Author: son.151

[post-trip blog] All about London

by at

It was a long week definitely. I still cannot believe we are back in school, and the semester is going on now. I think I had a wonderful dream for a week. I miss everything, every moment, every place that I went to. So, there are three things I cannot stop thinking of: people, weather, and scone. 

I had a CRP class this morning as the first class after since we came back from London, and the first thing I did was looking around to find where Ashley and Desiree are. (They are my classmates in that class) I don’t know why but I miss everyone; and perhaps that is because we spent 24/7 together for a week.

DSC_1385this is the first Sunday in the morning, everyone looks excited.

 

The second thing is the weather in London. We expected to have rain (as it supposed to..) but we did not! I believe one of the reasons that we had great memories in London is the wonderful weather. I heard they will have rain this week. We were meant to be there, I do think so.

CSC_1705 The first Sunday afternoon, walking along the London eye.

 

Finally, the scone, my favorite food in London. I miss British scone so bad. It is so much different from Americans or any other countries. I think I will have to learn how to make British scones.

IMG_9850 I found this book in Portobello market. I should have bought it.

This trip was wonderful as itself. I really have to thank Aimee and Troy (and Amy) for making this great trip possible. And I hope we could keep in touch with our classmates in future as well!

Hampstead Heath

by at

Hampstead Heath is located in the very north side of the city of London. London is well known as the top green city in the world, and it is one of the reasons that I like London as well. It was not very smooth trip to get there. I planned to meet my friend at 3 pm at the hampstead Heath station, but I could not make it on time due to traffic jam. My friend told me it is hard to be on time in London especially on weekends. London seems to have the same problem of congestion as other big cities. The heath was beautiful, many families came out to enjoy wonderful weather and Spring.
image
While sitting down on a bench, I saw the problem of Walkitalki building that I heard from the news. When sun light directly goes to the building, it reflects and bothers other building and people on the street. I remembered a news that the light thawed snow on the street last winter. It was about to sunset when I arrived there, and I could exactly see the strong light coming out from the building. My friend also told me the architect who built walkitalki recently designed a similar building in Dubai, and it may cause a big problem.
image

Portobello

by at

I am now in Portobello market which is located in Notting hill. This market is fully packed with people, almost tourists. It is quite a big market than I expected. Nothing makes me more exited than local markets, and it is perfect weather today to go out. I didn’t even look at the map, now I am just walking around the place. But I found shops that I wanted to visit, including the Notting hill bookshop which is famous for its movie! Funny thing is, I am now at the place called Coffee Plant, which was mentioned in the book I looked over at the book shop. Oh I also bought some teas for my mom. This is incredible!

image

Under construction

by at

When I went up to the top of St. Paul’s, I thought it might be better not to have construction facilities. It seemed to ruin the beautiful skyline of London. Today, however, I felt this could show us an impression on London that it is still developing itself in a positive way. They don’t see much construction in some of the major cities any more in the States. It is beautiful to see the skyline without construction facilities, but it also implies that they are not improving anymore. I wonder when they will finish the construction in London, but I expect the moment I will visit this city again.

image

Sketching

by at

Today was the last day as a group in London, which also means we have to go back to normal in few days. (That is quite scary) Time flies so fast, and I cannot believe we are leaving here very soon. I am absolutely sure that it would be one of remarkable trips in my life. While looking back my sketches, I thought we have learned, felt, and enjoyed the city a lot. Then I was glad that I have chance to learn how to sketch more professionally. It is really a great technique to catch a moment or a scene.

Today, heading back to the hotel from A&M near Tate modern, I saw a fabulous sketch right in front of St. Paul’s; and I wish I could ever sketch just like this.
image

Stourhead

by at

image

I was kind of exhausted with this trip as time goes by. The schedule that I have to get through was tight, and there were so many things to take attention to.
Taking photos and sketches are interesting but also sometimes I wondered if I was taking photos since it is mendetory for any tourists. My eyes seemed to be overwhelmed so every single detail was undervalued after some point.
I couldn’t have enough time for myself. I was getting tired and I needed time to recharge. Then, Stourhead, it was much more than just a garden or backyard of someone’s mansion. It was beautiful and touching as well. I actually can’t think of more proper adjective in English to describe my feeling but I can say I was really moved for some reason. I could spend a whole day, and it would be “lovely” in a british way to say awesome. It was the best part of this trip so far.

Departure

by at

I am exited to actually getting on the plane so soon! It’s already happening. This trip is so prepared, with full of information that will help me while traveling London. I am excited to see English modern buildings, street and squares such as Piccadily circus or Regent street. Also, I’m looking forward to visiting local markets! I will visit as many as of them, and try their food. I will meet my old friend in my free time, I am so glad to have a chance to see him since it has been four years. So it’s all about excitement at this moment!!!!

image

On the way to Washington DC!