Sketches

Assignment Grand Tour Experience

Italy. This is a country that can be expressed through its past times, architecture, and most of all loveliness. Fast paced, appealing language, intense heat, and beautiful flowers fill the lives of Italians daily and slowly became a part of mine as my time was spent there. The unique features of fountains, sculptures, and buildings expanded my learning and cultural experience by the effortless work each artists performs. The splendor of Italy can only be described by the history of the architecture that still remains. The places I saw represented what will continue to teach those the past of this country. As for the future, it will continue to be an inspiration towards upcoming design and architecture. Beauty is immersed through everything Italia has to offer, either through its scenic aspect or just the aurora it portrays.

France. This country offers the taste of fine pastries, present architecture extremities, and snooty luxury. It includes modern design intertwined with historical monuments creating a new way of expression: some hateful, some well done. The architecture reaches new limits with an artsy taste, yet still keeping the old in a continuous flow among everything else. The classy taste of each palace shows where their country stands and the beauty that lies within each exterior and interior. Gardens show the softer side of the country and the magnificent gem that is within. The French attitude can be considered to be more upfront easily relatable to the feel of New York. It is a perfect blend of poise and history.

England. This lush place is a perfect combination of city with countryside. It's filled with greenery, british accents, theatres, and culture. Its history has no end and is exemplified through many houses and palaces throughout each city. It includes iconic representations of the country’s personality through their architecture. Ornate details are shown throughout each piece of construction. The many free museums offer a great informational aspect that can be done leisurely. The weather would not be considered the most appealing aspect, rainy and cold is never a good mix. The sophistication of the population and structural design create an overall at ease feeling.

August 4th- Bonvage.

Sadly this is last day of my 5 week journey through Italy, France, and now London. This is a bittersweet moment, I feel I have done my duties here but I have loved it so much. We ended our tours with Buckingham Palace. After having been on many tours throughout each place I have come to like an audio guide tour. They are informational, leisurely, and great. I knew nothing about Buckingham before going only that the Queen lives there. The architecture inside is amazing, it was done by John Nash. The ceilings were decorated with plaster and gold overlay. The cool part was that in one of the rooms there is a secret door where the Queen can come through. A palace isn't a palace without a secret door. I also learned that it was originally a house until with the help of Nash as an architect it was made into a palace. The staircase was really beautiful and it cost the money to show for it. We also went through a portion of the house where they had display cases of the dresses of the Queen. I thought it was really neat to see the different designs according to the commonwealth they were a part of. The colors of certain dresses related to the different countries she frequently visited. I also never knew that she was twenty six when she became Queen, very young yet classy. I thought it was a good opportunity to go here, I thought it was really pretty on the interior. It's weird we were in the same premises of the Queen, I wish I could say that I saw her. After seeing the greatness of what Buckingham had to offer, Lindsey and me went to hummingbird bakery. The cutest little bakery that is right by our flat. We indulged ourselves in a black bottom and red velvet cupcake. Only downside is that to eat in you must pay extra ha who would have thought that? We sure didn't, good thing for spare change right?Notice the orb, deemed as baby ghost. It's always by me I'm cursed. Nachos-a great lunchThis day was summed up with a good clean of the flat and the packing of bags. We also had to have a farewell dinner to the great city of London. We went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen again as we ate deliciousness. Farewell London I did fancy my time I spent here, I hope to return one day.As a final goodbye we decided to make a small tribute to the less fortunate. Everyday we would walk past a man that sat outside the Tesco with his two dogs. There wasn't once that I didn't wonder how they all three survived and what he mumbled every time we passed. As a good deed we decided to offer up our change to him which he gladly accepted and let us pet his cute cute dogs. From now on we realized that he asked for spare change which is now obvious, it was well worth giving up my last few pence. Although he was smokin a cig, I don't care what he decides to spend that money on. As we were here we did notice he got a clean cut and shaved the beard. Good for him.
Lindsey and me locked out. No one wants to walk down seven flights of stairs and then back up to let us in. I don't blame them

