Inspirational Art (5.27.07)
Had the alarm set for 8am-ish. Was planning to go see the Pixar exhibition at 10am so I would be back in time to check out the Royal Botanical Gardens with Shannon around noon, then we were going on our last tour later in the afternoon. Initially I woke up thinking I'd rather sleep in and that I could go see the Pixar exhibit on Monday. I lay there for a bit thinking about it, then realized I HAD to go to the exhibit today if I wanted to get in for free using my pass because today was my last day to use for places. Jumped out of bed, took a quick shower, and made it to the museum just a little after 10am. I was so excited to see this exhibit, funny that bakc home Pixar is headquartered just across the Bay, and I remember when this exhibition started, think it was going from LA, to New York and then maybe London...and I thought- damn they better bring it back to SF! But instead I moved across the pond and amazingly the exhibit is here.
As I walked through the exhibit, looking at all the drawings, storyboards, etc. a huge swell of inspiration came over me. It made me want to start drawing again and to maybe take some classes just to keep up with it. Made me think how much I wanted to work for them and that maybe I should try to get into the industry over here (did you know outside of Cali that Bristol has the largest animation studios? Wallace and Gromit were created here). Took about 2 hours to see everything in the exhibit, and trust me I saw EVERY picture, statue, etc., then I headed back to the hostel where I had a sandwich, met Shannon, then we headed out for the Botanical Gardens. We chose to walk as it was only about a mile away and it was a nice day. Got a little lost, we passed the garden completely because it was hiding behind houses, though on the map it looks like it was right there on the street. turned around, and eventually found the entrance.
The Garden itself was quite large but I found it to be a little dull. Didn't get that "wow" factor from it. Was just like walking around a normal park, didn't have a lot of exotic or special themed areas. At least the weather was nice, the sunshine made it pleasant. We caught the bus back home so we would catch the Vault tour on time. The Vaults are 120 rooms varying in size located under the South Bridge, but the thing about the South Bridge is that it is no longer a bridge, it's a normal street. Quick synopsis- It was a bridge but in order to support it about 19 arches were build under it. but then they wanted the bridge to be more like a major shopping strip and build up on either side of the bridge buildings with shops. thus, the arches were now enclosed and became known as the Vaults where at one time merchants stored goods and laborers worked, then became a red-light district, brewery,....quite an amazing history.
After that tour Shannon went to St. Giles Cathedral to hear a choir sing, and I was so knackered that I went back to the hostel to take a nap. Woke up around 8pm, went downstairs, made dinner and was eating in the common room when Shannon came back. We decided to go out for one beer at a pub a few doors down from the hostel called The Scotsman Lounge. OMG this place was jam packed! The appeal was they had live music and these guys were playing more "traditional" Scotish songs. Finally made it to the bar, ordered Carling and sort of found a space to stand. It was hard to just chill because everyone was moving around, or at least trying to, so getting bumped into was frequent and I really didn't feel like having my pint go down the front of my shirt, so I was almost paying more attention to the people around me, making sure I didn't get knocked over by surprise.
There was a group of young Irish lads nearby having a grand old time. A bit roudy, bouncing around and singing, one of them started talking to Shannon and soon enough she and I were mingling with his friends. They were nice, but like I said, very roudy and silly. At about midnight when the place was closing down we walked over to this pub called Dropkick Murphy's and hung out there for the rest of the night. I was actually feeling quite sober, so was just chillen, talking to people and dancing around when I could. Shannon left with her guy, and when Dropkick Murphy's started closing around 1am I headed back to the hostel. Luckily it was really close to the hostel, so I wasnt worried about walking home alone, and I kind of made sure to walk close to other groups of people, just in case.
As I walked through the exhibit, looking at all the drawings, storyboards, etc. a huge swell of inspiration came over me. It made me want to start drawing again and to maybe take some classes just to keep up with it. Made me think how much I wanted to work for them and that maybe I should try to get into the industry over here (did you know outside of Cali that Bristol has the largest animation studios? Wallace and Gromit were created here). Took about 2 hours to see everything in the exhibit, and trust me I saw EVERY picture, statue, etc., then I headed back to the hostel where I had a sandwich, met Shannon, then we headed out for the Botanical Gardens. We chose to walk as it was only about a mile away and it was a nice day. Got a little lost, we passed the garden completely because it was hiding behind houses, though on the map it looks like it was right there on the street. turned around, and eventually found the entrance.
The Garden itself was quite large but I found it to be a little dull. Didn't get that "wow" factor from it. Was just like walking around a normal park, didn't have a lot of exotic or special themed areas. At least the weather was nice, the sunshine made it pleasant. We caught the bus back home so we would catch the Vault tour on time. The Vaults are 120 rooms varying in size located under the South Bridge, but the thing about the South Bridge is that it is no longer a bridge, it's a normal street. Quick synopsis- It was a bridge but in order to support it about 19 arches were build under it. but then they wanted the bridge to be more like a major shopping strip and build up on either side of the bridge buildings with shops. thus, the arches were now enclosed and became known as the Vaults where at one time merchants stored goods and laborers worked, then became a red-light district, brewery,....quite an amazing history.
After that tour Shannon went to St. Giles Cathedral to hear a choir sing, and I was so knackered that I went back to the hostel to take a nap. Woke up around 8pm, went downstairs, made dinner and was eating in the common room when Shannon came back. We decided to go out for one beer at a pub a few doors down from the hostel called The Scotsman Lounge. OMG this place was jam packed! The appeal was they had live music and these guys were playing more "traditional" Scotish songs. Finally made it to the bar, ordered Carling and sort of found a space to stand. It was hard to just chill because everyone was moving around, or at least trying to, so getting bumped into was frequent and I really didn't feel like having my pint go down the front of my shirt, so I was almost paying more attention to the people around me, making sure I didn't get knocked over by surprise.
There was a group of young Irish lads nearby having a grand old time. A bit roudy, bouncing around and singing, one of them started talking to Shannon and soon enough she and I were mingling with his friends. They were nice, but like I said, very roudy and silly. At about midnight when the place was closing down we walked over to this pub called Dropkick Murphy's and hung out there for the rest of the night. I was actually feeling quite sober, so was just chillen, talking to people and dancing around when I could. Shannon left with her guy, and when Dropkick Murphy's started closing around 1am I headed back to the hostel. Luckily it was really close to the hostel, so I wasnt worried about walking home alone, and I kind of made sure to walk close to other groups of people, just in case.
posted by Triana @ 10:40 AM
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