The last post (?)

Sorry I haven't written in a few days- I have forgotten a lot of the finer details, but here is a nice overview:

5.9.10
Left Edinburgh for Kiplin and stopped in New Castle on the way home. We parted ways with Larry there because he took the train to Manchester from there. The market was going on so we all just walked along the waterfront and went into an awesome contemporary art museum and a ridiculous Norman Foster theater complex. Got to Kiplin and ate then watched a movie (?). Not completely sure but knowing us, I’m sure we did. We went to the roof of Kiplin Hall, which was cool to see- got some good aerial photos, then we played SPUD on the lawn in front of the house. Not sure why I had never played this game before but its like 500 on steroids- so fun.

5.10.10
Did work most of the day. Pretty much finished my last paper. We went to watch Iron Man 2 at the Station (our last bargain movie!!) and then went back for dinner.

5.11.10
We kidnapped DuPuy today. We (the girls) made a bit of a scavenger hunt for him complete with puzzle pieces and rhyming hints to take him to a few last places before we left Kiplin for good. We went to Easby Abbey, Rapeseed fields (that one was kind of for me), Richmond Castle, and Bolton Castle. We had an excellent cheese, wine, and grape party out of the back of the van at Bolton Castle. Great day. Back at Kiplin we did some work on our papers and had a packing/cleaning party. Thai takeout for dinner. We decided to play capture the flag on the property- not an excellent idea when there are only 7 people playing. We decided to settle on playing SPUD again instead and went back and played beer pong. Why that was the first time we played that I have no idea. Late night, but good way to leave North Yorkshire.


5.12.10
Left for London! First stopped at Chatsworth- they filmed the Duchess and it was Mr. Darcey’s house in Pride and Prejudice (!!) It had pretty cool gardens- complete with a maze I couldn’t find the center of. We were joking around and did some classic senior pictures in the garden- very cheesy, love it. Made it to London around 7 and waited FOREVER at O’Neil’s for food- I’m very upset with them. The food was good at least, and the Guiness was flowing. Went to bed early- totally tired.

5.13.10
Ran in the morning. Followed DuPuy around during the day went way out to the middle of nowhere London to Chiswich and a few cool museums. One was an old school natural history museum with a bunch of skeletons and an aquarium- totally loved it. Took the bus back and went to get Indian with Jenny Sara and DuPuy- yum. Power napped and went out to the Zoo Bar in Leicester Square- success.

5.14.10
Free day in London. Tried to find derelict buildings with Jenny- went to old gymnasium and found a great display about an urban renewal in the St. Pancras area- very cool. Then went to Camden- very cool found a great ethnic market got Moroccan. Went to Soho area to try and find another derelict building but no luck so we went to meet the guys at Oxford Circus for shopping. Came back and I decided to go to the British Museum real quick then walked back. Read then went to the other Side with Jenny. Re-fueled with some Starbucks. I'm going to miss London. We got to see a lot of great places today- it makes me want to spend another week here!! AHHH!!!

Dear Edinburgh, I love you

5.6.10
Left Glasgow this morning. Jenny Sara and I snuck out early to get some coffee at a really awesome place- def should have gone there more- oh how I love Scottish boys and their accents. Our first stop was Falkirk Wheel- a giant rotating contraption that transports canal boats from one level of a canal to the other. It was crazy, not srue why it was necessary, but hey go for it. Then we went to ‘the Pineapple’. A building with a pineapple on it- it was weird. Then we drove through Sterling and got lunch in Duncombe- there was a market going on (!!). We went to St. Andrews next- walked around the town, played some golf, walked on the beaches. What a life those college students have! It was a really nice town, would love to be there in the summer when the British Open is there! Finally made it to Edinburgh (late) and Jenny, Dave and I went to dinner at an Indian place. I made the mistake of asking for it to be ‘a little spicy’ and ended up getting my mouth lit on fire. We went to get gelato after- for medicinal purposes of course- and went back to the hostel to read/do work.

5.7.10
Went on a run in the morning. The goal was to run up Arthur’s Seat (a –almost-mountain on one of the borders of Edinburgh) but I kind of went the wrong way and ended up running up along another hill across a ravine from Arthur’s Seat..whoops. Went for a quick coffee and met everyone for the day. We walked all around the city- climbed the acropolis, went to the Scottish Houses of Parliament- liked it a lot, great modern building- walked the ‘Royal Mile’, went to the Castle, and (most importantly) did some Scotch tasting. I had a pretty sweet one, but everyone got a different type. Some were really smoky- I felt like I was breathing in ash! After we all walked to an art museum (closed, boo!) and found dinner. Decided on a Mexican place, so good. We went back to the hostel to rest then went out. I found a cool area and we went to a college-y bar that was basically one giant dance party, a.k.a. our kind of scene. We danced until 2 and went back to the hostel. Going to be tired tomorrow!

5.8.10
Woke up and investigated some street blocks in Craig’s New Town with Emma and Jenny then met the group to climb up a monument. Great 360 views- still really windy though! We walked around the lark and the castle then explored the college area a bit before DuPuy dropped us off at the Scottish History Museum. The design was interesting- it had a lot of really great moments, but it wasn’t too cohesive and the materials were one too many and a little cheap looking. We went to lunch then checked out some new architecture. Shopping was next on the agenda then we convinced ourselves to climb up Arthur’s Seat- big ass hill. The views were amazing from there. Edinburgh really is a beautiful city and the sun had managed to come out for us so the shadows were amazing on the buildings. We climbed back down then hit Craig’s New Town for some more shopping. I managed to get separated from Jenny and the guys so I just shopped by myself and went back to the hostel to get my book and read at a restaurant for dinner. Not going to lie- it was kind of nice being by myself for once. Being constantly surrounded by 7 people and DuPuy all the time can make alone time precious. Back at the hostel and doing some computer work. Back to Kiplin tomorrow!

Scotland

5.5.10
Went running this morning then got ready for another Mackintosh-filled day. We went to a museum that had re-made Mackintosh’s actual house so we could walk through it. Attached to it was a museum- there were Whistlers!! Next we walked to another gallery that had a Mackintosh exhibit with some of his paintings and furniture. We made our way back to one of his churches now that we were sure it was open and sketched inside for a bit. Then lunch…at McDonalds!! I’ve definitely had an overload, two orders of chicken tenders in 3 days is plenty for me. We sketched another Mackintosh façade, which was, conveniently, across the way from the McDonalds parking lot. We drove over to a building (House for an Art Lover) that was commissioned by a group of architects who built it off of a set of architectural drawings by Mackintosh. They were for a design competition, which he didn’t win, and consequently the house was never built. The scale was ambiguous from the drawings the architects found and the interpretation was too large I felt. I think they needed to scale it down some- the spaces were much larger and less intimate than any of the other Mackintosh buildings we have been to.
DuPuy dropped us off back at the hostel and let us have some free time for the rest of the evening. Off to Edinburgh tomorrow!

Updates

4.30.10
Woke up early to get some more last minute work done on my projects- crit is at 1:30. I was actually able to get a lot of progress on my first project so I was happy with it. We made Mexican for lunch- guest crit Larry Frank is here so we all played host for him. After lunch I had my critique- it went really well. They liked the changes I had made to my swimming pool and made some good suggestions about how to make my two projects better.

Last few days at Kiplin before Scotland were really relaxed- I had already finished writing my papers for the British urbanism class so I was pretty much hanging out until we left. We went into Richmond one day to go swimming and watch Cemetery Junction- SO GOOD. I love coming of age stories…especially if the guys have British accents. Really excited to see Scotland- beautiful scenery here we come!

5.2.10
This morning we packed up and left for Scotland for a week. First stop was a castle with a view- pretty impressive. Then we went to Lindisfarne! The weather was cold and windy and slightly rainy- very poetic. I loved the house/castle remodel. The amount of detail Lutyens puts into his houses is amazing, so many little personal touches. It makes you want to be an architect. After walking around the town we drove to Muirfield golf course to see the Lutyens hotel- Greywalls. The hotel was quite swanky- you could tell by the 700 pound bottles of whiskey displayed in one of the rooms- but quite nice. The gardens out back were beautiful. After we drove to Glasgow- our hostel is in a great area. It reminds us all of Bath because of the topography and our hostel is in a curved housing piece reminiscent of the crescent and the circus in Bath. By the time we were at the hostel and out to eat it was really late and we decided on Chinese buffet- instant gratification. I may have eaten my body weight in food but it was excellent. As Chris said- you need to binge eat every once in a while. It felt great.

5.3.10
Woke up early to go running- there is a park right next to our hostel. Such a hard run through the park with all the hills!! I needed it though; you need a nice hill workout every now and then. The group went to a Mackintosh church in the morning but it was closed so we went to another of his buildings that is now a museum to him called the Lighthouse. They had so much free stuff (!!) we all stocked up and complained later about how heavy our backpacks were- worth it. Next we went to lunch at the Willow Tea Room- another building by Mackintosh- great meal. His interiors are great- especially his stair and entry sequences. They are a piece of furniture in themselves. Some of his decorations are a little too girly and precious for me, but you have to admire his design approach and how he leaves nothing undersigned- a lot like Lutyens in that way. After lunch we went to the Glasgow School of Art- one if Mackintosh’s most famous buildings- and had a tour of the place. We walked around the city a bit more and DuPuy picked us up to drive around and see some newer architecture across the river. Very interesting stuff around there, think space age. We all made a beeline for the closest McDonald's after we were done for the day because we were under the impression that the Monopoly game was still going on and that, naturally, we would be able to win something. Let down- its over. Dave and the girls went to a really great French restaurant after- I got French Onion soup and it made me reminisce about Lyon last summer.

