Wednesday 27 July 2011

Sunset through the Train Glass

In the end, I did have to go home, and I was quite lucky, it is usually a direct 2.5hour train. We went past Conwy, which I have been to before, and is just lovely! I got some slightly messed up photos of the sunset, which i the best time of night. Everything looks all orangy and pretty. The glass of the train didn't help for clarity, but I think it made for some interesting photos!

Moooo!

On our walk, we came across this herd of MASSIVE cows. They were seriously, three times larger than any cow we have in Shropshire! I was quite pleased, as they were up near the fence and I could take some photos of them! This photo is my favourite, the cow looks a bit annoyed, so I stopped taking photos right after, but I love how it looks as if she is looking right into the camera!

Angelsea

After getting back from London, and a day at home, I set off to visit my housemate Sarah, who is staying in Bangor, in Angelsea. I had heard about it, but had no clue how pretty it was there! We went for a lovely walk along the coast, and it was hot and sunny and fab! I got quite a few sea photos, but these were my favourites! It is lovely and rocky there! We went to the beach with her family and her sisters friends, which was good fun, but the water was a little cold to convince me to go in and swim!

Up close with the Dalek

I think my whole weekend in London had a bit of an 'up close' obsession. First the Science Museum, and now this. I just like little details. I was quite pleased with these photos of the different parts of the Dalek. They had a lovely 'David Tennant' style one (which are my favourites) which you could get up close and actually inside if you wanted to!
Dave had a great time getting INSIDE the Dalek and making its arms move about to scare me (I wasn't aware they moved) and generally having a good time larking about. I also got one with me hugging a Dalek, which is the best one ever, as I have wanted a photo like that for ages!

I do love Daleks

A lot of people don't like Daleks. Of all the monsters on Dr Who, they are actually my favourite! I don't find them as scary as I do The Silence, or some other people (I actually get quite creeped out by the Ood sometimes!) so I was so pleased that they had all the different types of Daleks at the exhibition, even ones right from the very beginning! I'm not the biggest fan of the new brightly coloured ones, but at least they do look good in yellow! I often forget about a lot of the other characters from past Dr Who episodes, untill I am reminded again, but it is very hard to forget about the Daleks!

Dr Who at Olympia

Another kind of 'full circle' post. A year ago, I had just been to the Dr Who exhibit in Cardiff with Mike. I do love Dr Who, and the Dr Who Experience is at Olympia untill November. I thought I might as well go while it was still here, so Dave and I went out there (hard place to get to actually) and had a grand time, posing with Cybermen, and my favourite little dog ever, K-9! I love that photo a lot!

Brunch in South Ken

After mastering 'independence' so well at the Proms, I took it upon myself to go to a sit down cafe for breakfast. Le Pain Quotidien is probably my favourite place anywhere for breakfast. On the 3rd day,Dave joined me for brunch! It was great, especially because they do white chocolate spread for my baguette!

Boris Bikes after Dark

After our walk along South Bank, we walked to the tube, but outside the station were more Boris Bikes! I do love Boris Bikes, these are (yet another) one of my favourite things in London. It was quite funny, because lots of tourists were out taking their photo on them, so we did too! I got this one of Dave being funny (or just his normal self really!) before heading home for the night.

Smiles and SouthBank

I love these photos. It was maybe 1 or 2am, I was shattered, but I was still having fun! They are taken from the bridge across from 'the green bridge', or Westminster bridge as it is probably called. It's a great place for people watching, photos and a great view of London. Everything was lit up, and I love the motion blur of all the people I got of the bridge. By far my favourite shot of the night. Not terribly artistic, but so fun!

South Bank Ponies

We walked some more along South Bank, which is lovely at any time of day, but more fun at night. There was a little carnival shutting for the night, and I snapped these ponies right before the very final ride of the night. I thought the whole carousel was very lovely, shiny, bright, and noisy, but the horses....well, they look a bit creepy!!

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Night Night Big Ben

A long time ago, in a far distant (lets try not to remember) galaxy, Mike and I took photos of moving buses at the Centopath. Must have been at least a year ago, but I still love buses (though not to ride on them!) and so I was very pleased with this shot, which has about 70 bad shots as well, but it was hard with all the light and no tripod! I was quite pleased, it looks like one of those classic 'London' shots :)

Eye Spy

We had to walk Matty to the Clipper so he could go home, and when we got there, I just had a massive cry, and didn't want him to leave. He was always been there for me, looked after me when things were horrible, and propped me up to go off on my own. He told me that "Good friends never say "goodbye", they just say "see you later". Which is very true, I will be back, it's not like I am leaving forever. But it sure does feel like that someways. And I know thats the best thing for me. He said Japan will be the making of me, I know it will. I got all soppy, but through my tears I managed to snap this photo of the London Eye at night. It's kinda like the Suspension Bridge in a way, it's the centre of my London Experience. My entire time I've ever been in London, I've met people here, I take people here, and I love Westminster and the bridge. So it was only fitting that for my last night in London I was here, doing what I love best, taking photos.

