Monday, November 22, 2010

I amour Paris (Part 1)

For years I had looked at Paris at the city with the amazing architecture, one of the worlds best collections of Art in the Lourve and as the city of Love. It didn't disappoint.
The afternoon we got to Paris on the high speed Train from London we got to our Hostel, which turned out to be half hostel, half hotel and because of a shortage of space in the hostel dorms Dayna and I were put into one of the Hotel rooms. When looking out of the window we could see straight into other rooms and vice versa. Paris really is the city of love.
The first day we got to explore Paris was jam packed with all the 'Must see' places, out of a subway and up and we had instant gratification that we really were in Paris, French flags, a far off view of the Effiel tower, the Tulleries and the Eqyptian obelisk.
Our first half of the day was spent walking through the Tulleries and down by the river to the Musee d'orsay which i thoroughly enjoyed, especially as for me, being a European (UK) citizen I got in for free. Saw a great amount of wonderful paintings which then on our walk further down the river we saw duplicated many times on Tshirts, coasters, prints, postcards etc.
Next it was to the Effiel Tower, a lot Browner than I had always imagined it, even though we've all seen endless photographs of it. We re-created some polaroids there from what my Dad had taken almost 30 years beforehand, the great thing about cities that never change. I can see why it is that there are so many photographs of it and that it is so well known, it has a certain presence that can only be described if you can feel it for yourself, which is what made visiting it one of the highlights of the trip.
Another subway exit with instant gratification is that which is near to the windmill representing the Moulin Rouge in the red light district. "it's a can can can" Instantly comes into my head whenever I look at these photos. Watching close to a hundred times my favorite moves by one of my favorite directors, Baz Lurman is what has done this to me.
Check back soon for Part 2!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Tis' the season to be online shopping..

Right about now is when the stores start to have that buzz about the air of people making their lists, but people who like to shop online have already done this and are in the final stages of checking it twice.
In previous years I haven't really done any Christmas shopping online, I've always turned to ebay for cheap scrapbooking supplies and random electronics and this year I've discovered Etsy at it's fullest so for as many gifts as possible this year i've decided to support people just like me on Etsy and i'm starting to get sorted now as i'll be going to England on the 17th of December to be with my family there for Christmas so need to be done that little bit early.
I opened a shop on Etsy around a week ago now and I know things take time so I'm not disappointed that I haven't sold any of my photography yet, and continue to get inspired by other artists on there and my brain is ticking over trying to come up with different ways to diversify my photographic products.
The thing I love most, and spend an absorbitant number of hours doing, is searching random tags and favoriting a huge array of gorgeous items, some that I have actually bought, including a Barbie camera ring and whenever I have been buying gifts i've usually bought more than one thing from the seller to save on postage.
Some of the items I have favorited though I know that i can either not afford, would like to attempt to make myself or change in some way or put into 'Treasury' lists. Check out the two I've made so far- Cameras and Cupcakes and Away for the Holidays.
A cupcake camera strap, could anything be more perfect?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Is it because I lied when I was 17?

Remember to click on the photos to see if they are available on Etsy
As I was saying in my previous blog during my 'Summer 2010 Euro trip' as i'm sure it will be known in years to come I used England as my jump off point to the different countries I was able to visit in Europe. Not only do I like that country because it is the motherland to Australia, and my fathers homeland so therefore I have family there but is it handy with such cheap flights and quick train rides to other countries. Something you really can't do in Australia or Canada.
While staying at my Aunt and Uncles place in Sheppey one warm Saturday we went to a small bustling, beachside town which had an Oyster fest on, I'm not a fan of oysters but I still had an amazing time.
Everyone loves Coldplay..
On another nice warm day my cousin Richie's beautiful girlfriend Leanne took me out for the day with her friends to a cute little town called Rye which was filled with history and antique shops.
Do you think I should put this photo on Etsy?
Another girls day out, this time with my cousin chantelle and again with Leanne and yet another quaint, history filled, beautiful Kentish town called Tenterden with a vineyard, historical house and a high street with cute shops and great pubs.
I was able to spot this with my "Eagle vision" amongst a heap of rocks while walking over them.
No one does a roast like the English..
Everybody loves a rainbow..

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Starting at the beginning..

Because my Nana's favorite movie of all time would have you told that it is a very good place to start..
Back in the middle of July (I can't believe it was that long ago) I ventured away from my beloved east coast of Canada to London, England. From there my family there were my base for my explorations in other European countries. First it was to Ireland with my cousin, Richie.
We arrived late at night on a cheap Ryanair flight and even though I was in a line with 4 people in front of me (in the non-UK resident que as I was getting my Australian passport stamped so that I could work in Ireland) I still got through in the same time it took Richie to get past the 100 people in front of him. We winged it with getting a bus very easily (and cheaply) from the Dublin airport. As always it seems with trying to find your hostel at night, we took a wrong turn and walked way out of our way to find it, but we eventually did and it was the second best that we had in Ireland.
We stayed a few days in Dublin, did a Sandemans new europe free tour with an amazing tour guide, went to the Guinness factory, went on a pub crawl (and drank some VERY expensive 12euro vodka and cokes), did a museum and gallery day as well as a day tour to the Wicklow Mountains where we had shots of Jameson, saw some of the places they shot P.S I love you, the Guinness lake, the bogs (where the 'Bog Bodies' were found) and went to a beautiful national park where for the first time i could honestly say that the photographs did not do it justice whatsoever.
After Dublin, Richie and I got the bus to Kilkenny where we enjoyed the relaxed pace and friendly Irish people (we hardly met the Irish while in Dublin). We also did a walking tour there and went in some nice churches and historical buildings.
On the bus it was again to Cork where I had been thinking since reading through my Lonely planet books that I would live and work and find a nice Irishman there, but, I'd already found a nice Knad and it wasn't to be, I didn't enjoy Cork as much as I thought I would, at least not enough to live there and it was there that I made the decision to come back to Canada early. I enjoyed going to the Blarney castle and kissing the Blarney stone and we saw one of my favorite movies of the year there, Inception.
From there we travelled up the road to Limerick for the day going to museums, castles and nice little parks while doing some people watching and trying not to get stabbed, as our tour guide in Cork had advised us to do...
Galway was the final stop and our stay happened to coincide with the Galway Arts festival so there were alot of arty types in the city and I quite liked the pace of the city. Loved going to the Eddie Rockets diner for milkshakes and free wifi, going on the day tour to the Cliffs of Moher, exploring all the little streets, eating cupcakes, finding where the claddagh ring originated and heading to a few of the art galleries.
Off we were again back to Dublin where we stayed in the worst hostel of the whole trip, not that it really mattered coz we were only there for the one night which we were out on the townfor most of anyway and lets just say don't really remember getting back to very well..
All in all it was a great trip, got to spend alot of chilled time with my cousin, and even though it rained everyday the green of the land seemed the glitter as the bus sped past miles and mils of sheep strewn farming land and rolling hills. I highly recommend making your own way there, have the fun and games of staying in hostels, talking to the Irish people (when you can find them) seeing the sights, hearing the traditional irish songs and getting your jig on.. Just dont forget to take an umbrella!
P.S Did you notice the links? I've now started an Etsy shop. (will talk more about the later) Click on photographs in my blog from now on to see if they're available as prints :)
P.P.S Check out the preview to my Europe Photography book