5.4.10
Slept through the alarm- no running this morning. Whoops. We drove to New Lanark in the morning. It was an industrial New Town built around the same time as Lowell, Mass. Not going to lie- it was boring. I think one industrial new town was enough for the trip (Saltaire). We ate lunch there and then left for Hill House- another Mackintosh building except this one was a private house. The house was amazing. I am in love with his stairs!! Plus- I have decided that I am going to replicate his window seat in my house, I snuck a picture and sketched it for a while so I am confident I can do it :P

We drove to see Loch Lombard after so, as DuPuy says, our parents wont kill us because we went to Scotland and didn’t see a Loch., and made our way back to Glasgow. We went our for Spanish Tapas- delish. Then Sara, Zach and I went to a bar and sampled some whiskey- we’re in Scotland after all.

Tech- done, studio- ALMOST done!!

4.27.10
Today we had our presentation for the people who work at Kiplin Hall. It wasn’t a typical presentation in the sense that none of the people had any previous architectural experience so we decided to make it more of a history presentation. We each shared information on the time period we were focusing on and the precedents we studied then only briefly described our initial designs for the walled garden. When all was said and done they actually really enjoyed the presentation- they all had their lives invested in Kiplin Hall and worked there everyday so it definitely had its relevance.
After we worked on the tech review so we could go over it with DuPuy at 5- it seems pretty straightforward so hopefully the exam isn’t too hard tomorrow. I need an 84 to get an A….
We watched another episode of Brideshead Revisited later and then I did some internet work- not looking forward to the exam tomorrow morning!

4.28.10
I woke up early for the exam so I went for a run. Exam was kind of difficult- its just a matter of how quickly you can find everything in the book because the questions Bovill asks us we would never have memorized, they’re too specific.
The weather was amazing so everyone who took the exam in the first round sat outside and read/played badmitten all afternoon. I’m almost done with the next Sherlock Holmes mystery- I need to move on to Jane Austen before we go to Scotland! We had a group dinner outside on the patio table set I cleaned and set up from the shed. DuPuy supplied the G&T’s and we watched another episode of Brideshead after. We started to watch Love Actually but I had to go to bed- too tired.

4.29.10
Woke up around 5 am in need of water- Justin was in the same boat...interesting. Woke up for tech with a headache- whoops. We played a round of soccer; most people seemed to be pretty tired though so we didn’t play for too long. Sara, DuPuy and I went into Richmond for a bit to use the internet and run errands. When we got back I tried to do some quick tough-ups on my garden project to procrastinate revisiting project one until after dinner. I was proud of myself for dinner. I made lamb, seasoned with ground pepper and sea salt, and sautéed vegetables- broccoli, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and balsamic- delicious. After I forced myself to work on project one. I actually got pretty into it and somewhat resolved my plans. After that though I lost steam and went to do other work. Hopefully I will be able to convince myself to work more on it later tonight…

The Lake District

4.24.10- 4.25.10 weekend
We left early Saturday morning for the Lake District to get some quality hiking in. By 11 we were at Scales where we started our hike. The beginning was ridiculously hard and, needless to say, I started to feel self-consious about my cardiovascular abilities. I was able to tough it out and we made it to the tarn where the real adventure began. We had a food stop and then we started our climb up the cliff- literally hand over hand climbing. I felt like I was at an adventure course, minus the harness and safety precautions. The climbing actually wasn’t that hard. Believe it or not walking up the hills earlier ended up being the hardest part of the entire climb. Once we made it to the top we admired the views for a bit- truly breathtaking- and climbed over to where prarsailers were ‘sailing’ out then started the descent. Walking down mountains sucks. Its hard on your knees and you always feel like your going to fall. Next time I’m going to parasail down I think.

We were staying at a really cute hostel near Ambleside that was an old converted mansion. Definitely my favorite YHA- plus they had a great breakfast. The next morning we drove to Grasmere (?) and saw a great waterfall then drove into town. We split into two groups: DuPuy, Sara, Dave and Emma went to hike and see another waterfall and the rest of us decided we wanted to rough it and climb up a mountain that we thought looked pretty epic. We had to forge a river- throwing stones to make paths sounds a lot easier than it actually is fyi- and climb some fences, but we finally made it to a hiking trail and made our way up. Today was a bit different in that we weren’t hiking in open scenery- it was more wooded. The weather was misty and foggy, and so by the time we made it to the top we were literally in the clouds!! It was such an awesome feeling. We met up with the others a few hours after we split and we were all exhausted and unanimously decided to head home. Such an amazing weekend!! I have officially found a new love of hiking, I can’t believe I have never done it before! Seriously, one of my favorite weekends, it was great to be outside- after all you simply can’t beat the scenery here.

4.26.10
I woke up annoyingly early today and then was exhausted again by the time we had tech at 10…life is weird. I think my body is just tired from climbing mountains all weekend (what a B.A. thing to say). We did some grocery shopping (yay!) and played soccer later. I was still a bit sluggish though so I just played one game and went for a quick run to try and loosen my muscles up a bit. I finished my seminar topics and put a ‘lick and a promise’ on my garden project for our presentation tomorrow so at least I was able to be productive. A few of us went to the station to watch The Last Station about Tolstoy- so good! I had no idea about his ideas and followers in his later years. Learn something new everyday.

it feels like...Spring??

4.21.10
Tech in the am, then we were all inspired by the sunny morning and decided to play a game of soccer. I was suffering a bit because I was still stuffed up from being sick, but it was such a nice day I couldn’t resist playing. Dave, Sara, Jenny and I went into town with DuPuy after to use the internet and attempt to be productive at the station. Our goal for the next few days is to finish most of our seminar topics so we can put our book filled with all of our topics together before we graduate. Since I usually go to the library to do my essays- and apparently other people do too- DuPuy agreed to drive us to Richmond and stay at the Station for a few hours. I was pretty productive and was able to do about 1.5 of my topics. Not too shabby.
When we got back I did a little bit more work then gave up for the night. On the TV agenda for the night DuPuy had us scheduled for an hour of Brideshead Revisited (DuPuy promised not to commentate the show this time) and then the Hangover. I forgot how much I loved the Hangover- SO FUNNY. It was pretty late by the time we were done and I went straight to bed.

4.22.10
Tech in the morning- just one more exam!! After I did some more work on my seminar topics and went for a run. The weather is excellent- it is actually starting to feel like spring here. I wore a sweatshirt and pants and I was…hot! After some more procrastination I finally hunkered down and finished another topic before dinner and then gave up for the night. The movie agenda tonight is the Bucket List- not as funny as what I had originally thought it was supposed to be but it was still a really great movie. So uplifting! If I’m rich when I’m about to die I’m definitely doing that :P
Emma and I got a hankering for cookies so we made peanut butter cookies after the movie- excellent life choice. I read some Sherlock Holmes and went to bed.

4.23.10
We had tech in the morning, and then Emma, Jenny, Dave and I went to Richmond again to do some work. By the time general swim was open at the pool I was able to finish another seminar topic and get a pretty decent start on my last one. Swimming is getting a lot easier; 30 minutes went by pretty quickly this time. I might have to up the dosage! We discovered there is an ice cream shop at the station today- not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing yet- and the ice cream was amazing!! We drove back to Kiplin and I was able to get another good two hours of work done before I was maxed out for the day. Time for dinner and TV time!!

Garden Project: DONE!!

4.18.10
I went running this morning (yay!). I felt pretty good; I think I have seriously increased my endurance on this trip. Today is a workday to try and finish up our studio projects. I haven’t been able to be too productive lately and today wasn’t too different. The only thing the kept me going was that there wasn’t much else to do. While everyone played soccer I also took a break and read more Sherlock Holmes. I really like reading some of the stories now that I have watched the movie- I’m getting some background information.
Since Emma’s parents have been having so much trouble with flights going home because of the volcano we were all speculating about our flights in a month and joking as to how we might ave to get home- QV2 anyone? But then we actually started to worry some about vegetables since they are usually flown in and Sara and I went out to the grocery store for a quick vegetable and fruit run- you can never be too sure!
After dinner Jenny Chris Dave and I played settlers so we wouldn’t be going to bed at 10:30 and made it to a more reasonable midnight.

4.19.10
We had tech in the morning- we have moved on to electrical now. Then DuPuy took some of us into Richmond so we could get a few things done. Jenny and I went swimming- I am determined to go at least 2 more times so I can get my money’s worth. I paid 14 pound for a 10 day pass, I figure if I go 7 times it was only 2 pounds a trip. After we went grocery shopping- I think I’m going to get off the wagon officially now that I have almost paid DuPuy back and get a bottle of wine. I went with South Africa- I don’t think I’ve ever had their wine and we DID just watch Invictus.
Back at Kiplin we are in production mode so we can finally finish this garden project. It is supposed to be done by tonight- shouldn’t be too bad. Its crazy how les stressful this is compared to real studio!! Much better living conditions.
I started to feel kind of crappy by the end of the night- my cold is getting worse- and had to go to bed around 11:30. I was basically done with my project though I just need to finish drawing some trees on my aerial axon- nbd.

4.20.10
Today we did York, officially. We walked the old Roman wall, saw some pretty cool ruins- I love them- and went to the Viking Museum. Apparently York has some serious history involving the Vikings and they uncovered a lot of artifacts to help tell the story of their lifestyles etc. The museum was ridiculous though- it was literally an amusement park ride. They strap you in a suspended car and move you through ‘Jorvik’- the Viking York. The best part was in the end when they were describing the actual house of a Viking and in the back of the ‘house’ in the yard was a man behind a wooden woven fence going to the bathroom. He was ‘busy’ and we should ‘keep moving’. At least the Brits have a good sense of humor.
Before leaving York Zach, Chris and I went to a beer store and I got some of my new ‘classy’ beers that I have discovered on this trip- Duvel and Chimay. So good.
We watched the second dvd of the Che Guevera documentary before going to bed. I felt bad- since I can’t really breathe out of my nose due to a (I think) sinus infection I kept feeling like I was breathing really loud. I felt like the kid from ‘Hey Arnold’.

