Blenheim Palace (day six)

front gate

Blenheim Palace 

Blenheim Palace 

bridge

Blenheim Palace - back

gardens

Today I visited Blenheim Palace.  It was pretty.  Winston Churchill was born here.  The Duke of Marlborough lives there currently.  The most impressive thing inside I thought was the furniture done by Andre-Charles Boulle. Boulle work consists of Contra parte and Prima parte pieces.  This furniture has an inlay usually done in gold. It is very pretty.  His work is amazing!  It was interesting to find out that there are pictures of Louis XV in the Palace and furniture from Versailles located there even though France was the enemy....  The gardens were my favorite part.  I felt like I could have stepped out of a Jane Austin novel in an empire waist dress and all.  I love the green rolling hills!! I don't think I will ever get sick of them. (Sigh)  On the property they have rose gardens that are pretty, as well as secret gardens, Italian gardens, a lake, and much, much more.  I sketched the bridge above and it was so relaxing sitting in the sun with beautiful surroundings.  I ate at Zizzi's again for dinner and had gnocchi gorgonzola, which is a potato dumpling in a creamy gorgonzola and spinach sauce seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper.  It was way good! I also had the garlic bread which is amazing.  I love eating a Zizzi's because it not only has good food, but is well designed.  I have been to two different locations and love being able to identify chair no. 14 by Michael Thonet.  And every time it is a different color.  It was in plum this time.  Love it! 

Burghley House (day five)

english scone with clotted cream & jam

burghley house

spider web

burghley house

Burghley House! If you have seen Pride and Prejudice, the Keira Knightley version, the part where Elizabeth is visiting the Collins and goes to lady Catherine De Burgh’s for dinner is filmed in this house. The tour guide was a great older man who knew his info, but wasn't dry.  People still currently live in the house.  One of my favorite features of the house was the secret doors to the servants’ hall way so they could pop in and out when it pleased them.  The gardens were fun and had different types of water features in them.  I feel like the weather was pretty much amazing if prepared with the right equipment.  It looked like it was raining hard, but it was a drizzle that soaked you more than you would ever think it would.  I had English scones with clotted cream!!!! It was so good.  I have made English scones before, but these were way better and I hope to be able to make some just as delicious one day.  My very full day finished with going to see Wicked.  It was good, but I am used to the American voices...  It really was amazing though, loved it.

Repetition (day four)

circle window

Black gate

Stairs

Housing

LDS Church

blue gate

What did I decide to do on my first free day in London?  Well, I started out attending church, which happened to be right around the corner, well basically.  Some find the simplistic building where the services took place ugly, but I found it a breath of fresh air.  The buildings in London are beautiful with complex and intricate details.  I think I have been on detail overload this week!  The church was a more contemporary building outside and in.   The repeating vertical lines on the front of the building draw your eye upward to a beautiful gold spire that takes your eye to the sky. 

After taking a much needed nap a few of the girls and I went to explore the neighborhood we live in.  This posh area is full of amazing and unexpected pops of color as well as wonderful architecture.  One color that I have found repeated all over London is the blue, like in the above picture of a gate.  I have seen this color used for many doors, gates, and even shudders and window frames.  It is a fun punch of color!

The black gate photo I love because it shows the corner coins in a way I haven't seen before.  They are subtle yet defined.  I also love the simple beauty in this gate’s repeating lines.  

The picture of repeating porches makes and everlasting effect. It seems like the building will continue forever. Corbel after corbel, column after column. And so forth.

Stairs.... I walk up four flights of stairs to get to my flat.  It is good and bad all at the same time.  I feel so accomplished when I have reached the top of the stairs and gaze back down to see the blue unevenly sized stairs.  

If you haven't caught on yet, I decided to focus this blog entry on repetition.  The only problem is that one of my favorite pictures is not a great example of repetition.  The picture of the round window contains a reflection of the arts college.  I love a good reflection so I included it anyway. 

Mostly Museum's (day three)

V & A Museum entrance

Armor 

My favorite piece of art at the Tate Museum

table at the V & A

flattened musical instruments at the V & A

Lamborghini store

Cup Cake Shop

Today was a good day.  I started out at the V & A Museum.  I started in the British section.  It was fun to see all of the things I had been learning about in History.  It was amazing to see how design developed through the years.  I was amazed by the details put into all of the pieces on display.  I hope to return to the V & A before I leave so I can see the rest of the exhibits.  This afternoon we traveled to the Tate Museum.  On the way there we walked past design stores!  It was so nice to see good design in a store.  We also walked by Harrods.  The shop windows were amazing and I hope to also make it inside before I leave.  Anyway, we went to the Tate Museum which features all modern art.  Some of it was a bit interesting, but I liked a lot of what I saw. 