August 3rd- Neck Injuries Advise

Staines, England. To what this very city means to me is a very thrilling amusement park. Not to be mistaken as the size of six flags, but it can hold it's own. I would compare it to the size of Lagoon maybe bigger, but the rides are much much better. Despite the fact that their version of the rocket is probably half of ours. The first ride we went on was the best, it is called Stealth. It goes 0-80 in two seconds, it's Europe's fastest rollercoaster. I think I could continue going on this all day if the lines weren't so bad. We went on the new Saw ride, it looks very scary as you wait in line. Each ride was very well themed and decorated accordingly. As we got in the ride of Saw they had a lot of things from the movie, the first drop it looks like you are going to run into a saw and then you drop and come out. As for me I couldn't handle this ride, I would say it gave an insta headache since my head kept swinging from side to side with no support from the neck. I have never really been on a rollercoaster that has lots of twisty parts where you twist all the way around. This is definitely not good on the head, no wonder why they clearly advise those with neck problems. The ride that was fun, but gave the brain a shake was Colossus. Not to be confused with Lagoon's, the ride is much longer and includes a lot of twists and turns. We got to enjoy many ride throughout the day such as Nemesis Inferno, The Slammer, a much anticipated disappointing "rapid" river, and the great little Teacups. We had a great day at the park, it was fun to get out of the tours. We were lucky and didn't get rained on with a seventy percent chance, I would say it was the perfect day to go. The park was also surrounded by a lake which I thought was interesting I liked it though it kept us cool throughout the day. This was an overall successful trip minus the disappointing burger from Burger King inside the park. We were able to do Stealth twice which made my day, sadly we will probably never be able to return but I give props towards Thorpe. Also towards the 2 liter of DP we bought to get half priced tickets, this makes you feel like you got a great deal.



Excitement factor beforeDisappointment after

August 2nd- A great day for a Sundee

Rounding our last weekend here, we had to spend our Sunday visiting the great Hyde Park Ward since they so graciously welcomed us last week. We decided to go to the family ward this time because it was earlier. We were all spiritually uplifted by the great fast and testimony meeting they had. After returning back to our two week humble abode we took the best nap ever, to prepare ourselves for a day of homework. That night, Ashley made us a great dinner as we tried to help but the kitchen is too small to make that happen. We have mastered or I should say Ash has mastered not having a stove top and using just the oven to cook. It gets a little tricky when you have to cook noodles, they just don't turn out the same. This night ended with a great feast and a joyful night talking with our other flatmates as they would call it here.

August 1st- A day consisting of three things

Three day free weekend could not have gotten any better. I took today as my leisure day, basically I did the same thing I have done every free day. I slept, ate, sketched. The highlight of the day was going to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. I have never had a hamburger that has tasted so well. Unfortunately I opted out on going to Lion King, a decision I regretted when I realized I hadn't moved from my bed until about nine o clock. I have learned that next time when I think not to go, I should go.Avocado Bacon. Food=HappinessTrying to attempt the "I'm a Jerk" video backward jig.

July 31st- Best for Last

Today we started at Haddon Hall located in Derbyshire, England. It is a medieval manor house that dates back to the 12th century. In the kitchen, the work surfaces were made out of oak. There was a giant stump used for a chopping block. The dining area had a long table that on the top it looked in decent conditon, but if you were to look underneath you could see all the dents from knives, etc. They have two sides to the table and when they are done eating they flip over the worn down side to make it look decent. Our tour guide also explained that they used to eat peacock and to do this they would mince up all the meat and keep the skin of the bird to put over it and then use the feathers to make them fan out for the presentation aspect. I love peacocks, this story was not okay with me. The gardens outside were small, but they were pretty. You could over look a large part of the countryside where everything is so green and lush. The next greatest thing to this place is a nice enjoyed meal of scones and clotted cream. This is a scone that really tastes like a biscuit and like whipped butter/cream with jam on the side. I'm definitely a fan of this and will miss it when I go home.After Haddon Hall just neighboring it was our next destination, Chatsworth. I have always been so excited to see this, I had to research this place as my topic for an assignment. This is also the place where they filmed a lot of Pride and Prejudice. The gardens are 105 acres which is extremely large. They were different from the others I have seen, I feel like they were a lot more interactive. They had a maze to go through and since I haven't gone in one we decided to give it a try. It would have been a lot better experience if it wasn't muddy everywhere and if we could have found the middle where a sculpture was. We found a place that was filled with different shapes rocks and we layed there for a bit enjoying the great scenery around us. There were these cute little boys playing on them and they kept chanting "I'm the king of the castle, your a dirty rascal" ha it's funny how different there sayings are from ours. It was really cute said in a little boy british accent. After the gardens we went inside to see the house, I will definitely say this was my favorite house so far. I feel like it was different from the others, they used tons of wood on the interiors. All the wood had really ornate carvings in them which is awesome to see the skill people had with few tools. I am really happy they saved this house for last because it was my favorite so far. If I ever came back to England I would love to visit this again.This awkward statue is Everywhere... Never should be repeated haThere were many of these adorable little boysAli was too afraid to make this leap on her own. Ha I helped her through it