4.15.10
What a lazy day. I woke up right before tech started and then did some work after class for studio. After lounging and watching scrubs with the guys for a bit I took a shower as a distraction- I should have gone swimming in Richmond when DuPuy and Emma went in to do some errands!! Emma’s parents flew in today- I’m excited to meet them! They are going to tag along with us tomorrow, and make us dinner (so I automatically love them).
I did some more work until I gave up and read some more Sherlock Holmes- the library here has the complete illustrated novels (I finished Maus a while ago). For dinner I made- I kid you not- pork faggots. I saw them in the grocery store and had to find out for myself what it is all about. The answer: not too much. They look like giant meatballs but are made of pork liver…so basically they’re not too excellent. But I can say I tried it! Now I have to figure out how to have this as leftovers…I could only pawn one off to the guys. Maybe stir-fry? After dinner I watched Burn Notice (I’m really missing all my American shows) and am doing work in my room. All in all, a not-so productive day.

4.16.10
Emma’s parents came to Kiplin in the morning so they could go around with us today. We went to Helmsly first- very cool little town. We went to the castle there and then drove over to the Rievlaux terraces. They were pretty cool- literally a flattened terrace in the landscape, about a half-mile long, overlooking an abbey with a folly at either end of the terrace. We drove back to Helmsly and picnic-ed with our lunches and ice cream (!) then headed toward Castle Howard.
The house and gardens were spectacular. Definitely one of my favorite places to date- plus there were peacocks everywhere, go figure. We wandered around the gardens then went into the house, it was cool to recognize the scenes we saw in Brideshead Revisited. The folly was excellent- I wish we could have gone into it. It was a great day, and pretty leisurely- we were actually able to ‘stroll’ as opposed to ‘march’. Back at home we relaxed and had dinner in front of the TV and watched Che- pretty cool documentary, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it. Went to bed- couldn’t read Sherlock, too tired!

4.17.10
Another day on the road- first stop: Scarborough. It’s a town on the coast, and the castle there is built up n a cliff. Very cool. We climbed down to the beach (think Jersey Shore- no lie) and walked along the beach until we worked up enough courage to climb back up the giant hill to get to the car. We sort-of lost Chris somehow, and waited around at the car for a while until he found us. We drove over to some cliffs- basically a bird haven. So.many.seagulls!! The views were spectacular though. We drove over to Flamborough to see the lighthouse and climb down the side of the cliff there to go onto the beach. We discovered an inlet with some coves, but the tide was coming in and we had to climb some precarious rocks in order to make it out. Long drive home and dinner! Work day tomorrow- unfortunate.

4.13.10
It was crappy outside so we were forced to stay inside most of the day. We had tech in the morning then crits after. I had a pretty good crit- he likes my design so now I just need to tweak a few things and produce!! I’m definitely tryna finish this project ASAP.
After my crit (I had to go last ughh) I thought about running…then thought about not running and decided that was a better option. Zach mentioned steak night at Wetherspoons in Richmond so we piled into the van and half went to the grocery store the other half went to dinner. I opted for steak, and unfortunately, they ran out of steak!! How can you run out of steak on steak night!? In the end I basically got a pile of burned meat and peas…I had to eat some of the pork chops with ketchup it tasted so bad, but at least it came with a Guinness. Back at Kiplin I tried to study a bit for the tech exam tomorrow, but gave up and went to bed. Should be an interesting exam tomorrow morning…

4.14.10
I woke up and went on a run before the exam. There is a small road almost right across from our entrance to Kiplin Hall so I decided to check it out. It was awesome! I was basically running in farms- complete with wonderful smells…
The exam wasn’t so bad- I had to guess a lot though and I ended up getting an 86 (!). That’s ok my average is still a 92. I did some work on my presentation and ate lunch then while everyone played soccer I took a nap/slumber. I was so cold today it must have worn me out- weird. Dinner now and DuPuy wants us to watch Bride’s Head Revisited tonight since we are going to castle Howard on Friday.

Happy Birthday Emma!

1.) I forgot to mention that the other day a few of us went on a walk around the property and had some serious bonding time with the sheep here. All the sheep around the country have been having their lambs in the past few weeks so the babies are too cute for words. Actual sheep are pretty ugly, but damn they start out cute. We were just walking around in the fields trying to coax some of them to get close so we could pet them. As Dave said, “why aren’t they like dogs and just come running up to you to pet them!?” Needless to say, we didn’t pet any. Maybe one day.
Last night Jenny, Dave and Chris taught me how to play settlers- great game. Highly recommend it. We played (Chris won), and I did some sudoku and went to bed.

Today I woke up with all the church-goers and did some work online looking for architecture firms in DC I might be able to apply for an internship at. I’m trying to find some smaller firms so I will have more meaningful work to do rather than get lost in the crowd of a 100-something person firm fetching coffee. It’s a lot harder than it sounds- I think I’m going to have to ask DuPuy for some recommendations on that one.
It was an amazing day so we took advantage and played some soccer. The games are getting longer and longer because we’re all getting better on defense- I love it. We came back inside and pretended to do work and we all eventually gave up trying and just watched the masters. Go Phil, good for him. The guys all wanted Tiger to pull it out in the end, but lefty had it in the bag.

4.12.10
Emma’s birthday! We had tech early and then went off to Harewood Estate. The gardens were amazing, great scenery. They had a mini zoo with penguins (random) and birds. The oddest part though was the geo domes (yes, seriously) that were supposed to be some interactive children’s attraction where you could watch movies and write on chalkboard walls…its sad what some of these places need to do in order to keep people coming.
We went home so I could make Emma’s cake (Jaclyn’s choc. choc. recipe) and head over to A Taste of Thai in Richmond for dinner. The food was amazing, as usual, and then we headed over to the station to watch our bargain Monday movie: Shutter Island. It was weird, makes you think twice about reality…is this even real!? We ate cake and ice cream back at Kiplin, the cake was a huge success! Time to try and do some work in prep for crits tomorrow. We need to finish this garden project!

hiking!

4.7.10
Woke up and took advantage to the internet while everyone else was still sleeping. I’m looking up some summer camps that I might be able to work at over the summer in case I don’t get any architecture related internships- working at the gym sucks.

Tech in the morning so we could go into Richmond later when the pool is open. I forgot how hard swimming is! I’m beat- total body workout. Once we got back to Kiplin I took a nap then did studio work until dinner.

4.8.10
Honestly- drawing a bit of a blank for what we did this day. I know we went to Richmond to go grocery shopping and get some movies from the library there. They STILL don’t have Pride and Prejudice again so we got the Dark Knight and the Fantastic Mr. Fox. We decided to watch Mr. Fox tonight- great. Love the part where he salutes the wolf at the end. Now everyone raises their fist to me as a greeting, its great.

4.9.10
Today we went to Leeds to meet some people from the architecture firm that did the renovation on the study center at Kiplin Hall. It actually ended up being one man, who didn’t really seem to know what we were doing there/why we were there. Oh well, it was cool to go there, the firm seems pretty interesting. Plus we learned there is a 5,000 pound fine for every bat you kill on a development project- apparently they’re endangered. After meeting with him we walked around Leeds for a bit then went off to see Harrogate.
Harrogate was a great town. It was a ton of topo (kind of reminded me of Bath), and there are some amazing parks and grand houses near the edges of the town. Once we drove around for a while we headed back to Kiplin.
After dinner we played Ass Whole (finally!) for a while and watched the masters a bit. After cards most everyone watched the Dark Knight, but I got some internet work done and cleaned the kitchen- I wasn’t tired and that’s what I do when I’m bored, I can’t help it. I blame mom. ☺

4.10.10
Another early start and off to hike! We went to a place Damien (the gamekeeper) told us about. It was apparently the highest altitude pub/inn in the UK. We found a trail- which wasn’t too hard there are farms surrounded by stone walls everywhere with little gates and holes in the walls for people to walk through and hike! The farmers just let people walk all throughout their land. Its great. We hiked up a MASSIVE hill all the way to the top (sweating- it was at least 65 today). The view was amazing. I’m officially converted, I want to go hiking all the time now!!

We climbed back down and ate lunch. The next stop was a waterfall- a bit more difficult to find. It was amazing we climbed to the top of the waterfall- walking over literally an I-Beam of a bridge and had a beer at the inn there. We stopped at another waterfall/rapids area and went home. We were beat, but it was too nice of a day to not play soccer. It was a great game; we’re getting a lot better.

Shower, dinner, relax, probably bed early. I’m beat.

To the COAST!!

4.5.10
(Happy Birthday Grandpa!)
We worked on studio in the morning until tech at 2. I don’t even know the last time I had to sit and work/think/focus for that long a period of time! School is rough sometimes! We had individual crits then played soccer after. We were all dead tired- playing soccer three days in a row is not in our athletic/conditioning abilities just yet. Dinner then we watched Troy. I forgot how good Brad Pitt looked in that movie…

I started to read Maus today- excellent. It’s a fast read because it’s a graphic novel, but the content intense and it brings a really horrible time in our history to the public. It’s a man essentially interviewing his grandfather on his experience in the Holocaust. I’ve gotten a little carried away though- I’m almost half-way done and its over 200 pages! I need to pace myself…

4.6.10
DuPuy was getting restless so he took us on a trip to Craigside and the coast today. It was an early start, but it was worth it because we had a great day. Craigside is an estate in Northumberland (near Scotland) where the owner essentially designed nature. He ordered for almost every tree and plant that is currently there to be planted in its spot and yet its purpose was to appear as if it were there naturally. Great concept- and extremely hard to pull off! Nature’s beauty is hard to replicate. It was so weird though because it literally looked like we were in upstate New York. Really gorgeous and we got to hike around a bit.

