You get today in pictures. I will explain all tomorrow. Will be worth the wait, I promise.

Before we get into it, since today was such a lovely day, I took pictures from my balcony. Here is the view I wake up to, go to sleep to, and see every time I step outside of the hotel. It is the V and A museum, feel free to drool and be jealous.


After I left you last night I met the group for dinner (I didn't take my camera with me). It was delicious. We went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. (Aren't you happy mom, that link is just to save you time.) Our dinner (that SCAD paid for.. with our money) was delicious. I had the goat cheese and apple salad for starters. Then I had the fish and chips (I can't help but eat that non stop, so delicious). The tartar sauce was bomb. THEN for dessert (always the best part) we had apple crisp! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I love apple-y desserts! It was so good (my mouth is currently watering).

After dinner we were on our own for the night. It was about nine so we decided to go to the Churchill Arms pub, because it was Winston Churchill day (Aren't you impressed us ART STUDENTS knew that?! Actually someone just accidentally stumbled upon it). But anyways, the pub itself was cool. It is always decorated with paraphernalia from WW2, which is graphically impressive and just generally beautiful design. But since it was WCD, the place was decked out in red, white and blue balloons (obv for USA, right?), and all of the staff had on uniforms. There were even some people in bowler hats and suits! (I made someone take a picture of me with one of the goons, don't have hold of that picture yet though). After a bit of hanging out, I led the first crew back to the hotel. Then, I slept.

This morning I got up, had breakfast and met the group at 9:30. First stop on the docket was AMVBBDO. It's a part of BBDO, who is based in New York. They are kinda big deal. Our meeting was only about an hour long, but it was so informative. Agencies here are so different than those in America. Here, when you submit a book, they are looking for rough comps of big ideas. Back home (from my knowledge) they are focused more on finished pieces. Someone in my group asked if they had any Americans in the office, the guy's response was "Well we had one once." Apparently AMVBBDO is not big on US foreigners - they have a few other nations represented in their office. It was almost surreal to be there, very exciting.

Afterwards me and Alex chose to get lost. We didn't have to be anywhere for about 2 hours, so we just walked. We ended up in an Indian district. Pretty interesting culture over there. Grabbed a sandwich for lunch (they are under two pounds!). Then spent a few minutes relaxing in my room, then it was time to head out again!

We met in the lobby and took the VERY LONG walk (across the street) to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Last time I was here, I was not interested in this place, not impressed by it, and just like over it. But this time I was totally blown away! Words cannot describe the amount of stuff in this place! We only were given 2 hours in there before our 16:00 tea time. I don't think I saw a third of the stuff in there. I will leave you with a few pictures...

The Chihuly took my breath away when we walked in (and Mark was super impressed that I knew who it was right off). I don't think it could be more out of place, but nonetheless it was still as awe inspiring as ever!

























The second piece is just basically Britain in a nutshell. I like it a lot. There walls in this room were plastered with posters! It was incredible.

There are a few stain glass windows (by a few, I mean a few rooms of them) thrown in there (always beautiful). Then the square piece is "Crayola" from 1985. Pretty cool little piece. The room dedicated to Design from 1945 was pretty cool. There was one of the old iMacs in there, you know, the egg shaped one.

Anyways... enough about that.

Next we had tea time in the hotel with Mark. Just chatted about things so far, things in the future, and our projects (which no one has started, and no one plans to do until we're back in the states). It was nice enough though.

That ended then more free time! Alex and I hopped on the Tube, and rode to Covent Garden. Found a cheap pub to eat. I had a caesar salad and chicken breast cooked with cheese and cider sauce. DELICIOUS! Walked around there some more, then headed back towards the Eye. When we were there last time it was all rainy and gross so we did not get any good pictures. But tonight there were some taken. Here are a few.


Good story: These mimes were walking around Trafalgar Square with signs about giving AIDS a voice. You know, typical. Anyways, they had collection buckets. Well, Alex put in a few coins, and one of the mimes handed him a box. He was like "Cool! something free!" Then he realized it was a box of condoms. HA! Hilarious. He was pretty damn embarrassed.


There is a badass looking Dali exhibit. I think it will be a great regret of mine not to go, but it is like 25 quid to get in, for students. A tad much on my little budget. I will see where I'm at say, the 11th, and if there is a few bucks to spare I will go! It is probably incredible... I mean, look at this! There are a few more down the walk too.


