Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A Bit of the East End

For our last Art and Architecture class we went out to the East end, where the contemporary art and galleries can be found. 

Here are just a few things I thought were neat. 

 Some Disney graffiti.

 Art commissioned by a bookstore. 

The White Cube gallery. 

Natural History Museum

I went to the Natural History museum on Tuesday. 

It is so full of exhibits and interesting information that it would be impossible for me to write it all down here so instead I'll share some pictures and tidbits along the way.

 Just inside, you are greeted by one of the many dinosaur skeletons the museum has on display.

Turn around and you see this beautiful arch. The main hall is enormous and beautiful. 

The mammal room is absolutely stuffed (no pun intended) with these animals. This picture doesn't even show half of what's in there. The collection is a mix of stuffed animals and models.

 Apparently the British say "fishes"

 The dinosaur exhibit is amazing. First, you walk across a bridge spanning the entire exhibit, lined with the skeletons. Then you walk down a ramp, past an animatronic T-Rex, followed by wandering through the first floor of the exhibit which holds models and facts and hypotheses.

 A T-Rex skull and a Triceratops skull.

 Another section of the museum is referred to as Darwin's Cocoon. The museum is putting an effort into continuing Darwin's process of collection samples of every species. The focus at the museum seems to be mainly plants, butterflies, spiders, and beetles. They have collected samples of 95% of the 20,000 known species of butterflies.

To see the cocoon, you are taken to the top by a glass elevator and then you walk back down through it. There are windows into the labs and where they keep the samples and there are many interactive videos in which the curators discuss the work they do.

 Back in the main atrium, there is a cross section of an enormous sycamore tree that was cut down in the 80s in Panama. 

 The rings are labeled with significant events throughout history. 

 The atrium was so beautiful.

 Here, the museum is lit up with christmas lights.

Outside, there is a skating rink and carousel. I didn't skate but it made for a beautiful picture. 

Abbey Road

I went to Abbey Road last week and took the iconic picture. 

It was hard to capture, I think I walked back and forth about six times. It was a busy street!

Oxford

Yesterday I took a train to Oxford with three friends: Hillary, Kemper, and Becca.
We arrived in Oxford in time for lunch at a small cafe.  Throughout the day we wandered around the old town, exploring the old architecture and city streets.

Here are a couple pictures of one of the campuses in Oxford.

 The round building is a library.

At one point during the afternoon I got together with a good friend of mine from Hendrix who is studying at Oxford for the semester. It was nice to get to see her and catch up a little bit.

We also checked out the covered market. It had almost everything you could possibly need.

Here are Hillary and I being goofy by a field full of cows.

For dinner, we met up with one of Kemper's friends from home who goes to Oxford full time. She is actually doing her entire undergraduate career there. She took us to a nice Italian restaurant where we learned more about the school system here and about her interest in becoming a lawyer.

While we waited for Kemper's friend to get out of a meeting, we had coffee in a cafe down this pretty alley.

Our evening ended with us waiting at the train station for the next train back home. It was a simple day, and a nice break from the noise and pollution of London. 

Harry Potter

I went to platform 9 & 3/4 today! I had to have my nerdy Harry Potter experience. 

Here I am with my roommates, Kate and Hilary.

France

This past weekend I had the pleasure of staying with family friends in Annecy, France. My hosts, Anna and Matt plus their 21 month old daughter, Yuna, were absolutely wonderful hosts. Annecy is in the Western part of France, just across the French, Swiss border. The town backs up to a beautiful lake, surrounded by the French Alps. I'm going to let the pictures do the talking again because I believe that they will show you my weekend better than I can with words.

I arrived Thursday night and was welcomed by Matt at the airport in Geneva. That evening I got settled into my guest room and was fed some delicious leftovers: duck, pasta, vegetables, bread, and wine. They truly won my hear when they offered me a large box of varied chocolates and told me to help myself.

Friday morning I rode into town with Anna who works at the middle and high school in town as an English teacher. From there I walked into the old part of town and started exploring. 

First I wandered up this street that was lined with food stands.

This led me to my first view of the lake.

I took a walk along one side of the lake. 

The water in the lake is incredibly clear. I asked Matt about it and he said that the lake was extremely dirty some years ago and so the city completed a project to clean the lake, but it got too clean! The water didn't have enough bacteria to support the fish that live there. Now it has been restored to it's natural balance and remains crystal clear.

Here are les Jardins de l'Europe. The gardens of Europe. The garden was beautiful with all the fall colors.