After, we went to the coast to see an old castle that is currently in ruins. It was right on the water and the walk there was phenomenal- a 1.25 mile walk along the water, walking on the beautiful green grass with sheep grazing literally yards away. So England.

Back home we ate and relaxed a bit. I read more of Maus until everyone wanted to watch a movie- I opted out. I’m tired of watching movies!! Plus I finally got the internet to work so I need to take advantage!

Happy Easter!

4.4.10
Everyone went to the York Cathedral this morning to mass except Sara and I so it was a quiet morning. Almost too quiet- I’m used to eight people running around the place. Emma and Jenny had bought 9 chocolate imps in Lincoln when we went the other day and left them out on the counter for everyone so Sara and I hid them. It was as close to an Easter egg hunt as we could get. I finished reading my book while everyone was out- good ending. I’m excited to be moving on to a new book though. Jenny is going to let me read Maus- it’s a graphic novel set in the holocaust.
Once everyone came back we went on a mini imp hunt and then geared up for soccer. It was another perfect day for soccer, and today we had a bit of an audience. Kiplin Hall officially opened to visitors on Easter so there were tons of people here- at least 20 cars. Every once in a while I would look up and see people crowded around the gate watching us play. Zach broke my shoes- he stepped on my foot and stayed put while I kept moving and ripped my laces from the whole left side of my shoe. I had to wrap my laces around my shoe so it would stay on. Dave and I went for a quick run around the lake after the game and then we all freshened up for dinner.
Sara essentially made the dinner, but since she used to be a vegetarian I helped her in gutting and stuffing the ducks and Cornish hens. Dinner was excellent though, and we finished with some cake- courtesy of Zach. Great meal.
We watched the Secret Window- way more creepy than I thought it was going to be, but the ending was pretty predictable if you thought about all the clues they gave you throughout the movie. Its all about the perfect ending…

4.3.10
We started work on site analysis this morning after everyone woke up. I am starting to get pretty excited for this project. The site has a lot more going for it then just a walled in green space- there is a stream running along the backside of it and a greenhouse etc. I have been charged with designing a Georgian Garden- a picturesque, geometrical, organized garden set in nature.
I bought blood pudding at the grocery store the other day at the deli counter- the woman told me how to cook it etc so I decided to make it before tech class today. Honestly, not bad. Not bad at all. I might even buy some more next time I go shopping.
After tech and some studio work we played soccer (!!). It was amazing outside. Perfect soccer weather- sunny and a little bit chilly. I missed soccer- yet another reason its nice to be back at Kiplin.
We watched Braveheart after dinner. I couldn’t even make it all the way through- it was SO LONG. How long can you drag that on!? Not exactly my favorite. Reading then going to bed- I’m almost finished this book!

4.2.10
Went running in the morning- there are so many geese around the lake!! I might have to start running in the area instead of around the lake from now on. I’m not trying to have a death by geese.
Already starting on studio- we went out and did site analysis for out next project, which is conveniently just a walk outside. We are designing a garden in the space next to Kiplin Hall that we are currently using as a soccer pitch. After we fixed lunch and settled in for some tech- so not used to that. We hung out and then went grocery shopping. I bought way too much- I love grocery shopping! We bought food for Easter dinner- girls get Cornish hens, boys get duck and everyone gets stuffed peppers. Yum!
Getting ready for a nice night of cards and a movie. Oh how I missed Kiplin…

Kiplin!!!

3.30.10
I woke up in the morning to run. Bad idea. I could only run for 20 minutes because I was nervous about my face and hands- it was so COLD!! I made it back to the hostel in time to eat before the French kids came down for breakfast and relaxed the rest of the morning until we set off to explore the town on our own. Jenny, Zach and I went up a church tower to get some aerial views of the city, then sketched a gate to one of the colleges and ran into Emma and Dave there. After we had enough sketching we went to lunch and we went to sketch a round church we saw the day before with DuPuy- plus it was inside so extra bonus for staying warm. Jenny and I wandered around after that to find some Easter candy for ourselves then went to the botanical garden. It was really helpful since our next project is a garden project- plants are so hard to design and create layers of color with. This next project will be interesting.

Jenny and I went for coffee then met up with everyone at an Indian restaurant I had found earlier. I am really starting a love affair with Indian food- it is so good!!

After our dinner we went back to the hostel and found a few people watching Pirates of the Caribbean- so good. After the movie I went to bed- busy, cold day- I really like Cambridge! Sad to leave tomorrow, but ecstatic to be back at Kiplin not living out of a suitcase.

4.1.10
I didn’t even know it was April Fool’s Day until about 2:00 so go me. We left Cambridge in the morning and headed for Lesceister to see a Sterling building at the University there. DuPuy loves Sterling. He was very innovative when DuPuy was in architecture school, and –honestly- he did experiment a lot with window types and glazing. He is one of te main reasons why we are able to do such amazing things with curtain walls and double skins…but why we went an hour out of our way to go walk around it is beyond me…but I did kind of like it.

We made our way to Lincoln after that and saw the castle and cathedral. The weather was crazy while we were there. During the two hours it was sunny and WARM, then freezing and windy, then raining, then hailing, then just cold and cloudy again. Honestly, the weather here is phenomenal. The cathedral here is definitely one of the largest I have ever been in- and it has the famous imp! DuPuy sent us on a mission to find it but we sort of cheated considering the handout they gave us had the answer on it- whoops! As an Easter gift he bought us all a keychain with the imp on it- very cool.

After some traffic and grocery shopping we made it back to Kiplin!! The place had been cleaned and was beautiful. I made dinner right away- steak and vegetables, yum. I had been needing some quality iron for a while now. Its just so expensive to buy a steak! We chatted and I unpacked and organized my life while most everyone watched the Departed. Sleep soon.

Cambridge

Yesterday we had to wake up super early for breakfast at the hostel- there is a group of 50 french middle schoolers who were eating at 8am so we had to sneak in before them in order to get some food.

After that we had a busy day scheduled. We went around to a lot of the different colleges here: King's, Queen's, Trinity, St. John's etc. I think I like this better than Oxford. The schools are bigger and all have beautiful courtyards and parks that go right up to the river Cam. The gardens make the river more accessible and all the bridges over it make you feel like you're in Venice. There is a sport called punting here- basically it looks like you're the person taking people on a gondola ride- DuPuy wants us to do that today but it is frigid outside so we may opt out. The streets are great here too- lots of cute shops and cafes. Plus there is a lot of chocolate shops with easter candy- I decided in lieu of my parents giving me one I'm going to make myself a basket :)

DuPuy is trying tolock up the computer so I;ve got to go. Not looking forward to the 6 degree weather today. ..

3.29.10
We left London today- I'll see you in a month. Drove to Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth. Saw some great communities. Its interesting to se the precedents for places like Greenbelt and Columbia. Ended in Cambridge- very nice. The colleges here are epic. I want to go! Its very similar to Oxford, but I think I like the greens here better than Oxford. Going to go running tomorrow to explore the waterfront!

Our home away from our home away from home...

3.26.10
Made it through security without having to pay any extra money for my bag! Whoop whoop. That was way too stressful. I almost wish we had just payed a little more for Jet Blue or another airline where we wouldn't have had to stress out for every flight about our bags. Live and learn.

But we're back in London now! Back in the good ole YHA with the familiar beds and showers! We had the evening off after meeting with DuPuy. I finally ran!! It was raining a bit when we first got back, but it let up and I could finally run. I was feeling so guilty when we were in Frankfurt because everyone was biking and running and rollerblading- if only I had room for my shoes! We cleaned up and went out to dinner at a pub. Some of us went back a little early- I had to present the next day on the London shopping arcades so I wanted to read up a bit. Exhausted.

3.27.10
Woke up early to run- I'm trying to bring back the good habits. Met downstairs at the hostel and followed DuPuy around, just like old times. We went to Hyde Park, Regents Street, the arcades, Piccadilly Street. Basically we went to a lot of the important landmarks around and to the east of our hostel that we hadn't been able to visit yet. I really like some of the urban design John Nash did (Regents Street and incorporating some of the arcades as other modes of transportation through the city)- not so much the architecture. Hyde Park was great- I already had seen a bit of it though with my morning runs. We passed by a lot of shops during the day- such a teaser.

After he let us loose we went back to rest up a bit: we are all going to see 39 steps tonight at the theatre. Sara researched an Indian restaurant near Piccadilly where we would be watching the play. I got something different than my go-to's, Chicken Tikka or Rogan Josh, bad decision. Not as much flavor as some of the other dishes. That's ok- I tried.

39 steps was AMAZING! I had no idea it was going to be that good- I had my reservations. It was funny and extremely well done. It helped that I didn't have any expectations going into it- good or bad. I literally had never heard of the play before so everything was new. Definitely recommend it.

I was exhausted- again. This running is killing me! I've got to build up my endurance again. I went back and read for a bit then went to bed. Sucks we're loosing an hour tonight- I could use the sleep.

3.28.10
Free morning! I woke up to go running then went out with Sara to shop- need to test out my new debit card :) Turns out stores in London don;t open as early as we expect them to in the States...Sara and I were there by 10:45 and the earliest stores opened was 11:30. And that was a very small percentage. We walked around a bit then got a cappuccino to pass the time and headed out caffienated and ready to shop.

Then I messed up. DuPuy changed the plans like 10 times for where we were supposed to meet and the final decision was made ~11:30 the night before while I was reading downstairs at the hostel. I forgot where it was. Sara forgot her phone. Bad combination. I THOUGHT it was St. John's wood. I was wrong. Then we went to the Marble Arch because we knew we were supposed to meet at an arch/monument and that was the recommendation from a man on the street. Eventually we just went back to the hostel and got got Sara's phone and met them at Hyde Park. My bad. We walked around the park and looked at the memorial for Princess Diana then walked along the canal.