Blogpostdone. Cheers!

A Few Peeksures

First I will spoil you with a few pictures from last night. We stumbled upon a carnival! There was a snow globe that you could get inside and take pictures in, but it cost money. The guy running it told me I could go in for free if I took of my clothes, I politely declined. I know mom, you're loving all of these stories!


































Another jolly day today. Got up about 8, and got ready for life(kinda). Ate breakfast downstairs (it's included). DELICIOUS! It was so good. It's buffet style. Had lots to eat. Lots.

At about 10 we headed off to the British Museum. Went there last time I was here. Saw some cool things. There are just a lot of trinkets and old things there, so it's not my favorite. Rosetta Stone is still much cooler in texts books than it is in person (I remember feeling that was last time). I wish I'd brought my journal from then, so I could compare reactions after I go places. But whatevs.















First: proof that I was there. (Obv I didn't take this picture so it's not my fault it's not in focus!) Second: there was a whole room of time. It was jam packed with watches, clocks, pocketwatches, etc. Totally my favorite room of the museum. This clock had a ball that rolled back and forth to count the seconds. Pretty nifty.

We only had about an hour in there, then we headed to BBC. That was pretty great to see. Their biggest competitor is CNN which is only a third the size. It's nuts to think about. A few pictures. We weren't allowed to take many though. We got to step on a built set (and an empty one).

The weather booths are very small. They are fully automatic. When you enter, you put in your initials and the rooms adjusts to you. By this I mean the platforms moves up if you're short, or down if you're tall, the lights adjust to your skin tone, and the mics set up for the pitches of your voice. That was a lot more advanced than I knew/expected. There are no people that stand behind ANY of the news cameras there. They are all controlled by remote, by someone in a different room (that is probably true for all news stations, I just had no idea things were that far along. I knew it was possible, just not that it was so widely used).

Later in the tour we got to pretend we were on a show. I got to go back into the control room and handle the sound, and sound effects. I was pretty good at it, haha. There was a lot of applause while I was there, and a few boos. This is the ceiling of the empty set room. I think they said there was a possibility to 500 lights in there. Every inch of the room can be lit. A little more intense than the lighting in the DMC... just a little (hah).

What was way more interesting to me than the BBC though was this couple on our tour from Egypt. They were baffled by everything. The first thing that shocked me was the man asking how the news casters knew what to say. He had no idea about the scrolling text beneath the camera. Also the green and blue screens were foreign (no pun inteded) to them. I love experiencing different cultures!

Anyways, about all for now. We're meeting for dinner as a group in about an hour (18:20). I might go rest and watch TV for a bit. Love to you all, Cheers!

Soggy soggy soggy. I am soggy. Much more rain today than any other so far. Still not quite a cold as Ireland was.

Met up with the group at the hotel around 3:30 today. Took a little over an hour by tube to get to the hotel from where we were staying. Once again, it is exhausting to travel with a lot of luggage.

This hotel is out of freaking control. Very very nice. (we have jets in our bathtub) Eye was beautiful, even though it was rainy outside. 4-D film beforehand was cute. Split from the group and just wondered after that with four guys from the Savannah campus (one here for adve, 2 for grds, and 1 for arth). Saw some cool things, of course. Went over to Piccadilly Square. Not as cool as it seemed last time I was here. Hopefully got some good pictures. We are all having a difficult time taking pictures because of the weather though. It's much more difficult when it's dark. And it's often dark.

I have taken two showers since I got to the hotel. Making up for the every other day pattern from before, I supposed. Actually the second was to thaw out my feet from walking through the miserably cold puddles. I think that is all you get today. I'm a sleepy girl. Cheers!

Car, Bus, Airbus, Tram, Train, Train, Train, Train, Bus, Bus,

(brace yourself this is a long one!)

Jeeze what a day! It started at 8 AM (it’s about half past 4 here now). Earlier I forgot to mention that we had a traditional Irish breakfast (at a pub). Fun fact: the only Irish people that are up Saturdays before noontime are those who have work. Everyone else stays in bed, sleeping off their hang-overs. True story. Also while we were at one of the pubs yesterday night, a famous soap opera star (boy) was drinking with us. He was a looker too (obv), and into American girls! Haha, I can cross off “get hit on by a famous Irish guy” from the list! Saw a billboard with his face on it as I left town today - it was for UNICEF, I don't remember his name.

