For my last Shakespeare play a group of us went to a modern rendition of Twelfth Night. The whole night was beyond interesting. The play took place off of Archway tube stop, up a 20minute hike of a hill, in the second floor or a pub. Thinking is was a modern rendition of the Twelfth Night I was expecting the play to be quite similar to one of my favorite movies, She’s the Man. The whole time not meaning to I was comparing the two. This actually helped make more since of the play since I have never read Twelfth night before. The play was a modern version with the classic lines. It was interesting to see how the actors interpreted certain lines, such as a cloak were sunglasses, and songs were played on the “Wii”. It was an interesting interpretation of the play, but one I would not recommend. It did however, made me respect the comical, “She’s The Man” for all of the ties it includes to Twelfth Night.

These pictures were takin at Blenhiem Place. The grounds at the Palace were to large and so cool. I Could not imagine living there. I liked this little picture of the tree standing out. I could picture the group of boys playing up in the tree. This picture was taken at Oxford. I really liked this big tree and thought that it complimented the building structure. I placed this picture in black and white so I could more fully see the contrast between the shape of the tree and the building.
I took this picture as one of our walk and shot joke pictures. looking back this is how I picture the place. All of the landscape we saw was just for a quick glance. The whole palace actually was a very fast trip and this picture looks like something you snap in the car to remember a place by. And this is that for me, my snap shoot to remember so I can look back and tell myself, I did walk around the gardens.
The two pictures about me and the one below me were all taken at Blenhiem palace. The picture right above me I really enjoy because of the fall colors. The trees were almost all bare but this bunch of trees still had their reads in tact. IT almost looks like christmas because of the reds of the trees and the green of the grass.

I like the way the pathway and trees reflected on this hill. It leads your eyes down to the pond and your eyes follow the pond till it disappears.
This picture was taken in Leister Square. Megan and I went here after Paraliment and loved all of the Christmas trees and the little carnival that was going on. I did not want to capture the carnival but more so the Christmas trees with the old fashioned lamp posts. I put the picture in black and white so the parts carnival that were showing should be back instead of bright pink.

Greenwich

We went out to Greenwich as a group the other day. It was another rainy day, which I love because it is not as cold outside. We took the DLR, which I have never been on and danced to music the whole way. Once we got to Greenwich we stopped inside the maritime Museum. We spent time walking around there looking around at the wave pool that is there that has been used to conduct many experiments. We also walked through a part of the gallery that talked about the amount of waste that is produced in the world.
After we had spent sometime in the Maritime museum we made our way up to the Royal Observatory. We spent a countless amount of time taking pictures on the line and talking through the microphone that echoed around the dome designed by Christopher Wren. After all of this excitement we made our way down in the pouring rain, spent sometime in the WH Smith bookstore and dinned out at GKB (Gourmet Kitchen Burger). I really liked Greenwich not only for the latitude line but the cute town it is. While we were in the book store their were two ladies talking about if they got each others emails for lunch and they just ran into each other at the bookstore. That probably rarely happens in the city, and I loved that I witnessed that!

Little Venice

Last Saturday Jess, Elsa and I headed out to Little Venice. Little Venice is a little neightborhood right around where we live. Little Venice is known for its decorative boats all up and down the canal in the middle of a neighborhood. It is not so much that the canal looks exactly like Venice but it does bring a hint of Italy into the jammed packed city of London. On this walk we could not help noting how different parts of London are... Notting Hill to Regents Street to Buckingham Palace. Not to mention Little Venice to Southall. I love all of the diversity that makes up this city!


This is St. Mary's Square. In our walks book it told us of the "tragic muse", Sarah Siddons who is buried here; However, I could not find her grave. Oh well, she was a London actress in the 1800's who was painted by every major painter at that time.


This is just another shot of the canal. This was a short walk but neat to explore. I pictured Little Venice to be more lively than it actually was. I think if we were to explore this community in the summer there would be more people out on their boats. It was nice seeing it so clam though, and who knows maybe it is always like this because it is packed in a little community. I think if I were to live in London I would live in Little Venice. It gives a suburban feel to a neighborhood right in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world.

A Fall into Paris (photo essay #4)

"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina


This picture was taken at the bottom of the hill of the Sacre Cour.


