Bath

A few girls and I went to Bath for the day on Saturday - such a beautiful city and it was such a beautiful day!

We got up bright and early to catch an 8:30am train - once we arrived we went to one of the oldest "tea and eating houses" in England (it has been functioning for over 300 years). Sally Lunn's has more than tea though - they are famous for their buns (a light, fluffy bread bun with optional flavored butter - I got apple cinnamon) and coffee (thank goodness) - we sat upstairs next to the windows and had a lovely brunch to start the day.

First stop = the Roman baths. 

Uncovered in the eighteenth century, there is now a museum around the natural hot springs. 

Right next door is Bath Abbey - really fascinating place with all kinds of touching effigies on the walls and floor and it was beautiful silhouetted against the blue sky.

After this, we walked around the city...headed first to Bath Circus, the home of none other than Thomas Gainsborough - we were more than happy to be nerdy art students and take pictures in front of his house...

We also went to Royal Crescent, home of the ultra-wealthy aristocrats - it was unreal how gorgeous the area was and peeking inside the homes with drawn curtains revealed the most amazing chandeliers, stucco-carved ceilings and glimpses of furniture. It is famous for having many interiors designed by none other than Robert Adam. 

Here we are together! 

After this we headed to lunch and warmed up at an amazing pub/restaurant for burgers, wine, and triple-cooked chips. YUM!

After having spent a solid 2 hours at lunch, it was getting darker so we walked around the shops and ended up at a few pubs to end the night. Our train left at 10pm and we were home by midnight. Such a fun day!! 

Annie visits!

Annie came to visit!!!!!

We had a packed few days - she got here on Thursday and that night we went to go see the portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, at the National Portrait Gallery. On Thursday and Friday nights, the National Portrait Gallery is open late - music, a bar, and art make for a wonderful atmosphere. No pictures allowed in here but here is the portrait! 

Out to dinner in Soho for pizza and wine - we went to Bar Italia, a restaurant that is the subject of an Ed Gray painting! (remember the show we did for him on the dixie queen?! same artist) This is a terrible shot, but the painting he made of the outside of the place was hanging right above where we sat!

On Friday, I went to class while Annie hit up the British Library, Tate Modern, and the Globe theatre. That night we went pub-hopping with a friend (a bit of a late night but definitely worth it). Saturday we went to Sloane Square market and the Saatchi Gallery (modern art, see post here when I went there for the first time).

 We got brunch and walked through the gallery. Took a walk up to South Kensington and went through the Victoria and Albert museum next.

And then that night we were off to Birmingham for the Tough Guy race! A dodgy hostel but incredible curry dinner complete with the best mango lassi I've ever had. Off early that morning for the race! 

All smiles before the race...

 and it took me a while to smile afterwards. Nevertheless, happy to have finished the grueling 4 hour race through ice water and endless pits of mud...won't bother with the details except to recommend watching this short video about the race last year. Did manage a smile when we got the medals though -

goodbye shoes...

 This is literally what the ground looked like everywhere - this wasn't even that bad...it got much deeper.

Here was the start...

and some shots from the race (at least I wasn't wearing that)

in a word...insane.

But we did it! 

We caught the train back to London that night after a clean-up at Caroline's house and curled up to watch some Netflix and deserved snacks in my room that night. I went to class the next day and we met for fish and chips at a pub before she went to the airport :-(

MISS YOU ALREADY ANNIE!

xx

Antiquing

My next assignment is an "object analysis" - I need to pick an object either up for auction or for sale at an antique gallery and write up an incredibly detailed report on everything from its dimensions and provenance to the historical context in which it was made. At first, I went to an antique mall in Mayfair (booths set up in a series all under one roof) and chose this lovely tea set from a friendly man at one of the small booths...

...but then I realized that writing about tea consumption in Britain is an incredibly banal and overdone subject around here. Also, because it was such a small booth, the teapot didn't have any known provenance and quite honestly it wasn't very creative nor intrinsically valuable (in comparison to the myriad of other objects I could chosen). After a bit of research, I decided to go antiquing again. 

This time, I went to Mallett, one of the oldest and most well-respected antique firms in London. Founded in 1865, they are located in a Georgian mansion in the heart of Mayfair. The interiors exceeded my expectations in every way - it was the most incredible space and most impressive array of furniture and decorative arts I have ever seen. 

(this picture taken from the internet)

Christie's has a special relationship with the company so I was able to and set up a time to chat and pick something out. 

Three floors of incredible objects! 

I kept getting distracted from the task at hand...how amazing are these carved ivory chess pieces?!

I ended up choosing the most incredible lacca povera bureau bookcase - early 18th century and from Italy, the decoration is a bit over-the-top (but what would Italian decoration be if it wasn't so?)

The decoration is done by taking prints (engravings, etchings, and the like), painting them, and then pasting them onto furniture with many layers of varnish. Lacca povera translates roughly to "poor man's lacquer" because it was imitating Chinese lacquer furniture. Even though it was imitating something else entirely, I absolutely love the unique effect. Wonderful details! 

I have quite a bit of research ahead of me but this piece is so much more interesting than a silver teapot! Off to the library :-)

Great runs lately

I've been loving my runs lately - thought I would give you a peak into my favorite places! 

This canal is about a 5 minute run from my room - here it is in the morning...

...and here it is at dusk.

and THIS is the view from the top of primrose hill, an area about 3 miles away from my room when I take the canal route - it has the best view of london from the hill in the park! 

Last but not least, this is a view of the sunrise in Regent's Park. I don't usually stop to take pics on runs but once in a while on an easy run, its too pretty to resist.  

weekend recap

It was a busy weekend! 

Thursday night, a friend from Princeton visited and I joined him and a few other friends for drinks after dinner...we ended the night at this incredible club Jalouse near Oxford Circus - a friend of a friend had a table there (lucky us!) and the music was great. 

On Friday night, I went out to East London to bar hop for a friend's 24th birthday. Lots of really trendy/young/cool cocktail bars, clubs, and pubs. I'll definitely go back to the area! We passed this little piece of street art and I had to snap a pic - really love it. 

On Saturday, a friend studying at Oxford visited and we had a tourist-y day (which was a perfect excuse not to do work)...hit up Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery, lunch in China town/Leicester Square, walked down to Parliament, then walked all the way to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge (with a quick stop in the Tate Modern along the way for some tea and to warm up). The snow was literally unrelenting and didn't stop all day but it was super fun! Ended the day walking through Harrod's and then got dinner close to the train station so he could catch a bus back to Oxford. Here is London in the snow!

Here we are at London Tower

snow men :-)

and more snow falling until dusk. 

Now to take on the rest of the week!