  Turns out that walking barefoot on pebbles is quite painful.  I had to do it though so I could put my feet into the English Channel.  I know that I was walking really ridiculously and probably looked like a freak but is was well worth it!

Pretty

We hung out at the beach for a while before making our way through the shops and back to the train station and headed back to London.  It was a very successful day.  Just another reason why I love the UK!

Next will be an overview of my last week at tdg and my trip to Barcelona.  You are in for a real treat.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Internship: Week 11

O my goodness.  I apologize profusely for not updating at all this month.  Between finals and papers and ash clouds, life has been crazy hectic.  But all that that really means is that I will have some very interesting posts to come.  Trust me you will be updated on all that went on in my last few weeks in London.  So now I will take you back to the last week in April.

I missed my alarm on Monday and woke up by chance extremely late.  That made for an interesting start to the week.  Luckily I pulled myself together in that little time.  Patrick was gone Monday so I went about preparing articles for twitter.  We had gained 20 the week before and that was the highest growth in one week that we have had since I arrived.  Although Partick was gone, I was given the assignment to write a Press Release to be reviewed in the morning.  It took most of the day.  I also read the latest packaging news magazine.  I ended the day with the results from the Purina search for a company to design their cat food package.  I listened in on the call between Purina and Suni.  Unfortunately tdg did not get the account but they were shortlisted and received some very good feedback.

On Tuesday morning, I felt less rushed but I also had to look a little bit nicer because some executives from the Newcastle office were stopping by to talk to Patrick about the direction of the company.  Thrishira was there and it was the first time in quite sometime that the office was full.  The meeting between the executives was shorter than expected and we all went to lunch next door at the Clerkenwell Kitchen.  That’s when we realized that I only had three days left.  We talked about what I could expect when I got home and Patrick shared some of his gossip websites with me.  I finished the day by editing the most recent thought piece for a German publisher ad reading some weekly publications.  It was not a bad start to the week.


The rest of the week was pretty normal.  In Advertising we talked about product placement and watch the new James Bond Movie, Casino Royal, to look for placements.    This week was our last in week out in a museum for art class.  I don't remember much from that week.  This is why I should have blogged right away.  What I do remember is that we went to Brighton on Friday, and that trip was so awesome that it deserves its own post.  That will be next.


Pip Pip Cheerio!

Scotland: Day 2 - Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands

My camera was fully charged for our day trip, so when I got up at 6:30 AM there was nothing to stand in the way of having a great day.  This also means that I took a ton of photos and it will be hard to choose what I include.

One of many whisky distilleries in Scotland.

We set off on our day trip around 8 AM but fell into some unexpected traffic delays, and as a result we only had a half hour at our first stop.  It was a little seaside town that Queen Victoria used to holiday.  Form there we went straight to Loch Ness (Loch is the Celtic word for Lake).  On our way we passed several beautiful Lochs, but finally we arrived in Fort Augustus on the edge of Loch Ness.

There was an option boat trip out into the middle of Loch Ness for ten extra pounds, so of course we decided to do it.  It was Nessie hunting time.  The Loch is beautiful.  Mountains surrounded every edge and the water glimmered from the overcast skies.  Loch Ness is huge and we only skimmed a very small part of it in the hour that we were on the water.  Unfortunately we were unable to locate the Loch Ness Monster but that wasn’t for lack of effort.

Me on Loch Ness.

We found Nessie!!!... Sort of.

Our next stop was the Commando Memorial.  The location couldn’t be more picturesque.  The memorial was located in lowland amongst numerous mountains.  One of these surrounding peaks is Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK.

The Commando Memorial with Ben Nevis in the background.

As we were so close to the mountains, the next obvious stop was at Glencoe.  Glencoe is a valley cutting through mountains and it’s quite beautiful.  Then in contrast to the mountains we traveled through burren area.  The whole trip was indescribably amazing to see and to experience.  As we traveled our guide told us of some cross-country walking paths along the highlands.  One in particular is called the West Highland Way.  It’s a 150KM (95 miles) walk from Glasgow to Ben Nevis.  It sounds so amazing that I have added it to my bucket list.

Glencoe

The Burren Area

Our final stop was highly enjoyable for completely different reason.  Our final stop was to Hamish, a highland bull and the most photographed animal in the UK.  Our tour guide was so excited when we stopped to see Hamish and he was standing.  We all piled out of the bus and fed Hamish apples.  It was great moment of lightheartedness.

Hamish!!!