The mountains seem to come out of nowhere.

I walked along this path, accompanied by morning joggers and walkers. The pictures after this are from the other end of the path.

 I love how the tree's branches actually touch the water.

I found an aviary with a mix of exotic and common birds. They had a few impressive looking turkeys.

I really like this pigeon house.

Here is the Imperial Hotel. Matt and Anna refer to it as the "white castle". In the summer it is surrounded by rose gardens.

 I made my way back towards the European Gardens and then headed into town, following the river.

 This is the old prison. It's funny how something so negative can look so quaint.

 Annecy has one main canal running throughout the town plus a couple other smaller canals. It was my one little pseudo Venice experience.

When I wasn't walking along the water, I was exploring the town. The downtown area is still all cobblestone and perfect.

 The town houses a few historical churches. This is Notre Dame.

Inside there was a beautiful alter, of course. This church and the one I visited later that day were completely empty when I went inside. It felt very strange to be in such a large, spacious, public space alone. At the same time, it was a much more intimate way to experience the cathedral.

At this point I headed to a little pizza place to meet Anna and Matt for lunch. Anna brought a good friend of hers along too. I had what tasted like authentic Italian pizza and a fun time getting to know Anna's friend. It was also the first time I got to use my french really which was a lot of fun.

 After lunch, I headed to the Town Hall.

 Then I continued my walk along the river. I love the doorways to the water. Now there is a barrier preventing people from having boats on the river and sailing out to the lake but it was fun to see that at one time that is just what people did.

 Anna had given me a tourist book with directions for town walks in it. I didn't do any of the walks exactly but it was a wonderful reference. I used it to find Rousseau's street...

 and courtyard in which he once studied.

 Backing up to the courtyard is the Cathedral St. Pierre with this beautiful organ.

 And alter.

 The book also told me that this is the point at which the canals and the river come together.

I was excited to find an overflowing flower shop. It reminded me of Paris.

 I finished up my day in town by walking up to the old castle. I don't know if I went up the wrong way or what but I didn't exactly find the castle, but I did find this house covered in fall ivy.

 I also got a new vantage point on the town.

After my somewhat disappointing trek up to the castle I headed back to Anna's school and after a quick trip to the butcher and the supermarket we went home. 

That evening we ate steak, salad, pasta, cheeses, wine, bread, and tiramisu and talked for hours. 

Saturday morning Matt, Anna, Yuna, and I drove to a different point on the lake.

We walked along a bit and then we headed to the hotel.

 I don't know the name of this hotel, but it is very posh.

 We went inside, pretending to be looking for a venue for some event just so we could look around.

The restaurant was really neat. Not quite what you would expect for such an expensive place but I really liked it. The windows looked over the lake.

We continued our stroll along the water after leaving the hotel.

Here I am with little Yuna and Anna.

Yuna enjoyed picking up the gravel and giving it to us.

Here is one of my dream homes. It's right on the water.

I wish I got to go inside this castle. It is still owned by the original family and has been preserved with all the original furnishings. The only person who lives in it now is the grandmother who has just a few rooms to herself.

 After lunch, Anna and I drove up into the mountains. The views were spectacular. 

 Anna and Matt come up on the weekends during the winter to ski.

 A view of the lake.

The clouds were doing something very strange.

It was as though I was back in Colorado, almost. Not really.

There were hang gliders practicing at the top of the mountain.

Sunday was a lazy day. It rained until the evening so I relaxed inside, watched a movie and just enjoyed being in France. When the rain finally stopped we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood. 

(the very large white spot is a raindrop on my lens, not the moon)

 There is a river down amongst the trees.

Anna and Matt live in a very nice neighborhood. It is quiet and only a ten minutes drive from town.

My last day in Annecy was spent almost exactly like my first, although in the morning I did go to one of Anna's classes so that that could practice their english with me. 

The weather had turned very cold by Monday so I spent most of my morning in this café drinking coffee, eating a croissant, and reading Shakespeare.

 Eventually I went back to the Gardens of Europe.

 And I revisited the aviary. The feet on this chicken crack me up. 

 After eating lunch at the pizza place again I took my longest walk down the river.

The town is very pedestrian and family friendly. 

Anna drove us home that afternoon so that I could pack and then drove me to Matt's office for him to drive me to the airport. Saying goodbye was a bit hard for me. They were so accommodating and sweet. They told me that I had been adopted into the family and that I was welcome back anytime. I hope I can take them up on that offer and give them a welcome place to stay in turn.