Anywho. Didn’t do much sleeping on the autobus today. Grasses were greener on this drive than the one we four took the other day. Ridiculously foggy though. Once we hit Dublin traffic was a bitch, because there was a rugby match in the city. We got stuck for almost 45 minutes in the city… do you know what that means? Yeah, I missed my flight to LHR. WHOOOOOOOPS! Cue luck of the Irish though! I got to the airport at about 2:35 for my 2:55 flight. The place is not well marked one bit. RAN through the place like a loon. But alas when I found the kiosk it was a few minutes too late. No need to fear though, I talked my way onto a flight that was leaving about 45 minutes later than the one I was scheduled for – and didn’t have to pay a cent!!! I hope I have this adorable smile for the rest of my life. (Kidding, just wanted to make sure you guys knew it was in fact me writing this!)

Sat next to an Irish couple on the airbus, would say they were in the late 50s. Very nice people. They were on their way to Australia. Offered me board for the evening, but I had a place to say. Still, genuine kindhearted people. When we landed there was a ladder off the plane. Just a ladder. Odd. Waltzed through the airport, no need for customs or anything. Sadly this means no passport stamp! Oh well, got one from London on my old passport I believe, but on the bright side it only took me 5 or so minutes to get out of the airport, though I was baffled by the ease of it.

Who knew missing a flight would be the easy part of the journey. Holy shit. Hoped on the Tube. Quite a few of the tracks are down, so it was no simple feat making it to Mariska and Ana. We were meeting at the London Bridge tube station, which was across the city from LHR. Took me three transfers to get there. The blue track, the brown track and the black one. They have much cooler names though. When I first got on I was sitting near a couple from Hawaii, and another pair from San Francisco. We all had a nice chat.

After an hour and a half or so on the tube (carrying my 3 bags up and down TONS of stairs, and on and off the trains, minding the gap of course), I made it to the proper station. Waiting a good bit more before Mariska and Ana had found me. From there we took a different train close to the apartment.

This apartment is an interesting place. Ana has a room to herself, but then there are only 2 bathrooms and 2 kitches for everyone. There are 19 girls that live here, or thereabouts. (But it is nothing like a sorority house!). Ana is from Spain, and has been here in London for 4 years now. She and Mariska went to the European school together. (and for those who don’t know, Mariska is an ad major at SCAD with me)

After unloading my stuff here, it was time to go out, of course. We hopped on a bus and went somewhere to some people’s flat. There were like 6 or 7 girls in total, and 1 lonely lad (or lucky lad I guess). What an interesting crowd. One girl has like a 2-inch strip shaved out of the side of her hair. It’s pretty badass looking, she also has a tattoo behind her ear. But yeah, everyone of them has their quarks. Two of the crew had nerd glasses- so in right now (hahaha).

After hanging out there a few hours we headed out to a warehouse rave party. I know, right. We had to wait in the queue for about an hour before we could even get in. Once in it was bananas. Now we are getting ahead of ourselves, first lets talk about the line though… while standing there in line it was raining (of course), but not terribly cold. In front of us we had an interesting group of cross dressers and people we just couldn’t tell their sex. Then, behind us we saw multiple drug transactions happen. Here, when you want drugs, you just go about asking everyone for them outloud (one lad was looking for meth-something. Never heard of the stuff, but it is like toned down x apparently). I feel like in the states it’s much quieter but I guess I don't much know. We talked a lot about the rules here though compared to the states, and if they find you with pot they just confiscate it, you don’t get in much trouble.
- Yeah, I know, I’m learning so much this go around! Aren't you glad Ma?!

Once inside the warehouse, it was hot and stuffy. I have a black lung now. Everyone smokes and it is okay to smoke inside, add in a few hundred people, turn out the lights, have a dj spinning techno, and one lonely green laser light and all of the sudden you have a rave! Never would have pictured myself at a rave in London, but it was a fantastic time with the locals. Definitely something that I will remember for quite a bit. At around 3:30 Mariska decided she was done, so the two of us took the key from Ana and hopped on the bus. We’re pretty savvy travelers. We found the stop ourselves, found the proper bus ourselves, and even made it to the apartment ourselves!