A few of us went back to Oxford Circus to shop- stores were closed. We just went to dinner at the Slug and Lettuce (we had been wanting to go for a while) and went back to the hostel. Leaving for Cambridge tomorrow morning, and I have to present on Letchworth on the way there. More reading to do.

Frankfurt!

3.24.10
Got to the airport in time- they made me check my bag though!!! For RyanAir flights you can have a carry-on for free so long as it only weighs 10 kilos and fits a certain dimension. The lady asked me to put my bag in this contraption they have which is the max allowed dimension. I put it in and out no problem. She lifts it up and decides it 'might weigh too much' and made me go weigh it. it was 12 kilos instead of 10 and they made me check it for 40 euros!!! I was livid. Still not really over it, mainly because then I had to borrow money from jenny because I have no debit card. What a bitch.

ANYWAY- the flight was nice and short- only an hour, the kicker was that our airport is 1.5 hours outside frankfurt and we had to take a 12 euro bus ride to get there- one way. The day was amazing though- at least 65, sunny, no clouds. Frankfurt is good to us. I walked around on the waterfront- it is amazing. You can bike and walk and run along the river and their are gardens lining it plus a few nice pedestrian bridges. I am burning the design in my memory so I can reproduce it everywhere int he states- seriously amazing. I wandered around and went into a few churches then met up with everyone on the waterfront for a nice nap. Then Jenny, Allison and I wandered the city a bit and had a conversation with some man in broken english about how when the weather is nice the economy goes down because no one wants to work- he kept saying something about a sun ticket. He may or may not have escaped from an insane asylum. Later we met up at the hostel with everyone. We hung out then split up for dinner and met to get dessert for Zach's birthday- gelato of course. I went back and everyone went for a drink at a sports bar- I still don't feel well, but I think I'm coming out of it.

3.25.10
Feel much better in the morning- I guess I just needed a good nights sleep. My voice is still husky though, everyone is loving my new persona. We had bagels for breakfast and found an excellent farmers market and decided to meet there to get supplies for a picnic on the water for lunch. Jenny and I went in search of the design and architecture museums. The architecture one was closed until November- figures- and we couldn't exactly find the design museum but we went into a communications museum because it was only a euro and the building was amazing. Totally worth it.

I went back to some of the squares and sketched then met up for lunch. Cheese, bread, tomato, and grapes- I feel like I'm in Paris again. We just hung out and were lazy int he sun for a bit then tried to find tea- then gave up because it was like 4 euro. Now back in the hostel, might go wander around the train station later before dinner. Great day to end spring break with, very relaxing.

Berlin is amazing!

3.21.10
Walked around our area for breakfast- the area by the way is amazing. very eclectic and the best kebabs and falafal you could every imagine. After we walked to the Jewish museum by Libeskind. It was meant to be a linear building and procession through the exhibits- but it was really confusing. So far Libeskind hasn't made too great of an impression on me. I feel like he is always trying to do something wild and crazy out there architecture, but he misses the basics- like circulation and clear modes of egress. The museum was just confusing- the content was excellent however. I learned a lot about Judism and the prosecution its undergone.
We met up and split into a few groups. Justin Allison, Chris and I went to see the part of the Berlin wall that is still standing. We had to run for part of it because it was pouring (!) and we stopped to get kebabs and made a pit stop at the hostel to blow-dry our clothes. On the way to the wall we saw a movie being filmed- it was part of a chase scene- I had never heard of it. 'The last white man' look for it in a year. Anyway, the wall is awesome. Artists from all over the world did paintings on it- its weird to think this was so recent! The wall came down when I was 1! I bought a piece of the wall too. I couldn't help it. I'm helping the economy...we just walked around in that area after and went back to the hostel to watch the UMD game on the computer. Such a let down! We were so close!! At least we could watch a game- we were deprived of sports. Can't wait to play soccer and run again...

3.22.10
Went to the Eisenmann Holocaust memorial before our tour of Berlin at 11. The memorial was amazing. It was cement blocks at different heights on a sloping surface. You walk in it and at some points you are completely surrounded by the pillars and you can hear footsteps but not know where they're coming from and you see people walking out of the corner of your eyes- you never know if you're going to run into someone around the corner. Effective. The tour was excellent as well- and Adam was hot. Good ole Georgian boy. We saw the hotel Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window (!) and it ended on Museum Island. A few of us sketched the Altes Museum and went into the Pergamon- it has the Ishtar gate!! Then we went to see the Reichstag during the day and to an amazing new train station nearby. Technology/structure overload! The circulation was amazing though. I liked it a lot. We had dinner at a place the man at the hostel told Zach and I about- it was ok, good atmosphere but a bit pricey. I tried this beer called Duvel- really good. High alcohol content (whoops) but really good. We met up with the others and decided against a pub crawl and just went back into the same place for more drinks.

3.23.10
Jenny, Chris, Zach and I went to an OMA building int he morning- excellent- and met with Dave and Emma to go to a concentration camp. The one we went to was just north of Berlin called Sachenhausen. There was SO MUCH information there. There was basically 5 museums in one. You walked in and it freaked me out as to how planned it was- it reminded me of when I saw Salt Works last summer in France. There were architects who DESIGNED these camps. They kept most of it there for you to see. You could go in two of the barracks and the kitchen and prison. You could even walk INTO the execution trench and crematorium. Walking around the camp it was so arid and it just hung in the air that something terrible happened here. They estimaed about 20,000 people were killed there. Heavy for a Tuesday morning, but I'm really glad I went.
When we were back in the city Jenny and I went to a contemporary art museum designed by Mies van der Rohe- excellent building and it was my type of art so I had a good time. We met with everyone else on a street Allison's friend told her about. It was in East Berlin- very cool area. The amount of street life reminded me of Paris. Good vibes. We went for gelato before going back to the hostel. Early morning tomorrow- flying to Frankfurt!!

Later today

in regards to the post I wrote earlier- the tour didn't happen. The 'nap' ended up being a minor slumber and we woke up at 5..whoops. We all woke up and went out for dinner. Emma and Dave had already been out walking for a bit so they had some ideas. Some of us went for sushi (delish) and it is so cheap!! Berlin is amazing compared to Dublin. I have no idea why it was so expensive but this is a dream in comparison. After dinner we went to the Reichstag and saw the Brandenburger Gate. We had to run around in the rain and wait a while but it was worth it. The Norman Foster insertion was amazing, and they had an audio guide that was really helpful- I learned a lot!!

We metro-ed back and had some amazing gelato!! I felt like i was in Paris again. Back at the hostel now. Hopefully I can sleep well tonight considering my massive nap...

German...is hard

3/18/10
We all woke up relatively early considering we ended our dance party around 2. We all hiked over to the Western Union so I could get the money dad wired to me and to eat breakfast. Next stop was the bus station for our day trip to Howth. It is a nearby fishing town with excellent hiking and views of the coast. The wind there was unbelievable! When we were walking on the pier we literally were getting blown sideways- my hair may never be the same. We started on one of the many trails throughout the town and decided to take a detour to get to the top of an amazing cliff/rock. Well worth it. We had to make our way through some prickly bushes and steep climbs but it was some quality off-roading. The views from the top were beautiful. Green everywhere, very quintessential Ireland. We made our way back along one of the normal trails (how boring) and back to the town center for lunch. I had some amazing Irish stew and we were on our way back to Dublin.
At the hostel we all decided to take a short little nap…that ended up being 3 hours long. I could have kept sleeping too is Chris hadn’t of woken us all up! I guess we were tired. I forced myself to get up and we went in search of dinner. After wandering for a while (and after I bought myself a sweet Swatch- I will finally know what time it is!) we stumbled upon a great pub called McGrattons. It was full of old men in suits watching the soccer game after work- and excellent burgers. Not sure if it was because I was so hungry or if it was really just that good, but it could possibly have been one of the best burgers I have ever had. We went across the street to a local pub the guy at the hostel recommended to us and had a pint. It was great atmosphere- a bunch of men were singing and playing the guitar. Good times. Somehow I was still able to fall asleep that night- I’m worn out!

3/19/10
We had breakfast at the recommended place- a lot of food for not a lot of money- and it was basically the same thing we had everyday at the YHAs we had been staying at with DuPuy. After storing our luggage at the hostel me Allison, Jenny and Justin walked the streets until we had to meet up with everyone for the Guinness factory tour. I am a true convert- the tour was amazing! They let you taste the barley and smell the hops, then at the end they teach your how to ‘pour the perfect pint’ and then we drank our perfect pints with great views to the city. The first pint of Guinness I ever finished- delish. After some of us went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It was a bit of a let down just because it was extremely small, but they had some interesting stuff in there. Emma and I walked over to our next meeting place- Dublin is large but pretty manageable to walk around- and it ended in the rain. We were getting so lucky with great weather it was bound to happen. We saw everyone at the Calatrava bridge (it was new and very awesome- in the shape of the Guinness harp!) and took a look at the new Lebieskind theatre that just opened yesterday. We followed Chris to dinner- amazing little Italian place- I finally had the caprese I had been craving! We got our luggage from the hostel and went to the bus station to get to the airport. We were there by 11 and I slept from then until 4am when we had to check in for our 6am flight. Luckily we found a Starbucks that had some great couches for us to sleep on so it definitely could have been worse- and this way we didn’t have to stress about finding a cab at 4am and paying for another night at the not-so-great hostel.