When I walked back into the the gardens at Versailles one thing that caught my eye were these black balls on stick wires. They formed in these rows for probably a good hundred yards. I really do not like when modern art is placed in classical sites. I just found this so odd that I had to take a picture. Plus, I thought that the reds and yellows in the trees behind were so beautiful.


I really liked this green fence. I thought that it was perfect because in the summer it blends in with the green trees in the fall it compliments the yellow of the falling leaves and then it adds color in the winter when everything is brown. Of course Versailles would have the green fence.


I loved the Sky at Versailles on this day. I liked how few leaves were left on the tree but the branches were still so complex. On a color scale I really like the brown of the branches and the blue of the sky.


I wish I could have seen these trees in the Summer time when the leaves hung over the grass as you walk through. Instead it was like a preview to summer where the trees were stripped of their leaves and preparing for a pile of snow next to their roots.


I love the Fall!! I wanted to take all of these leaves form a huge pile and jump in it. I thought that Versailles would not be to happy with an American messing up their beautiful landscape. Oh well.. I loved how the leaves were left on the ground to admire and not "cleaned up" like other parks.


This picture is now what I picture when I think of Paris. I loved the river. I loved how the trees lined up against the river with different architecture of bringes all up and down the river with the city on either side.

Field Trip in Italy

Last Wednesday at 6:30AM five of us girls took off to Venice for our backpacking through Italy adventure. Now being back and thinking about all of the paintings and sculpture we saw, I feel that all of my history and humanities classes prepared me for what I saw this trip. Here is a quick play by play of all of humanities highlights of our trip.

Day One: Venice
St. Marks Square, which includes Doge's Palace and the Basilica's campanile.

Day 2 Florence.
We started off in Florence in the Academia to see the David!! Next was the Uffizi where we saw paintings including the Birth of Venus and Martin Luther.


Day 3 Rome
Our first day in Rome we spent exploring the history of the Roman Empire. The first thing we did was go to the Coliseum. After the Coliseum we made our way across the street to Palatine Hill and the Form. I could not help but think what it would have been like to live in Rome 2,000 years ago when the Coliseum was still white marble with statues in every window. We finished the day visiting Capital Hill, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. The Trevi Fountain we ended up visiting 3 times by the end of our two-day trip, needless to say we liked it and the surrounding atmosphere.


Day 4 Vatican city

Probably the highlight of the Vatican City, especially from the humanities point of view, the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. AMAZING! We are learning about “The Creation of Adam” in our humanities 202 class. It is an amazing painting but unreal to see live!! In the Vatican we also saw The School of Athens by Raphael, which we are also studying in our 202 classes.

Preston or Priest's Town

We started off our tour in Preston where it was way colder than I imagined. Peter Fagg (our guide) took us to an exhibit of what Preston looked like in 1827. I learned how the cotton industry was the main industry at the time. Lancaster had the largest cotton factory in all of England. It consisted of 42 mills in working operation. A large majority of the first converts worked in these Mills. Probably one of the coolest things we saw was the Oblique where the first Missionaries of the Church preached, including President Gordon B. Hinckley. It was so cool to see that and picture President Hinckley standing there in 1933 as a scared little boy preaching to the town of Preston, England.
We walked by the dental office of Brigham young and Joseph Smith. Their dentist was one of the first to record the First Vision and recorded that Jesus Christ had blue eyes and that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father were dressed in white robes.
On Wilfred Street lies the house where the first group of missionaries lived when they first arrived in England. This is the house where the evil spirits appeared. After Joseph Smith learned of this he said that he knew the Gospel was about to take root.
Avenham Park is not only beautiful but it is a very important part of England’s church history. The Japanese gardens were shown of Sister Hinckley walking in them. The video played at her funeral. The park is also home to the Ribble River where the 8 saints were baptized during the first mission. Thousands gathered to watch these new members of the church be baptized.
The Church received the nickname the dippers for the way they baptized. I really liked the oak tree that was a dedication to all missionaries that have served, are serving and that will ever serve.
We also learned about Wilfred Woodruff's fly-fished and is said to have made fly fishing large in the West.
We visited the Church of St. Wilfred. The minister of the Church at the time of Heber C. Kimball’s mission appeared in Kimball’s dream. This dream was about the good field that was Britain and the Church of England which was the lost crop. The bull stomping on the good crop represented the Church of England.