Rush Post 2

I LOVE Amsterdam! The buildings look like they are squeezed together, each one holding up the next. The city has a darkness to it that was kind of scary, but also intriguing. We were only there for a couple of days, so I HAVE to go back and explore more! We used the canal buses as transportation while we were here, ate some amazing food and pastries and enjoyed some other local offerings.

This street shows the touristy side of Amsterdam...I'm missing pictures of the redlight district (half naked women in windowed doors in the evening) and the marijuana shops.

      

Matt and I enjoying our free beer at the Heineken Brewery.

Again?!? What's with the breasts for eyes around here? 

The tame night life in Amsterdam.

Here I am at the train station leaving for London, doing what I love to do...Drinking coffee and sketching! Such a great multi-tasker!

Oh, and here I am doing my other favorite thing...sleeping!!!! That's the gorgeous English countryside passing me by.

Rush Post 1

Matt and I are in Paris, but I'm still writing about Copenhagen from 2 weeks ago!!! I'm catching up on this blog tonight!!!

Vestergade 5: The doors into my studio.

I met Matt at the airport when he arrived in Copenhagen, but we didn't have much time to explore because I had to build a model and prepare for my final presentation the next day. After we got some food we went to studio and worked through the night. Matt DJed and made little yellow kayaks for my model. We finished around midnight and went for falafel with my friend Lizzi. Thank God my presentation wasn't until 1 o'clock...I needed the sleep!

Here I am getting my final project critiqued. It went pretty well.

We celebrated with a couple of beers.

In the morning we celebrated with a spandauer, a chocolate croissant, and white kaffe (coffee with milk)...actually the spandauer and coffee is was my normal breakfast while in Copenhagen. SO DELICIOUS!!!

Of course the weather was terrible when school was finally over and I actually had time to explore more of Copenhagen. It didn't stop us though.

Nyhavn: cute area on a canal with restaurants and shops. It was POURING down rain while we  were there!

Matt got at Danish tattoo right off of Nyhavn. I sat and sketched and took pictures. 

Sketching in the Round Tower...still in Copenhagen. The top of this building had a great 360 degree view of the city.

Matt can't stop moving...

I can't stop relaxing.

After picking up my sketchbook for grading we finally got to leave Copenhagen. I was so excited to go to Amsterdam!

Beastie Boy at the train station!?!?

I'm trying to sleep on the train to Amsterdam...not very successful. We met a couple from Portugal and played a round of Asshole with them...their suggestion!

The last 4 weeks of DIS

The last couple of weeks have been crazy with the completion of my summer program and traveling to Amsterdam and London. Here's a quick run through of what I can remember and what I put in my sketchbook:


After the study tour to Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden we returned to Copenhagen to begin working on our studio assignment. My studio instructor is the main professor who gives the history lectures. I haven't gotten used to his lecturing style, but I love him as a design mentor. He kinda laughs like a little boy.

This is Zaw (from UC Berkeley), Sarah (from New School in San Diego) and I at a sculpture museum in Copenhagen. It was POURING down rain that day!

Here's a street food vendor pulling his stand along with traffic; I captured this while waiting for the bus to school.

After a week or so in Copenhagen we left for a long weekend to do a short study tour in Western Denmark to the cities Kolding, Trapolt, Ebeltoft, and Aarhus. We went to a couple of amazing museums, through some cute towns, stayed at a GORGEOUS hostel, and sketched a crematorium.

               

Amazing museum: ARoS Kunstmuseum

Cute town: Aarhus, Denmark

GORGEOUS hostel!!!!!!!

On GORGEOUS land!!!!!

This is my favorite crematorium to sketch...hands down.

My Danish Breakfast

My studio instructor brought in pastries and coffee this morning!!! MY FAVORITE breakfast! Thank you MAA!!!