3/20/10
Made it to Berlin safe and sound! Talk about culture shock- I know absolutely zero German- this will be interesting. Took a bus and the metro to the hostel, which was conveniently right by a metro stop and checked in. Much nicer than our last hostel! Now- shower and nap time. Still raining so hopefully it clears up and we can do one of the free tours of the city- we all will need it!

Spring Break!!

We made it out safe and sound to Ireland. First stop, Belfast. I was skeptical, but it was totally awesome. The hostel was so legit. It had great food, great atmosphere, plus we got breakfast in the morning. It was a hippies paradise. We walked around the city after we checked into the hostel and ended up in this giant globe/glassed indoor/outdoor shopping center and talked to Gerry- what a guy. He talked to us all about Belfast (the Titanic was built here, and it was where Jonathan Swift got inspiration for Gulliver's Travels!) and gave us tips for where to go out that night. Had dinner at our go-to, Whetherspoons, and went to the pubs: Robinson's and the Crown. The people were great. I love Ireland.

It was sad to leave in the morning- the hostel was great, but we had to be in Dublin for the parade. We left early and made it just in time to catch the bus to the city. Found our hostel nice and easy- not nearly as good as Belfast- and booked it to the parade. Apparently there were 650,000 people there!! The parade was crazy- some serious characters, and we were able to make it almost to the front so we could see a lot of it. After we wandered the city to get a taste of it- total madness. Everyone was dressed up and the streets were packed to the brim with people. It was nearly impossible to find a semi-non hectic street to turn down. Great energy. We had all agreed to meet up later with some alcohol to pregame before going out- Dublin is mad expensive- my group made it back first. We pushed all of the bunk beds to the center of the room and when the others got back we had a venue for some card playing. We went out in the area the guy at the hostel told us to go to (people love us b/c were Americans and love to talk to us about their American travels so we get lots of good advice as for where to go). We went to a place called The Globe- total awesomeness! It was one giant dance party, and we danced until 2am. We were so sweaty by the time we left- I feel like its ok that I didn't bring my running shoes because I'm still getting exercise!

computer battery is about to die- will update again soon.

whoops

I'm slacking on this whole blog thing- I forgot to mention what we actually did in Salisbury- minor detail. We stayed there one night and on Sunday before going back to London was explored the town a bit and saw the cathedral- its the tallest one in the UK (!). There is a copy of the Magna Carta there too- had to get some history in the trip.

We drove out to Stonehenge- the approach is so weird. I don't know why but I always expected it to be up on a hill or insanely tall, but you literally are driving down the road and...there it is. It still is amazing- how the hell did they get those rocks to sit so perfectly like that!? It was exciting to see it...with hundreds of other tourists. Definitely the most touristy thing we have done so far. Then we went to Old Sarun(m?), yet another Roman earthenwork. This one gets bonus points though because they had a tasting of gin, mead, and liquor. It was actually really interesting though- they literally dig a giant hole in the shape of a circle and dumped it in the center to make a fortress-like place and built on it. Impressive.

Anyhow- back in London now you can tell its Spring Break over here too because there are way more people out. Busy Busy. Excited for Ireland!!

The suspension bridge was in Bristol..forgot to look that up before I posted!

Almost spring break!

Did our laundry at the University on Friday- gotta love colleges, everything is cheaper there. DuPuy met with some of us for meetings and everyone else wandered around the campus and played a bit of soccer. After we were let loose in Bath- I went to our new favorite cafe, Jika Jika, to read and chill for a bit then walked around and sketched until we met to watch The Hurt Locker. What an amazing movie! I highly recommend it- war is a drug (?) interesting topic...we walked around and had some dinner then went to a pub before we had to meet up with DuPuy to drive back to the hostel.

The next day we left for Salisbury and stopped at ___ to look at a suspension bridge. The engineers in us were all geeked out. Driving away from it was crazy because it literally looked like it was just resting on the two cliffs- like you dropped a ladder across them and could drive over it. Technology is freaky sometimes.

Next stop was Castle Drogo- the roads getting there were giving me a heart attack. It was a 1.5 lane road basically with tons of turns so at any moment you could turn the corner and ram into another car. Luckily we made it out without a scratch. The house was amazing though- from the outside, not so much, but the inside made up for it. The design that went into every space and entrance and light switch was phenomenal. Lutyens knew what he was doing.

Last stop was Poundbury. It was an application of Leon Kreer's ideology on urbanism- he was working with Prince Charles to commission it. The urbanism I can appreciate, but the architecture and design of some of the buildings were sub par. It was all too similar and all of the buildings had to subscribe to a particular style- it could have used some variation. There were a lot of great episodes within it, but as a whole I didn't like it too much. Before leaving DuPuy got the energy out of us by taking us to an old Roman earthenwork we ran up and climbed all around. Good times.

It feels good to be back in London. After being on the road for a few weeks its nice to be back in a familiar place. We walked around a new section of London we hadn't been in before (up around Hyde and Regents Park and Oxford Circus). There is some extremely expensive shopping around there! Liberty scarves- the cheapest I saw was 110 pounds! Good thing I don't have my debit card yet...Is going to be a hectic night- leaving for Spring Break tomorrow so we need to get everything in order before the morning. We are going to have a lot of flights to get to over break so hopefully we can get all the local transportation to the airports figured out! I'm excited to be traveling around Europe without a chaperone- I have always been with a teacher or my family! Exciting but scary....hopefully it ends well :P

So I realized in my last post I was dating everything as February- whoops!

MARCH 8, 2009

We all went out to Jamie's Italian (its owned by Jamie Oliver!) for dinner- not as good as we were all expecting, but definitely not a bad meal. We met up with DuPuy after to go to the Eagle and the Child: a bar Tolkein and C.S. Lewis used to meet at all the time (!) to have a drink. We went back semi early- leaving for Bath tomorrow morning!

3/9/10

Made a pit-stop at the Ashmolean Museum before leaving Oxford. Definitely a good call- not only was the addition to the museum amazing architecture, the exhibits were excellent! I wish we would have had a bit more time there but we had places to go! On the way to Bath we stopped at two random smaller towns that DuPuy thought we would find interesting: Bibury and another one I can't remember at the moment...they were both in the Cotswolds though which is quite amazing scenery- most of England is though. We made it to Bath and wow is the topography dramatic! I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this! It is all pretty monotonous and autocratic facades too, but I (surprisingly) love it! DuPuy took us the the College pub for dinner and a drink then back to the hostel. The hostel is...interesting. You drive up this ridiculous hill to a Palladian-looking building only out find out that your room is out back in some rando building. Definitely not my favorite one. Excited to wander around Bath tomorrow!

3/10/10

Drove down to the city center and started following DuPuy. The streets here are great- good feeling, right building heights, very pedestrian friendly. We trekked up to see the circus (very impressive) and the royal crescent (still not sure if I like it or not). Next we went into the Roman Baths- they were great but I can't believe they charge so much to go in them! We drank some of the water- it was warm! So weird, I couldn't drink all of mine. We were allowed to wander then we all met up for dinner at a pub (the Beau Nash, haha) to watch the Man U. game- they won 4-0. Back to the hostel and bed late. I have to present on Wells tomorrow, need to research!!

3/11/10

Drove to Stourhead first. Probably my favorite garden we visited thus far. It was extremely well maintained and it was an manageable size to walk around. There were these ducks that kept following us- mainly because the boys were feeding them though. AFter a coffee break we drove to Wells where I presented on the city. I was very impressed by the interior of the cathedral- the outside was a bit off- the scale was wrong for how detailed the sculpture was and the h/w proportion didn't feel right. It was recently cleaned and it was beautiful! Plus, there was a window of Jesse- so naturally I liked it :) The chapel house was very impressive though- 36 ribs springing from a single column to support the roof! We drove to the Cheddar gorge next- so cool, it was like a mini grand canyon! We were climbing around- a goat kind of started following me and I freaked out a bit. No cheese though, everything was closed by the time we got there! Went out for Indian with DuPuy in Bath and went back to the hostel early- a few of us are feeling a little under the weather (!) we need to clear it up before Spring Break. Laundry + free day tomorrow!!

Harry Potter!!

2/6/10

Left Manchester today- off to Oxford!! We wandered around and tried to sneak into various colleges (there are 38!!) to have a look at them. There is a refectory and dining hall for EVERY college- that’s the life. The housing is amazing. They all have courtyards and beautiful brick architecture. We went up St. Mary’s church to have an aerial look at the town. It was so crazy though- when the bell struck for 2:00 we could feel the tower moving!! We went into Christ Church- they filmed parts of Harry Potter there!! I definitely recognized parts of it too- thats how you know I've seen the movies too many times. The night out was much more successful than in Manchester- there were people out!! We went to a cheap pub then went over to the Purple Turtle, but people didn’t want to pay cover so we just ended up at O’Neil’s. Fun day- I am definitely liking Oxford so far.

2/7/10

Oxford is freezing!! We woke up and drove to Stowe. I wasn’t completely blown away by it. It was essentially a mansion with thousands of acres of land with follies scattered around it. The follies were supposed to be laid out with references to one another, but I didn’t really feel it when I was there. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t maintained too well- not enough money. Such a shame. I bet it was beautiful when it was first completed. We drove back to Oxford to meet up with Nick at Magdelein College and explore. I was literally frozen to the core by the end of the day- we were outside for 7 HOURS! I was pissed- and I made sure to let DuPuy know. We stopped in for a beer at a pub close by and then went to an amazing Thai place for dinner. It was off this back alley- that’s how you know its good. I went back and pretty much fell asleep right away. Long, cold day.

2/8/10

I finally went running this morning! First time since we left Kiplin- it felt great. Plus now DuPuy can’t guilt trip me anymore for not running. We went to the Sheldonian Theatre first to sketch and then we drove to Blenheim to see the house and gardens. It reminded me of something you would see in Providence, RI like the Breakers or the Biltmore. We had a quick lunch and DuPuy dropped us off in town so we could wander around. I got an Oxford t-shirt just because I wanted to feel smart and have people question whether or not I actually went to Oxford when I wear it back in the states. Back in the Hostel now to try and warm up before going out for dinner. Leaving for Bath tomorrow.