We arrived back in Edinburgh around 7:30 PM, but that didn’t give us much time.  The day before, our tour guide Andy told us about a pub-crawl and convinced us that we should participate.  The only problem is that this pub-crawl was to start at 8 leaving us just under a half an hour to change and beautify.  We arrived at the first pub just in time.  We were to stay 40 min and enjoy our free drink with admission.  After we got our drinks I volunteered to take back unnecessary items back to the hostel.  Sadly for me, while I was gone, Andy arrived to see who was there from his tour.  The day before he told us he would be on the pub-crawl but when he arrived at the pub he was only there to say that he couldn’t make it.  Bailey and Chelsea joked that he only decided not to come when he found out I was coming back, but I know he only came to see me. Ha.

The rest of the night went wonderfully.  We met some cool people and went to fun pubs.  It was, however, a late night, which made for an interesting early morning.  We woke up, indulged in a McDonald’s breakfast before getting our 10-hour coach ride back to London.

You can't really see it, but at the end of the stream is the castle used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the coconut scene.

I have to say that Edinburgh and Scotland have been my favorite destination so far.  I loved the history and grandeur of the city.  I loved how small it was but that it was still incredibly immense in culture and spirit.  I loved the seclusion from the greater world, but the connection with the natural world.  I call Scotland the land of Mountains and Lochs, and the juxtaposition of the two makes for some breathtaking scenery.  I will definitely be going back to Scotland before I die.

That’s all for now.  My next update will be about the previous week and our trip to Brighton, the pebble beach destination in Britain.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Edinburgh: Day 1

Late Thursday night my journey to Scotland began.  I boarded a coach with Bailey and Chelsea at 11PM and we started off for Edinburgh.  For some reason I thought that taking an overnight coach would be a good idea.  The truth is that I sleep extremely poorly on a coach and then I have to face the rest of the day when I arrive at my destination.

Part of the Castle

We called it Mini Big Ben.

Just before 8 AM we arrived at our final destination.  We walked to our hostel, Castle Rock, to drop off our bags before hitting the town.  We stopped into a little café for breakfast and to plan out our day. 

I found out right away that my camera battery was five photos away from dying.  This was a huge blow.  Edinburgh is a beautiful city with a very distinct feel.  There’s the city center at old Edinburgh, full of Victorian style buildings, and new Edinburgh, which is more modern and suburban.  I was shocked to discover that Edinburgh is about the same size as Des Moines.  It felt to regal to be comparable in anyway to my humble home.

We first walked down the Royal mile from Edinburgh castle towards Holyrood Palace, which is the official residence of her Majesty the Queen in Scotland.  The palace is probably the smallest that I have seen so far, and it is situated across the road from the new Scottish Parliament building, which is rather ugly if you ask me.

The Mound we climbed.

Next to the palace there is Holyrood park and a huge mound. Having nothing better to do, we decided to climb it for some exercise and a view of the city.  It was a steep and difficult climb but it felt good to make it to the top.  We got an excellent view of the city from there.  My picture camera was dead, but I did get some panoramic video shots that I will try and share.

View of the city.  The castle is on the left, raised above everything else.

From the mound we walked back to have lunch and embark on a free walking tour of the city.  It had been overcast all day, but for the first time it had begun to rain.  Not heavily, but just enough to make the cold stick.  Luckily we had a very attractive tour guide named Andy to entertain us in the dreadful weather.  We learned a lot about the city.  We saw the place where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, the inspiration for Hogwarts and heard the story of the Stone of Destiny.  Though probably the best part of the tour came while we were in Greyfriar’s Kirk.  We explored the cemetery and came to the most famous grave where we heard the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby.  Bobby was a little dog who came and lay by his master’s grave everyday for 14 years after his death.  To this day people come and leave gifts for the world’s most loyal dog.  As Andy told us this story a black dog came up, sniffed the grave, picked up a goofy doll and began to play.  A few moments later the dog’s master appeared and became very angry at his pup and yelled, “You don’t take Bobby’s teddy bear!”  He was so serious it was just so ridiculous that we all had to laugh.

Here's Andy, even though his name tag says Russell.  Gorgeous right?

The middle window is where JK Rowling sat as she began writing Harry Potter.

After the tour we checked into our hostel.  It is apparently ranked as the number fifth best hostel in the whole world.  That was comforting.  After getting settled in we went for a tradition Scottish meal.  I got Haggis, tatties and neeps; or in American English we would say Haggis, mash potatoes and mashed turnips.  For those of you who don’t know anything about haggis, I will tell you.  To make the original dish you take the unused meat of lamb (heart, brain, intestine, etc.), mincing it, adding spices, stuffing it into a sheep’s stomach and boiling it.  Now it is not quite so crudely made and used good cuts of meat.  I quite enjoyed it.  It wasn’t incredibly flavorful, but salt helps that.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel and made an early night.  We had a big day tour the next day and we wanted to be ready for it.

My next post will be of our day trip through Scotland.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Internship: Week 10 - Earth Day and a Visitor!

