Touch down in London Town.

So this week some of the BAD class went to London with other students and completely new (to us) lecturers. To sum up the experience it was amazing, but my mental and physical health has suffered from sleep deprivation. Oh well.

I began my adventure straight after work by heading to Edinburgh on Monday to meet up with the girls for dinner, drinks and a sleepover in a very classy hostel in order to make sure we would be up for 6am the next morning for our train to London.

Up early on Tuesday we caught the 4 hour train to London, we played cards, drew in our sketchbooks, ate food, drank tea, laughed, listened to music - the lot! So the journey wasn't too long! We touched down in London town at around lunch time so grabbed a bite to eat in a cute little cafe and then headed to the National Portrait Gallery. I really liked being able to see so many pieces of art and photographs in the flesh, especially because the Grayson Perry exhibition was on and FREE to admire. Much of his work requires a particular taste which although I don't have I really did enjoy some of his work. Much of the other portraits in the gallery were strange and at least gave me some encouragement, because if they can get into a gallery so can I! There was one particularly interesting piece of work was the frozen blood sculpture by Marc Quinn - although incredibly creepy to think that it was made from real blood I admired it as it was crystallised and sparkly and also well detailed.


 That night we had dinner at Five Guys after watching the premier for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel film which was bustling with dancers and music. We didn't get to see anyone famous as it was too cold but being able to at least see some of it was amazing! The rest of the night was spent in the bar until we were far too tired and retreated to our rooms.

FIVE GUYS <3

On Wednesday we were up early again for our trip to the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford. Although I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all I found this trip very interesting as I loved being able to see what went on behind the scenes. So much time, effort and dedication goes into films and seeing this in the flesh make you appreciate the film as a whole. It was magical seeing how they carried out the special effects as well as the make-up artistry that has to be done over and over again. Each of the costumes (both the clean and dirty versions) are made by hand, each painting was individually created for the film as were the magical objects. I especially loved seeing the animatronics and the prosthetic make-up and I would love to be able to do such amazing creations. I also
loved seeing the sketches, models and blueprints for the sets.                ^ I TRIED BUTTERBEER
This tour made me very interested in the artistry in films and now I
 want to work on a film set so badly!!!





We then went on to visit the V&A which I loved, the building it self is a piece of art, its beautiful. We seen the fashion exhibitions, the large casts exhibition, the photography section as well as fine jewellery and much more!

     Dale Chihuly in the V&A Main Hall >

< Photography Exhibition at the V&A







Later that night the girls and I (from BAD2) decided to go to TGI's in Covent Gardens for cocktails and food!

On our last day, the Thursday we got up and checked out, leaving our bags in the hostel so we could explore the city one last time. This was time for SHOPPING, which began with Harrods, Victoria Secret and then Selfridge's. AMAZING. Completely exhausted we headed to the hostel for our bags and then made our way to Kings Cross Station to head home.

London Kings Cross Station.

As I mentioned before, overall this trip was amazing but I am glad to be home, with my own bed, FRESH water and a good cuppa tea!

Bye for now

 xoxoxoxo