Manchester

We left Kiplin on Tuesday. It was bitter sweet: I am happy to be traveling and seeing all of the country, but it was nice to have a home base at Kiplin.

The first place we drove to was Saltaire- I really liked it at first, but then as we were walking around it seemed almost unsafe. A lot off people had braces on their steering wheels so their cars wouldn't get stolen...not enough eye on the street! Jenny and I had a great lunch though- tomato and lentil soup with brie and crackers. We went to an art museum and I went a little crazy int he gift shop- there was so many amazing books and cards! After we drove straight to Liverpool and walked around the city a bit until dinner. It seems like a pretty cool town, but the Beatles thing makes it a little touristy.

The next day we were in Wales- what an amazing day! The sun was shining and the scenery was spectacular! The language is ridiculous though- can I buy a vowel!? We went to two Edward I Bastides- Conwy and Canaerfan- that were really interesting. Then we drove down to Port Meirian. It was literally a Disney World. This rich guy essentially bought a ton of land and designed buildings in every style imaginable. It was interesting to see though thats for sure.

Thursday we left for Manchester and stopped in Port Sunlight and Chester on the way. Port SUnlight was so picturesque! I felt like i was in Pleasantville. It was great to see how some people were reacting to all of the horrible living conditions in the cities at the time, I think it might have just taken it a little too far with the open space. It was literally sprawling! Chester was crazy- it was an old Roman Castrum and so we walked all the way around the city on the Roman Wall, and explored the actual city. I have never seen more Tudor style buildings in my life! It was weird though, most everything was shops- and we didn't even have time to shop!! There was an amazing movement system along the streets- there would be stores along the sidewalk with open almost porch-like walkways that stretched all the way across in front of another level of shops. Very neat.

Once we got to Manchester we went out to dinner as a group. There was a snafu with our room though because they hadn't cleaned it yet- we got two free bottles of Champagne. AFter we went out to get Indian food- it still hasn't let me down. I LOVE INDIAN FOOD. The meal was amazing plus Sara was able to get a free bottle of wine because it was her birthday. We went back to change and get ready to go out, but the night was a bit of a bust. There was literally nothing open! No one was out and everything had already closed for the night...not to great of a first impression.

Today (Friday) we walked around with DuPuy in the morning and then were set loose at 11:30. It was freezing so we went to get 'hot drinks' and then did some shopping. It is really expensive shopping around here- unfortunate- so I didn't get much. Then Sara and I went to the 23rd floor of the humongous new Hilton that is built here to get some arial views of the city and had coffee. Hopefully tonight will be a better outing than last- then were off to Oxford int he morning!!

Farewell Kiplin!!

Yesterday was review day- wow was it long. We started at 2:00 and ended at EIGHT!! It was a great review though I have to say- Nick has a lot of great ideas, I'm glad he came for the review. After we drank and played Rook (Jenny's amish game, its a lot like pitch) and watched the Hockey game- poor US.

Today I tried to sleep in because we had a free day, but I still woke up on my normal schedule of 8:30- its really unfortunate. I finished packing..sort of...and we played soccer for about an hour. It was a beautiful day- sunny and 50, what more could you ask for!? I went on a farewell lap around the lake and then we went into Richmond for a few errands and food. We are going to try and go to the cheap monday night movie and watch Invictus, but there might not be any seats left- we shall see.

We're leaving for the road tomorrow- I have to say I will miss Kiplin Hall and RIchmond, but it is going to be so amazing to be able to travel around the country and see so many cities. The there is Spring Break- I'm so pumped!! We are trying to/ I am planning a trip to either ROme or Barcelona for the beginning of April- its relatively cheap to fly round trip and we are already in Europe we might as well travel to another country for a weekend!! Hopefully we can manage to get it together in time....

I decided I am not going to bring my computer on the road simply because of space- I have too many clothes!! SO picture posting on facebook might be few and far between. Cheers!

Review Day

We convinced DuPuy not not make us take the tech exam on Friday (it wasn't that difficult, our schedule is flexible). There was just no way we would have been able to finish working on our projects and study for the exam, let alone TAKE the exam before our deadline of noon Saturday. Instead half of us took it Saturday after our deadline and the other half is currently taking it. I, obviously, took it yesterday- it took us 3 HOURS!! We were basically learning the material as we were taking it- not the best method. I still got an A though so I'm not complaining.

Last night DuPuy treated us to a play at the Georgian theatre in Richmond. We saw a Sherlock Holmes play, very funny. The actors were great! The actual seats were less than comfortable, but it was awesome to finally watch a play that wasn't directed at my high school. Before hand we went to a restaurant right next door called "A Taste of Thai"- delicious. I got green curry with pork. I am really getting into the asian foods here- I'm addicted to Indian now, I'm loving thai- go figure. I may never eat take-out Chinese again...or at least for a little while...

We are having our review today around 2. I'm a little worried as to how my drawings are going to look because we had to scan them in (and the scanner was horrible), make a powerpoint and then project them onto the wall- I've decided I'm going to lay my drawings out just in case they are illegible from the projector. In the end though I like my project and it was, by far, the best charette I have ever had to endure. No all-nighters, I cooked breakfast-lunch-and dinner for myself every day, and we were still able to play soccer!! Life is good.

About to go pack for our month of traveling on the road- this should be interesting..

Work, work, work!!

2/24/10

To keep our spirits up we all played rotation DJ in studio. We went in a circle around the room and each person had to play any song they wanted. I was suffering though- I felt SO tired around 10 and I pushed through until 11 and read before going to bed. I think its a mental thing (or that I have been consuming insane amounts of tea aka caffeine) but there is a slight possibility Justin has mono- I'm worried we all have it! In reality I think I just didn't have my normal dosage of caffeine that day and so I felt more tired than usual...

2/25/10

Work, work, work!! I really want to finish my drawings tonight- then I can add any extra detail and scan/fix my drawings for the presentation tomorrow. We will see how that goal plays out...

I am already not doing well because around 12 I got bored and went for a run haha, oh well.

We finally went into the main house at Kiplin this afternoon. I wasn't that excited about going, but it is so much nicer inside than I had anticipated! Absolutely gorgeous. Plus, I have decided I am going to have a 'drawing room' in my house- the one there was epic.

Tonight my agenda entails working until I can't keep my eyes open..then go and read some before bed. Tech exam tomorrow morning- ugh.

Charette- UK style

2/21/10

I am trying to backlog and remember what we did today- not going to lie it’s a bit fuzzy. It was a work-day, that I know. I went on a run in the middle of the day and was then forced to play soccer later- apparently no one can play without me. We went to dinner at a place in town- I got a beef and onion pie. Let me tell you, the Brits know how to make a meat pie- it was very good. I ordered an Irish coffee for the first time after dinner- not a huge fan. But at least I can say I tried.

2/22/10

I, shockingly, have decided to abandon my morning runs for a little bit. Today I went on a run sort of as a ‘break’ in the middle of the day- excellent idea. It helps to break up doing studio work. Not that I don’t love being here, but during the week the days can get a little monotonous so it helps to have something to do so I don’t just end up eating or going on the internet out of boredom.

We all went to see our cheap 4pound movie tonight. I saw Up In the Air- such a downer in the end. I still can’t get over Alex- what a bitch!! Dave and Emma saw Invictus- kind of jealous, it sounded great. Maybe it was the movie- or the act of going to the movies- but I was wired up tonight, and I went to bed at 1 mainly because that was when Jenny went to bed. Who would have thought I would be the last one up.

2/23/10

I woke up at 7:30 this morning…on my own. I think I’m sleeping too much- is that possible? Tech in the morning is not so great. It is a great way to break up the day though I have to admit. Eat breakfast- work on some studio- do tech for 2 hours- eat lunch- play soccer. Soccer was fun today- we played three games of 3v3. It is hard to get even teams with only three people- almost every game was a blow-out. After we just worked for the rest of the night. I was extremely tired though end ended up going to bed around 11 and reading- I’m really enjoying Middlesex- I’m hooked!

2/24/10

It has become a production to come and use the internet. I need to walk through the dining room, kitchen, up the stairs, through the boys’ room and into the apartment just to get a connection. It is really helping my goal of becoming less dependent on technology. Before I literally always had access to the internet- and a phone for that matter. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I go back to the states and I have all this technology again!!

Today after lunch we went into Richmond- I had to plan out the rest of my meals so I wouldn’t have any food left over (or not enough). The drive over there was really freaky though because of the fog. You literally couldn’t see 10 feet in front f you- it looked like we were driving through a blizzard.

It is really weird to think that we have a review in 4 days (and are supposed to be done by noon the day before!). I am not really stressed at all- it is going to be a really low key review since the only guest crit is Nick M. Normally I wouldn’t be sleeping much, I would be completely stressed out- but jut yesterday we were all drinking G&T’s in the kitchen calm as ever. I also had a really great talk with DuPuy today about the structure of my building. Before I had always thought of it as ‘how is my building going to stand up’, but he had a completely different perspective. The way you’re building is structured is literally how it is going to look, the aesthetic of it. I wish I had been given this perspective a long time ago, maybe I would have liked tech a little bit more…

I love this semester- today DuPuy called it studio rehab, and I totally agree. The only down side is that since we are, technically, in a charette we have postponed movies until Sunday night…such a hard life we live.