My Neighborhood

I was surprised the other day when I was walking down the street that I live on and saw a woman leave her baby sleeping in a carriage (that's that they use) while she went into a clothing store with her friend. Tonight I was surprised while walking home (down my street and others before my street) to see three hookers get turned down and  three others turn tricks. Interesting shift from day to night around here.

Dance Studio

Midnight in Copenhagen... the night is young...at the computer lab in studio for me and my new friends Carmen & Louis...and at the techno-dance party I can hear down at the "A Bar" on the ground floor of the school's building.  So sad for us....so fun for them!

This is how we remember the moment.

This is how we felt during the moment.

Sweden Day 2

Sweden day 2 was not as sweet as Sweden day 1...probably because we had to leave the beautiful countryside, cottage, and sauna. In Stockholm we had to stay in a hostel, which was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. First thing I did after getting my luggage to the room: find food! Next thing...More touring and sketching of course! 

Arkitektur-Museet

Sketch crazy!

The streets and canals of Stockholm

Look at these cutie patooties crossing a bridge!

I guess THEY say Stockholm is the Scandinavian Venice.

Sweden

One last free breakfast in the hotel in Oslo
On the bus
To an awesome little church to sketch
On the road to Sweden
Stop at Lars Larin Studio...I usually don't photograph art, but I couldn't resist this babe!!!


Lars Larin Studios

Miss my Casher boy!

Arrival in Sweden was so sweet! Being on a tour bus gets old and the countryside of Sweden was a great place to stretch out and relax. First thing we did after settling into our cute little cottage room: hit the sauna! AWWW!!! Amazing way to relax from all of the traveling, walking, touring, and school. The DIS group crammed as many people as we could into one sauna and took turns running back and forth to the lake to cool off. I'm a wimp so I only hit the lake once; it was chilly! No pics from this event. A new DIS policy. Here's part of the group at a nice sit down meal that was planned for us.

Lansmman's Garden

Good lookin crew? Hell ya!

Stu Stu Studio OOO

If you don't hear from me it's because I'm working in studio!

So effing tired of touring!

I have really honestly loved all of the places that have been scheduled for us to see on this study tour, but I am so tired of traveling in a group of forty people. Because my studio instructor was not on the trip I got to make my own schedule for the day. I hooked up with Ksana and went back to the Oslo Opera House to visit the building while not completely exhausted.

One of the theaters is housed in this wood structure.

Ksana and I on the marble steps at the Opera House.

We sketched for awhile and then walked to a plaza to people watch and enjoy coffee and treats! I felt that I deserved a nap on my free day so after sitting and chatting for awhile I went back to the hotel. I'm glad I got my rest because the next stop was a sculpture garden and then a house that both took FOREVER to walk to!!!

The grounds of this garden were gorgeous and the sculptures...well...you be the judge.

Villa Stenersen by Arne Korsmo 1939

This house was well worth the long walk!

LOVE the lil vestibule entry!

Here I am chillin at the house party!

Catching up on some reading.

Chillin on the upper deck with Kelso...she's just my size! 

Can you tell that I LOVE this house!?!?!?

After the house tour we caught the metro to get to a dinner spot planned by DIS; yes that means the meal was FREE!

George, myself, and Cory taking the metro...we're all super hungry!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and had a couple drinks, in room 508 again, and then walked to a bar. WALKED FOREVER to get there! I got a beer and sat and chatted with a Swedish man who just moved to Norway. He is a non-fiction writer who had an interesting story to tell me. He had just been in the same bar the night before having a couple of drinks. He said he was there for awhile writing on his laptop. When he got up to leave a Norwegian man grabbed him by the neck and brought him to the ground saying that he was stealing someone's laptop bag.  Even though he was in the bar for awhile none of the bartenders who served him defended him or told the guy that the laptop was his! Messed up! I'm still not sure why he wanted to return to the same bar the next night, but I'm glad he did because he was WAY nicer than any Norwegian I have met so far!

He was so nice that he even took a pic with me so I could remember our lil chat!