Next I traveled with Susie, her friend Nicole, Benae, Rachel and Leslie to The Hummingbird Bakery.  It was adorable!  We got cupcakes takeaway style.  Then we went to H & M.  It’s a clothing store.  I found a couple of items that I am excited about.  Rachel, Benae, Leslie and I decided that we should have fish and chips while we were here so we found the closest place that we could see served it.  We stood outside of this place called Billy's and a man came out and told us we should eat there.  We decided to.  So I had real authentic fish and chips for the first time and it was pretty good.  It probably helps that I was hungry.  I tried mashed peas with my fish and it was pretty good.  After dinner we returned to our flat and decided to eat our cupcakes outside. Apparently you are not supposed to sit on the front steps of our building so we had to move to some other steps.  The cupcakes were amazing!!!! I had a black bottom one which has cheesecake in it.  The main part of the cupcake is chocolate cake.  It was so moist.  The frosting tastes like cheesecake slightly.  There were chocolate chips in the cheesecake hunk in the cupcake.  Wow!! It was just so good... a man walked by us while we were eating them and asked if he could have a bite... we just laughed at him.  There is no way we girlies were getting separated from our cupcakes that we had been looking forward to eating.  The icing on top of today was that Rachel got her luggage back!!! I am so happy for her.

Hampton Court (day two)

Inspiration for Diagon Alley

First pic with telephone booth

Covet Garden Court

Hampton Court

Gardens at Hampton Court

Zizzi Restaurant 

Today I went to where the inspiration for Diagon alley came from.  Being a fan of Harry Potter I quite enjoyed this.  I got my first picture with a red telephone booth, and then we took what seemed like a million group pictures there!  It was a great little area.  Next I visited Covet Garden.  There are lots of shops and in the open area between some of the shops was a market.  I love markets.  They always have the coolest things.  It was so fun.  Hampton Court consumed most of the day and was spectacular.  The gardens were my favorite part as well as the chandeliers.  I could get used to having gardens like the ones I walked through today.  Earlier this year in my History of Architecture and Interior Furnishings class we learned about Hampton Court so it was fun to see what I had learned about in person.  They have people dressed in period clothing, so I met the Queen and King Henry the VIII.  After exploring the vast Hampton Court I ate at Zizzi's with Danni, Mary, Changmock, and Elise.  It was delicious Italian food.  The design of  Zizzi’s is amazing.  I feel like not only are you getting delicious food, but you are in an amazing atmosphere to enjoy your food.  In the restraint they have Michael Thonet’s Chair no. 14 in light blue.  Love it! One of the best things about today was we got back to the flat without getting lost in our switches on the train and underground!  I also walked some streets by our flat and Leslie and I even found the back way to the grocery store.  It was nice to be exposed to some more of London.  What a treat! Today was  a great and tiring day!  My favorite saying that I heard repeatedly today was, "mind the gap".

Arrival in London (day one)

The London Eye

Westminster Abby and Big Ben

Building reflection

View out my window

The National Gallery

I arrived in London finally!  The study abroad group did a walking tour of London last night and first thing we saw when we got out of the train station was Westminster Abby.  It was absolutely breath taking!  There is so much architectural detail on the building that you can’t help looking at it.  The view opposite Westminster Abby is the London Eye.  As we continued our journey we came across a building with a great reflection.   What an advantage of rain.  Speaking of rain; today on our way to the flat we were getting on the train and it started raining quite instantly and was a down poor.  It was so wonderful.  We had lots of rain and got pretty soaked.  I am so happy to have my rain coat! I also included the view out the window of my flat.  I quite enjoy it :) The row houses done in a classical style never gets old.  Interestingly enough the front of the buildings have been redone, so when you look at the back of the building it is brown brick. I also included a picture of the National Art Gallery, located in Trafalgar Square. The dome it reminds me of fish scales.  I love the Corinthian columns too. The buildings here seem to have so much character to them. Where ever I walk I find some architectural design that I love.  Soak it all in!

The Beginning of the Journey

So... our flight to Chicago got delayed so we are just waiting in the airport. I got my bag checked and went through security where they almost swiped my chap stick (angry eyes), but don't worry I got it back. I realized next time I step foot outside I will be in London!!!! I still can't believe it!  Oh and just a little explanation of the title of my blog.  The name is inspired by the places I am going to visit; London, Ireland, Paris, and Spain.  I can’t wait to begin this design journey.  Look forward to some amazing posts!