2/19/20

We finally played soccer again today! I had taken a week hiatus after several minor injuries, and it felt good to play again. Afterwards I was exhausted though because earlier today we went to Richmond to go on top the castle there then do some 'detective work' as DuPuy called it. I was charged with going swimming and figuring out where the drains and HVAC is in a pool for my project- it was a success. Jenny and Emma had to help me some though because I forgot to put my contacts in and was, therefore, swimming blind.

We watched the Duchess- such a depressing movie. I think we might need to move on with the period pieces...

2/20/10

Today was an amazing day. The weather was excellent- sun almost all day! We woke up early and I presented on Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in the morning. We got there and the sun and shadows through the ruins of the abbey were stunning. The abbey was massive- I can't even imagine what it much have been like when it was in its prime. I think that fact that it was open to the sky made it look even larger too because it was as if it were endless. The gardens were beautiful- the grass here is so green!! There were a few areas that looked run-down. DuPuy says the maintenance here is a huge production because the trees are all starting to die and there are tons of people who come here every year walking around and ruining the gardens- such a shame.

After we went to Blemhen Rocks- not going to lie I was slightly mad we were going to see some rocks after we had just walked around for 4 hours- but I was speechless. It was on a cliff and you could just climb around on these massive rocks, and on the top of them were the most amazing views. The English countryside is a beautiful sight- especially with some snow!

On the way home Sara and I got ingredients for some gin martinis- damn can Sara make a strong drink. We watched the Other Boelyn Girl, and I attempted reading some but I was too tired and fell asleep. Excellent day.

2/16 cont.

So we ended up watching Snatch- go figure. It was hilarious because DuPuy thought he had never seen it until 10 minutes in and he remembered he already had. He is the worst person to watch movies with though- constant comments!! Oh well, it was a great movie so nbd. I read my book for ~30 minutes after the movie and went to bed. I am really starting to get into this book! Plus, I want to read Maus (Jenny's graphic novel that she brought) so I need to finish this one!

2/17/10

Tech in the morning- this section is actually getting really helpful because its about HVAC and placing the air ducts and mechanical equipment. We had a work day and I took a break to go running to 'figure out my elevation' as DuPuy recommended. I had a desk crit with DuPuy later and I am really starting to move along with my design! I tried to work on my seminar topics later too, but I ended up just surfing the internet for 90% of the time and didn't get much done...c'est la vie. We watched Charlie Wilson's War at night while 'working on studio', but it ended up that everyone got sucked in and didn't do any work. After we worked for a bit until it hit 12 and I went to bed. I'm not conditioned to stay up late anymore! Its such a different lifestyle here than when I am in College Park...and its a much better one!

2/18/10

Woke up to work on studio before our group crits (I was with Jenny today). We ended up running really behind and I just worked straight through until our turn (last) and was brain dead after. Running helped, then we had tech. I have a long list of drawings I need to work out before our review- its in a week and a half!! I'm so excited to be on the road again though- its going to be like we're backpacking across the UK since we're staying in hostels everywhere we are going etc. I'm getting really pumped for spring break too...I just need to stay strong through this last stretch and have a good design!!

Tech...

2/15/10

We had a tech review- its always so confusing because half the time we are trying to figure out where Bovill got the numbers from and hwy he is using them. We gave up after about an hour and a half and worked on studio a bit more and finished the first season of the Tudors. I think we might have to succumb to buying the next season!!

2/16/10

I was in the first group to take the tech exam this morning- 9am. The test ended up taking me about 2 hours- it was a long time to look up tables in a book. DuPuy graded them right after we took them; I got a 96. I tried to do studio work after, but my brain was fried so I went on a run and gave it another go when I was done. I’ve really enjoyed this studio process with DuPuy- he is making us think a lot more about details rather than the parti or the big idea. It was a long day, so we are scheduling a movie night to wind down. Braveheart is currently the winning contender, but The Dutchess is a close second, so we will have to wait and see…!

The Tudors!!

2/12/10

In Durham we walked along the river- very beautiful. I felt like I was reading Huck and Finn. The weather was kind of crappy, but we stuck it out for a while and had a few impromptu tech lessons while analyzing one buildings- and getting more than a few odd looks. We decided not to stay in Durham and went home. Emma bought the first season of the Tudors in Durham and we ended up watching the first four episodes tonight- we got sucked in!

2/13/10

So I think its safe to say I officially like coffee now. I never thought it would happen, but I can drink it black and I don’t mind it at all. Its scaring me!

We went to see a folly in Richmond today for Emma’s fourth class. Before Emma, Sara, and I went grocery shopping for dinner tonight- Lasagna, garlic bread and apple pie. I have to admit the folly was a lot nicer than I was expecting. It was all made of the vernacular stone and had a square bottom with a octagonal top. There were four floors and a tiny spiral staircase to take you up. Now they have renovated it and rent it out to people for a few days at a time. The views of the town were amazing and the renovation was extremely nice- I wouldn’t have minded staying there for a weekend. After we went into town and walked around the market- I was quite tempted by the cheese and sausage selection, but considering our limited refrigerator space I had to hold back. We went back to Kiplin and played soccer- I got killed. Dave stepped on my other foot and boy and I in pain. Then, since the field was muddy because it rains at least once a day, I got too close for comfort to pulling my groin. I got Jenny and Dave to run a cool-down lap around the lake with me so I cold get a good stretch in. I might have to take a break from soccer for a few days…I was then called to the kitchen to start on dinner- mom would be proud of my lasagna skills. For dinner we’re all dressing up because, well, why not? After we made the boys clean up and we continued to feed our new addiction to the Tudors- now I know what Aunt Linda was talking about all this time!

2/14/10

Today was a VERY early day. We left for Hadrian’s Wall at 8:30- it was well worth it though. The wall is massive and the topography it goes through is ridiculous. I fell walking down one of the hills- boat shoes was not the best choice for today, we were practically hiking. After we drove to New Castle and (after getting lost a few times around the city) took a look at Byker new town. It was….interesting. I definitely didn’t jive with the style of architecture of the place, but the idea was good. It was a development that essentially built a wall to block the sound from a nearby highway and built housing for lower income families. There was a school, a sport complex, a church, and a few community greens. Unfortunately because of the type of people that were living there it lacked a sense of community and it wasn’t kept up well at all- one of the major battles with urban planning. We walked down to the Millennium Bridge, and then called it a day- we had to get Emma and Dave back in time to go on their Valentine’s Day date. I made meatloaf for dinner- just like home :) I was able to get some alone time and read my book for a bit, and then we watch two more episodes of the Tudors and went to bed.

2/15/10

Went running this morning- I finally ran three laps around the lake! I’m going to try and work my way up every week. Today is a work day- finally- and then we have a tech review at 4 for the exam tomorrow. It’s so weird we haven’t been working non-stop all weekend! It’s a very different lifestyle from studio in cp- and I like it.

2/11/10

We met with DuPuy in the morning to talk about our seminar papers that are due at the end of the semester- apparently Zach's mom has read them all and mine were her favorites (I haven't even read them all!). We played a couple games of soccer and then got ready for paired studio crits. It was nice to have a change of pace- single crits can only go on for so long. I was with Chris since his project's site is directly across the street from mine- I'm really liking all of our projects so far. It should be a good review! We worked for a while then went to the grocery store with our allowance from DuPuy. With our newly filled refrigerators and supplies of alcohol we all played ass hole in the study with some whisky sours (I'm really good at making them now after being the bar tender for the night) and wine until 1am. It was a good night.

2/12/10

We had tech in the morning- despite the fact that we still haven't received the exam via e-mail from our tech professor in cp...and a few hangovers...

Next we are off to Durham for the day and potentially the night depending on if everyone decided to go out- we did just get our per diem :)

2/8/10

The mac-n-cheese was a success! Everyone liked it, and I had the duty of feeding DuPuy for the night- he approved as well. Later we projected the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood tonight- in honor of going to Robin Hood’s Bay the other day. Great movie- can’t go wrong with Robin Hood.

2/9/10

Today we had tech in the morning and then played soccer after. There were only 5 of us who felt like playing so we did 2v2 with a rotating goalie out in the fields between two trees in the allée- we have to keep rotating fields since it is so muddy from the rain and we quickly wreck the fields. Luckily there is tons of green on the estate that we can move around. It was a great conditioning workout because we were just running and passing the whole time since it was man on man. I got beat up a bit because for a while I was playing against all guys- only bruises- poor Sara is still limping around a little bit from the other day. I was pretty exhausted after and once I was tired of reading up on Fountains Abbey (one of the topics I have to present on) I took what I thought was going to be a short nap and woke up two hours later- hopefully I can sleep tonight…the good news was that we have internet at Kiplin now! A man came and worked on it with Zach for a while and eventually was able to get us internet…in the spare apartment…and only two at a time…but it works! The people at the station in Richmond are going to miss us I’m sure. After some more studio work later hopefully we can convince the guys to watch Pride and Prejudice (DuPuy bought a DVD player so no more projecting on the wall!)- I’m banking on the fact that Kiera Knightly stars in it will persuade them.

2/10/10

Woke up early on accident- I really need to get a watch or an alarm clock. My neck is still killing me, playing soccer with boys may not be the best idea. We had studio crits in the morning then hung out until tech in the afternoon. Tech is proving to be really difficult when the professor who gave us the PowerPoint slides is 3000 miles away at UMD…trapped in his house from the snow. Emma and I tried to figure out our assigned review questions and we literally just couldn’t figure one of them out. Hopefully it gets better later in the semester. At least we only have it while we’re at Kiplin. The weather has been crazy here- within 20 minutes it has rained, snowed, sleeted, and been sunny- the US gets snow, and the UK can't make up its mind. After a quick tech session and dinner we all watched Shooter in the study- I think I have watched more movies in the past week than I have in a year, its great. Interview with a Vampire was on the TV, but everyone here was too freaked to watch it- thanks mom and dad for raising me on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Reading then going to bed- such a lazy day!