Now, it is time to crawl onto the airmattress, and get a few good hours of sleep! Meeting up with the group tomorrow. Can't wait to see Homeslice Mark! Loving the fact that they will all be jet lagged, and I will not (Though staying up until 4:30 is practically the same thing).

If you made it through this whole entry I commend you. You deserve a cookie. Speaking of - I'm starving! I only ate 1/3 of an Irish breakfast this morning (split it with Greta and Catherine) and 2 pieces of bread with some sausage between at about 6pm (made by Ana). Tomorrow I will eat better, or at least more. Cheers!

ps- yes I did write this whole entry thinking with an Irish accent.

Hiya!

So now I am actually riding on said autobus with free wifi. The internets work much better when you're on the bus than when you're following it! Dumb me though, didn't charge my computer last night so I only have a few more minutes of battery left (THANK GOD I GOT A NEW BATTERY BEFORE THIS TRIP THOUGH - LIFESAVER!). I will leave you with some pictures though, I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the shittastic quality of some, it is very difficult to take photographs while riding in a car going 120 (roughly 70 mph I believe). Also, it is hard to take quality pics when the sun sets at 4:30.


Typical. Crazy Catholics. Signs publishing events in the smaller towns do not have a time or place on them, they simply say "Following Mass".


Most of the livestock are painted with some mark. There are many homes that do not have fences, so this is the way they tell me sheeps from ye sheeps.:-) I'm a big big fan of sheep. They filly me with much joy when we pass them. Way cooler than horses! Though, all fo the horses here have coats on, and that's hilarious. I don't think I have a picture of it though.




This is a picture taken from the top of the Guinness building. As you can see, it's a pretty incredible view.


All of the graphic design majors at SCAD would be blown away at how well this place is branded. Very well designed, seems they did not leave anything out when constructing this place.

I had more pictures I was going to post, but my computer is practically dead (and I am too). Going to try to sleep for the last few hours of the bus ride! Love to you all! Hope you're enjoying traveling with me. Cheers!

It’s been about 24 hours since I last wrote… Oh how fun it is here! (AND TODAY WAS PAY DAY!!!)

It’s definitely more fun to travel with someone that knows the ropes. Last night we ate some stew that Tommy had made, and then hung out for a little. A little later (around 9) Greta, Tommy and I went out.

The scene here is fantastic! We had such a grand time. We started at a very crowded pub, full of Americans. Had a round there, then moved on. The second pub we went to was totally different. It was humongous, and full of old men, and had a live band. The band was jolly, and the beer was good. Had a few rounds there. That pub closed at midnight, so after that we headed to a third pub, which was another completely different experience.

This pub was a bunch of levels, the top being the roof, the bottom being a dance floor with a DJ. It was so fun. We danced and danced and danced, European men are much more fun to dance with. They have no qualms with busting a move! At 2:00am they turned the lights on to get everyone out… it was like being in high school. We called it a night when the lights came on. Took a taxi back.

This morning we all slept a lot. Didn’t get up until about 11. Went to the store to buy toilette paper, bottled water… and beer. (Welcome to Ireland!) Came back, ate some cereal for lunch (some things are universal), then hopped in the car. Spent a good 5 hours driving and looking at things. Tommy is a fantastic tour guide, he knows quite a bit about Ireland. He’s been here for about 15 months, got his masters and Galway University (is from Wisconsin like all of the Russler Clan). The two main places we stopped were Roundston and Clifton. We grabbed a mid afternoon snack in Clifton. I had a chicken and mozzarella sandwich, it was not on bread shaped like a shamrock though. The towns are very pretty, also very quite. Winter is not a very touristy time of year, so things all around (except pubs at night) are ghostly. I got some delightful pictures, but you will have to wait for them.

Here’s something interesting: all of the trees by the coast are swayed one way. Branches do not grow on the other side, why? Because of the wind! They are pretty cool looking, but I don’t think I got a good picture of them.

It’s like 6:30 here now, so we are going to head to town to get some fish and chips. Then hit up the pubs, obv. And hopefully go dancing! Tonight is my last night in Galway, tomorrow I fly to London. That’s all for now, Cheers!