Last week was such a drag.  I’m not sure why, but I was perpetually tired and my body refused to wake up.  I’m really mad at myself for that because I am only here for a short period of time.  At the start of the week I only had 30 days left in this amazing place.  It might be a sign for something.

Monday kicked off tdg’s Earth Week promotion.  I was to find, organize and tweet out 40 articles about sustainable packaging, topped off with the publication of a tdg thought piece.  It was a very successful week because we gained over 20 followers.  We usually only get about 10 a week.  I spent most of the day reviewing articles and finding ones that would be relevant.

Tuesday was very, very similar to Monday starting out.  I was reading a lot of articles and finishing up the planning for the rest of the week.  For lunch I experienced Pret a Manger for the very first time.  It’s a really good, cheap food option.  I can’t believe it took me this long to try it.

I left work about an hour early because my friend Katy was in town.  She is still on break from school and was spending a layover in London before heading out to Germany to visit another friend.  Sadly for Katy, there was Iceland Volcano that erupted whose ash disrupted the whole World.  Travel was suspended for days in and out of the UK.  She had already missed a trip to Poland because of it, and would later learn that she was going to miss Germany as well.  Major bummer.

I met Katy at St. Paul’s Cathedral and became her tour guide.  I showed her the Millennium Bridge, the Monument, Leicester Square (where we were going to see The Last Song movie premiere that was cancelled due to the volcanic ash), Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross and ended at Brick Lane.  We had a traditional Indian Dinner, but not until after we were hassled by every restaurant on the street.  Men ran from across the street to try and sell us on their restaurant.  It was exhausting, so finally we just picked a place and sat down.  It was really good to spend some time with her.

"To a Summer's Day"  (1980) by Bridget Riley.

It's a lot more colorful and fun to look at in person.

Wednesday was class as usual.  We watched a video in Advertising.  Hopefully we take a field trip this week.  Art was in the Tate Modern and I had to do a real quick presentation on a piece of art.  That night we celebrated relays one more time with a case race.  My team got second.  It made for a very entertaining evening, but a not so fun Thursday morning of class.  Thursday’s topic of discussion was Broken Britain.  It’s rather depressing to tear apart a country that I hold in such high esteem.

After class and our weekly burrito stop at Tortilla, I headed to Holborn to walk around.  There were some really interesting sites there.  One was the Templar Church which was featured in the DaVinci code.  There were a few museums that I checked out as well.  Holborn was hit pretty badly during the blitz and there is evidence of that everywhere you look.  Quite a sad reminder when you think about it.

From Holborn I went to the Imperial War Museum.  There was a lot of interesting stuff in there.  They had a mock trench set up so you could get a glimpse inside of trench warfare.  Talk about an emotional museum.  At the very end there is a tribute video to the Holocaust and if that doesn't make you at least want to cry, then nothing will.  I wouldn't mind going back.

Thursday night we left for Edinburgh (pronounced ed-in-bur-ah), Scotland on an overnight coach.  Stories from day one in Edinburgh are next.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Canterbury

The whole of Vandon House was up early last Saturday because we had a scheduled day trip to Canterbury.  It was about a 3-hour bus ride there.  Canterbury is known for it’s cathedral because the Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Church of England under the ruling monarch.  People have made pilgrimages to the Cathedral to pay their respects.

We were fortunate enough to get a guided tour of the Cathedral, and were able to see everything, from the crypt to the choir.  I learned a lot and the stained glass windows made you want to cry.  There is so much history, and a lot of it tragic.

This is a newer window, and it reminds me of a Disney movie.

After the cathedral, bailey and I started walking around town.  The city centre is not very big at all and is surrounded by a roman wall.  You could walk from end to end in about eight minutes.  So we decided to take a riverboat tour.  It lasted about 20 minutes but it was fun to see the city from a different perspective.  The ducks were too cute.  There was an older gentleman on our boat who was, for lack of a better word, rambunctious.  He had a comment for everything, and made quite a few jabs at his ex wife.  The poor tour guide didn’t quite know what to do with him.

Canterbury was pretty busy.  There were a lot of French students on break visiting.  We didn’t have much time after our boat tour so we used what little time we had to shop.  Canterbury has a really good shopping scene.  I got myself a new skirt and I can’t wait to wear it. 

We were back in London before 6 but the day was far from over.  The Friday before had kicked off the Drake Relays back in the states so all the Drake students decided that we wouldn’t miss out the celebrations just because we were in London.  The Drake kids and a few others got together and had a night on the town using relays as our excuse.  It was a great time.  We may have missed street painting back in Iowa, but as far as I’m concerned, we painted London Town that night.

My next update will be about the week leading up to my weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland.  I’ve got some great pictures to share to be ready.

Pip Pip Cheerio!