Weekend Wanderings

Due today is our third major project, the digital story. This project is a combination of still photos, music, and narration. I used iMovie again, which I'm getting more and more comfortable with.

In my story, I take Chick on the tube to Harrods. There we explore the food halls and have some lunch.

I took the photos for this project on Saturday. We had the weekend free to catch up on homework and explore on our own.

I set off first to take some pictures of the London landmarks for my tattoo video. I took the tube to London Bridge and walked past pubs and parks to get to the Tower Bridge.

Love this blue sky after a week of London rain!

I skirted the Tower of London and then enjoyed a short portion of the Thames Path. I ended my walk with a jaunt over the Millennium Bridge, featured at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The bridge connects the Tate Modern Museum and the area around St. Paul's Cathedral.

Looking towards the Tate.

Looking back towards St. Paul's.

Next stop: Trafalgar Square. In Portland, Pioneer Courthouse Square is considered "Portland's Living Room"--a site for festivals, music, and just hanging out. Londoners hang out in their public spaces--parks, roundabouts, even the courtyard of the British Museum--all the time, but Trafalgar Square, capped by the steps of the National Gallery, seems to be the living room of London.

On this day, there was a children's movie playing on a huge screen. It was sign language interpreted, which I've seen several times here. There was also a kids' art area right in front of the stage.

I hopped the subway to Harrod's next, to take pictures for my digital story and have some lunch. This was the most expensive meal I've had in London, but since it was school work, it's completely justified, right? Harrod's is really big and I only explored the food halls, which were four large rooms. I know there's more to it, but I'm trying not to do much shopping. One thing that really impressed me was the huge number of staff at the store, all gracious and helpful.

Chick's adventure on Saturday:

Tower Bridge

The London Eye 

Harrod's

Biscuit (cookie) tin: "Did I ever tell you I have two dads?"

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Sunday was pretty quiet. Again I had to make a special excursion as part of an upcoming assignment. Our free time is often spent researching or filming for our multimedia projects. I think this works okay if you do a project on something that you're particularly interested in, like the oral histories at the Foundling Museum. However, it is difficult to just get in and get out. I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum specifically to see and photograph some watercolors painted by Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit. I needed to get back to my flat to work on my video, but the V&A is huge--and incredibly interesting. I did browse the jewelry exhibits, which I had to walk through on my way to the paintings.

I was disappointed that the textiles and costumes have all been removed from display pending architectural renovation of those galleries. Bad news for the fiber artist in me, good news for the harried student.

Keeping up with the projects and the daily assignments, all while spending much of our days on group tours is challenging. All of the other students are writing fascinating blogs and making cool multimedia projects, and I don't have time to check them out! 

Tonight we're headed to the Globe Theatre to see Anne Boleyn (no spoilers, please!) and then practicing some nighttime photography. And I haven't even told you all about St. Paul's Cathedral, the Museum of London, Stonehenge, or Salisbury...