When I think back to my first week in Barcelona I remember feeling excited but also a little nervous as it felt like years before I would be home again and February sounded a world away. As I sit here and write this back in grey london I can't believe that I was there for 5 months. Time has never flown by so fast!! I was home in a blink of an eye and I still can't quite believe that I'm back for good and my time there is over. All I want to do is get on a plane and go do it all again, which must mean I had an amazing time and I really did. I feel like I learnt alot as a designer but the real growth for me was personal. On a personal level I got so much out of it and proved to myself I am able to put myself into unknown situations and as a result my confidence has grown and I know there isn't much I couldn't do by myself. But saying that having someone there with me is what made the experience what it was. I think both me and Becca would agree that the time there might not have been quite so easy of we had to do it alone and that our friendship is now stronger than ever and we have shared an amazing experience together that will always be ours and keep us close.
I always knew I wanted to do an exchange so I didn't need any persuading when we were given the opportunity but I am so glad I did it. I would strongly recommend it to anyone and although I absolutely loved Barcelona I think I would have had an amazing experience no matter where I went because going away and doing something exciting with a close friend is going to be amazing where ever you are! But in a beautiful city like Barcelona it was impossible to not have the time your your life and I really did! keeping a blog isn't something i find easy as I'm not always motivated to do it and writing about my life and experiences doesn't feel natural to me but whilst away i made a massive effort to keep up to date and do it properly and now as i read back through old post I'm so happy i have been made to do this. it will always be something i can look back to with fond memories and it means all the silly things that happen will never be forgotten.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Friday, 3 February 2012
a quick stopover
With family living in Paris it's somewhere I have been countless times and I have done almost everything I have wanted to do so more than anything my time spent there was just relaxed and enjoying time spent with family. My arrival was timed with the extreme cold that took over Europe and Paris was experiencing daytime temperatures of -10! This was a massive shock as when I left Barcelona it was still 15!
I headed with my aunty into the centre of Paris on a couple of days and we visited the musee d'orsay which is a converted railway station by the river. I hadn't visited this before so it was nice to explore the rooms it had to offer. Unlike the louvre which is mainly paintings, this museum had alot of sculpture and furniture too which I found particularly interesting. They had a large section of art nouvoux furniture which we had recently be looking at during out history and theory lessons so it was amazing to be able to see the real things especially as this was such a dominant style in Paris in its time. Other things that interested me was all the amazing paintings by the impressionists, Monet in particular. They are even more amazing when you see the real thing so I really enjoyed doing this.
As a special exhibit they had inside sone of the larger rooms with paintings in, benches which were hand carve out of glass so they look like you are sitting on a slab of glass. design by Tokujin Yoshioka they are called water blocks. They are a completely different style to the interior of the museum but their simplicity complemented the design and somehow it seemed to work. Their design was amazing but actually sitting on them was what was most impressive. They had been highly polished so that they were perfectly smooth and were incredibly to run your finger over. There was gently groves along it which literally made it look like hard water so it was surreal being able to sit on them. They are an incredible design so I was lucky up have been there when they were.
We had lunch in the recently redesigned cafe which is located on the same floor as the impressionist paintings and so has clearly taken alot of influence from them. it was designed by the campana brothers who are famous brazilian designers and their aim was to transport visitors into a dream like aquatic environment. The two main things that stood out to me were the chairs which took on an abstract form of a waterlilly as a direct influence from monet and the very large lights that hung down from the tall ceiling. They were made up of metallic gold squares of metal that had been riveted together to make what looked like a huge down facing tulip. There was a large number of them randomly haunting throughout the restaurant and the warm yellow lighting they gave off completed the atmosphere. The design was simply but chic and I really like their subtle references to what was around them. Definitely a good example of creative interior design.
i couldn't go to paris with out a quick visit to Laduree which make the best macaroons in the world! and probably the most expensive but definitely worth it!
I headed with my aunty into the centre of Paris on a couple of days and we visited the musee d'orsay which is a converted railway station by the river. I hadn't visited this before so it was nice to explore the rooms it had to offer. Unlike the louvre which is mainly paintings, this museum had alot of sculpture and furniture too which I found particularly interesting. They had a large section of art nouvoux furniture which we had recently be looking at during out history and theory lessons so it was amazing to be able to see the real things especially as this was such a dominant style in Paris in its time. Other things that interested me was all the amazing paintings by the impressionists, Monet in particular. They are even more amazing when you see the real thing so I really enjoyed doing this.
As a special exhibit they had inside sone of the larger rooms with paintings in, benches which were hand carve out of glass so they look like you are sitting on a slab of glass. design by Tokujin Yoshioka they are called water blocks. They are a completely different style to the interior of the museum but their simplicity complemented the design and somehow it seemed to work. Their design was amazing but actually sitting on them was what was most impressive. They had been highly polished so that they were perfectly smooth and were incredibly to run your finger over. There was gently groves along it which literally made it look like hard water so it was surreal being able to sit on them. They are an incredible design so I was lucky up have been there when they were.
We had lunch in the recently redesigned cafe which is located on the same floor as the impressionist paintings and so has clearly taken alot of influence from them. it was designed by the campana brothers who are famous brazilian designers and their aim was to transport visitors into a dream like aquatic environment. The two main things that stood out to me were the chairs which took on an abstract form of a waterlilly as a direct influence from monet and the very large lights that hung down from the tall ceiling. They were made up of metallic gold squares of metal that had been riveted together to make what looked like a huge down facing tulip. There was a large number of them randomly haunting throughout the restaurant and the warm yellow lighting they gave off completed the atmosphere. The design was simply but chic and I really like their subtle references to what was around them. Definitely a good example of creative interior design.
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