Me and Dave

Dave is such a good friend, and he always takes me to China Town (even if it isn't the best Chinese food in London), just because I love it. Matty had never been, so we decided he needed to go, before I left London. We had a lovely time stopping in my favourite Chinese/Japanese/Asian food supermarket, before heading to the Four Seasons. It was really good, and before we all had to say goodbye, I had Matty snap one photo of me and Dave!

Dave's car got stuck in the showroom!

We met up with Matty and did some quite unsuccessful shopping in Oxford Street, before heading off to my favourite shop, Harrods. We were unsuccessful there too, but as we were leaving, we saw this lovely car Dave really wanted. I took a whole reel of these, because the car was on a rotating mount, so I made a little video of the whole car spinning. It really is pretty, but I do think Dave may need to work a few more years before he can have one of these!

Monday 25 July 2011

Up close at the Science Museum

Saturday morning I met up with Dave in South Ken, a) because it was right where I was and b) the Science Museum is there. I know Dave is always up for a trip to the Science Museum, but also it was the start of a new Space Passport Program. You go around finding clues, and at the end they give you a sticker if you got it all right. It was VERY child orientated, but we had a good time, before getting me my snazzy shiny sticker! I took a whole bunch of up close photos while I was there, sometimes museums aren't the easiest places for good photos, so I was quite pleased with these, which I took in the flight gallery

BBC Proms - this is what we call independence

After Bristol, I got a lift down in Rats and Rachel's car down to London. I got to my hotel (right near the Royal Albert Hall) and set off to do something. I really dislike people who go someplace new and just 'sit'. I just cant understand it! On the direction of Chris, I set off for door 10 of the RAH, and grabbed myself a 5 pound gallery seat at the BBC night of the Proms. It was up near the top, but for a fiver I wasn't going to argue! I had never been inside, and it was so beautiful! I grabbed these photos before the music began. It was Spanish night, and it was just lovely! I had such a nice time, but what was more important, was that I went and did it alone. I didn't need anyone guiding me or telling me what to do...I went and did it for myself. It was here I realised I was a lot more independent than I ever give myself credit for.

The Bridge, one last time

It's funny how one place can summarize an entire city, but the Suspension Bridge seems to sum up Bristol quite well. It was also somewhere very special to me, through 4 years of uni, 3 years of living in Clifton, countless ups and downs, and to be honest, I still find it beautiful. It was really late, and they had turned the lights off, because they were working on the bridge, but the builders saw me go up with my camera and turned them on for a few minutes for me. Sometimes the lights just look so bright and it is quite blinding. I had a little cry, it was somewhere that I will miss unbelievably. It won't have changed when I come back, but I'm glad I have this photo to look back on and remember how happy I was in Bristol

Bristol after Bedtime

After Russell Howard, we went back to Winkworth House, where Tim lives, and because the rain had stopped, I told Tim I wanted to go on another of our famous Bristol Late Night Treks. They are such good fun, going round at night taking photos, but it's something I dont do alone, I have to have someone with me. We went all around the Harbourside, which is where I got the photos of the boats and the water, but I also got one of my favourite bench in Bristol. I have another photo of it in the day, but it's my favourite place to be in all of Clifton. I will miss being there more than I thought!

OMG We saw Russell Howard!

Tim is so good, because when I sent him down to the Bristol Ticket Office, he managed to snag the VERY LAST 2 TICKETS to see Russell Howard, the comedian, who was headlining the Bristol Comedy Fair thingy. It was held in Queen's square, and they had put up a big circus top for us. It was a bit strange to be in a circus top, but it was very good, as it poured with rain outside! We had such a giggle all night, a lot of the jokes were Bristol Themed, and it was just so much fun, and just so Bristolian! I loved it!

The Gorillas take over Bristol

When I had gone back for Graduation, I had seen a few of these gorillas around. I didn't think much of it untill I came back to Bristol. It was a kind of "see everyone and say goodbye" trip, but it just ended up being a whole lot of fun. The gorillas have been sold and decorated to raise money for Bristol Zoo (which does have gorillas as far as I can remember) and so they are dotted all around the city. Tim and I went on a hunt for some, and found a few, but I thought these were the best!

