OK, so here’s a fill in. Cannes was beautiful. A little rainy for most of it, but had a good hour or so of sun to take some pictures. I was only there less than a day, so it was a quick trip with nothing much to tell. It’s better to see instead.
Looking down on Cannes from a hill.
Pretty lilac bushes.
An artsy picture.
On Friday back in London, I went out with a big group to a great club called Abacus. Clubs still really aren’t my thing, but I had a great night dancing. It was a pretty swanky venue, so it’s nice to get exposure to that sort of thing, since it’s something I don’t do as much. Plus, my friends are wonderful, so more time with them, the better.
In preparation to turn in our final projects on Monday, most of my weekend and that of pretty much all other MU kids was consumed with staying in and working. I took a break on Saturday and used a free ticket that Grace, one of my flatmates, had to the Design Museum. It was a really, really cool museum, located near some surprisingly posh wharfs out in East London. The museum had two floors, one of which was dedicated to French designer and architect Jean Pouvre. He was highly influential in many French buildings and industrial design throughout the 20th century. Having never heard of him before, it was cool learning a bit in this subject that I don’t have much knowledge on. The second floor was the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Awards exhibition, which showcased the top designs in transportation, technology, furniture, graphic design, clothing, etc. from across the world in the last year. Features ranged from the Nintendo Wii to a new type font family. I absolutely loved this portion, and am amazed by some of the creativity out there.
On the way back from the Design Museum, I got caught in a freak rain/wind storm right as I was crossing Tower Bridge over the Thames. Of course this is the day that I emerged from the flat anticipating warm weather, wearing a skirt with tights and a light sweater. And I had a brain-lapse and forgot my umbrella. My pashamina served as a makeshift hood, but overall, outcome was bad. I was a little like a wet rat by the time I made it to the Tube station. This misadventure is an example of a trend lately—the schizophrenic London weather. In the last week, we’ve had days where it will be warm and sunny, then five minutes later start to rain, sleet or hail. No snow, but definitely ice. As it is mid-April, I was hoping for some more spring-like weather. Guess I’ll have to wait for Spain next week. Oh well. Hopefully, if you’ve learned anything from my blog, it’s to come prepared for sporadic rainy weather when you visit London. Love the city, but you never know what the forecast is going to bring.
There's the bridge as the infamous storm approaches...
Sunday night Alex invited me to the premier and after party of Flashbacks of a Fool, starring Daniel Craig. Yes, I did see him on the red carpet and during the after party. And yes, he is just as good looking in person, since I know this is what the ladies will inquire. I also walked in nearby Claudia Schiffer, who wasn't in the movie, but along for the show. At the after party, we brushed shoulders with many of the stars without realizing it, since most were stars on the British screen. The movie was really good and pretty thought-provoking, and the after party was wonderful and at one of the coolest venues in London called Sketch. So architecturally edgy--for example, in the bathrooms, each of the individual stalls was shaped like an egg. So you walk into this room and there's all these large eggs scattered about. No joke. I was thrown off too. I wasn't as overwhelmed and giddy about this premier, mostly because I'd been through the entire experience before with The Other Boleyn Girl. But it was still a great time and another fun thing to add to the overall London experience.
The cast of the movie. Daniel Craig is the blur on the far right.
My camera messed up on the red carpet, so Alex got some great pics of us as well as one of Daniel and one of Claudia.
Monday I actually presented my project in class, and it went over really well. I think I did a pretty thorough job coming up with a mock campaign that the charity I chose could actually use to fundraise. I’m actually going back to the charity next Tuesday to present my idea to them, so I’m going to still try to improve it a bit. I’m hoping they’ll like it, whether they use it or not. I’ll let you know how that meeting goes.
Last night, Pam and I went to History Boys, a Tony-winning play in the UK. As all I've seen is musicals, seeing a play was really a nice change of pace. It was extremely well acted, about a group of Oxford/Cambridge-bound boys at a prep school and their interactions with their highly influential professors. It was a lot more interesting than I just made it sound, and the underlying themes of the play were so complex that I'm still figuring it all out today. I enjoy that kind of show.
Work’s been winding down, and I’m just finishing up a few minor projects for Lillian before my last day next week. It’s really sad that the end is already so close. You look forward to this experience for years, and it’s a weird realization that you’re done with it. I mean, it’s great that I made it happen, but it’s sad that it’s something in my life that I can’t look forward to. I know I’ll come back to Europe and London in the future, though probably not in the same capacity. Everyone keeps saying that what we want is to go home for a couple of weeks and see everyone and then come back. In some sense, I understand that, but I really am excited to get back into the groove of things in the US. I love the Brits, but I’m not one, which is fine with me. My heart is always going to be in America.
OK, moving away from the overly sentimental…
Knowing that we’re leaving in 8 days from now (for me at least), Pam and my flat mates and I have created some oh-so-efficient Excel documents outlining what we’re doing, where we’re eating, etc. each day for the rest of our time here. So basically, a computer nerd’s day planner. We’re scrambling to get all our favorite restaurants in one more time and see some of the stuff we’ve not yet seen. Today, Pam and I accomplished a good chunk of that. We started out with a class trip to the Tower of London. Since I’d been there recently, Pam and I kind of took an abbreviated tour of the things we wanted to see then left for a good lunch at The Hung Drawn and Quartered pub nearby. Obviously, it stuck with the theme of the famous executions done nearby at the Tower by having a noose hanging over the bar and portraits of some of Britain’s most famous execution victims on the wall. We had a good lunch there before heading up one last time to Camden Market to see parts we hadn’t seen and finish up souvenir shopping. Camden’s so big that it really does take a couple of trips to do it all.
The highlight of the day was hitting up my last must-see in London: Abbey Road. Pam and I of course took the stereotypical picture walking across the zebra crossing. We couldn’t take it from the right angle because we’d be in oncoming traffic. It’s actually a pretty busy road. But it was cool to do nonetheless. And there were TONS of tourists like us doing the same thing. Frequent drivers down the road have to be tempted to hit us—there’s no way they wouldn’t. We also made our mark on a wall in front of Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded. People write their Beatles sentiments all over it. It’s cool to see what everyone’s written and where everyone is from. We wrote some of our own in a little corner, wanting to be a piece of the history (at least until they whitewash the wall next).
Abbey Road.
Trying to channel Paul, John, Ringo and George. I wish I'd taken off my shoes.
Doing grafitti.
And now, I’m exhausted. Good, long day, and many more good, long days to come as we continue to finish everything up here and then start the packing. So bittersweet… As sad and weird as it all is, I am beyond excited that in just over a week, I’ll be heading to Madrid for my two-week romp around Spain with Pete. I can’t even begin to fathom the fun I’m going to have with him. We’ve got places arranged for Madrid and then a weekend in Alicante along the Mediterranean, so I’m already starting to imagine the warm beaches.
That’s all for now. More to come.
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