In the big back yard at Hampton Court

It was raining by the time we finished going through all the lovely bits on the inside of Hampton Court, which was a shame, as the gardens are beautiful. There was even a ride on a horse and cart tour which took you through them! We did wander a bit with our umbrellas, mainly taking silly photos and posing! I love that Rachel and I are able to just be complete sillies, take random photos and have a good time, no matter where we are!

Down the Hall

This is my favourite photo I took at Hampton Court. At the Palace they have audioguides for you to listen too. This time, I remembered to get mine in English! As such, you have people wandering through the rooms, quite slowly, and with these phone things attached to their ears. It doesn't make for good photos, so I was thrilled to see a lovely long empty corridor! I love photos like this (without people!) On the other side of the room were very lovely white statues and some suits of armour, but I liked this side better!

In the King's Garden

These little statues are in the King's garden at Hampton Court. The garden is almost like a little quadrangle, very formal and cut into several long rectangles. At the end of each of the rectangles, is one of these little statues! There were also ones of birds, snakes, and a dragon!

Gold at Hampton Court

Rich dropped me at Hampton Court Palace, where I was set to meet Rachel, who is studying in the centre of London. It's not far, but I had a bit of time on my hands so I got snapping. These gold leaves cover an entire archway near the visitor centre there. I love how bright the brick work looks underneath them! This was about the only thing to photograph before going into the Palace, so I'm glad it was a good one!

A side trip to a very rude place!

Rich was kind enough to drive me down to London the next morning. After all, cars are a much better way to travel than the train! Rich had found out that the little hamlet of Bell End wasn't far from where we lived, and was only a slight detour to our way home! We found the town, but no obvious sign, so right when we were about to give up and drive on, we found this farm, Bell End Farm! I felt quite silly standing pointing to a very rude sign, but after all, this is what tourists do!

The UKs Biggest Burger

The weekend after graduation, my good friend Rich decided to come up to Shropshire, to see me and our other friend Will, who lives in Much Wenlock. Rich loves competitions, eating competitions, and big thrills, so he had come up with the intention to eat the UK's biggest burger. It just happens to be made at a little 50s diner at the cinema in Telford called Oscars. Off we trekked there, and OMG WAS IT HUGE! It had beef patties, cheese, salad, potato waffles, bacon, and a whole bunch of other stuff that really shouldn't have been on a burger! He did finish it in the allotted time, 45minutes, but he certainly looked full afterwards!

Saturday 16 July 2011

By the Landing Lights at Heathrow

This isn't my best photo to date, but I was sooooooo excited that our hotel in Heathrow was just next door to the landing strip at the airport. We arrived about 7pm, and a plane was landing just about every minute. I was so excited, there are a lot more planes there, than usually at City Airport. I snapped some planes, maybe 13 in total, all different ones. The sky was very grey, so the contrast wasn't great, but I enjoyed it immensely!

Playing with the Mirrors

Royal Fort Gardens, which are right next door to Physics, were the location of the garden party which all of the graduates were invited to. Maybe 2 years ago, they installed this very strange square structure made of mirrors at the bottom of the park. It is great, and very popular with people to have their photos for graduation!

In the flowers

Mummy made me climb into this massive flower bush, which was very pretty, but very impractical in heels! It did turn out to be a grand photo, and lots of other people copied me! I quite like this photo, it is very colourful and lovely, and I think I look very happy in it! My gown took about a million rearangements to even get it to this stage! It was good fun getting my photo taken all day!

Wills Memorial

Bristol Uni is very lucky to have the Wills Memorial Building. During the year it has the law library and the geology and law departements, but mainly it is the massive exam hall which we have. It usually instills a fear of dread into me, but it was a great place to graduate. It feels so regal and lovely inside when it is not full of exam desks! We were very lucky that it was sunny when we graduated, and Daddy got this shot from across the road! In the afternoon, it became very grey, which was a shame. I was so pleased it was sunny, and we were able to get photos outside Wills!

Officially an Astrophysicist

On Friday, I graduated with a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics from Bristol Uni. We drove down the night before and spent the night at a hotel. At seriously early in the morning, I had to collect my gown, then we had professional photos taken (with my hair all messed up from the wind) and then the service. I was quite pleased, as my grandma got to watch the service online. It was good fun, although slightly nerve wracking! I had a great day and it was super fun! Even thought I looked like Batman and a Jedi all in one, I did feel very smart!