Photography

My Day Out in Cambridge

11:42:00

I visited Cambridge with my mum a couple of weeks ago, to visit a friend who's studying there (and also just to explore the city). It was such a lovely day, and Cambridge far exceeded my expectations. 


As my friend is a student there, we were allowed into all the colleges, and she showed us around King's and St. John's, which are apparently the two most beautiful ones.


This is the entrance to King's, which is in the centre of town and a hotspot for tourists. Can you imagine studying somewhere like this? Living inside buildings that are hundreds of years old, and walking past the building where Watson & Crick discovered DNA on the way to a lecture. I mean, I knew the university was old and beautiful, but I wasn't expecting this.



This was the entrance to the library at King's, where they have an original work by Shakespeare. It just feels surreal that this is an actual place where people live.


St. John's was my favourite of the two. It was right on the river, and so we had a beautiful view. 


The sun also came out for a few minutes as we were standing there, which was a highlight in the otherwise cold, grey day.



You might've noticed from this blogpost that I'm quite taken with windows and doors when it comes to photography, so Cambridge felt like heaven to me.




This was taken as my mum almost dropped my camera, and is not, in fact, the result of a photoshoot. Still, it came out surprisingly cool, so I figured I'd share this true #candid. 


There was sadly a bit of construction being done on this tower, but I can't exactly complain, can I?


I can't even count how how many times I've said this in this blogpost, but, yet again, the fact that someone lives in these buildings is crazy to me.


Doesn't this look like the entrance to a courtyard from a medieval castle?


My mum also made me pose awkwardly in front of the King's entrance. It was slightly embarrassing, but I did get a few good photos, including a new icon for my twitter, to replace the christmas-themed one (it was long overdue).


Another photo of the traditional punting at Cambridge.

I apologise for the lack of quality photographs, but I did feel awkward bringing out my camera. Especially as there were only students around, it felt a bit violating to be photographing their homes, so I tried to keep it quick. Some of them I just couldn't resist though!

We also had the best pizza I've ever tasted, and then Chelsea buns at the apparently famous Fitzbillies. It was the best dessert of my life.

Overall, it was such a lovely day. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it - I figured it'd be quite awkward, as I'm not that close to the girl we visited. It turned out lovely though, and we bonded slightly again. What a lovely day, and a very happy memory.

Have you ever been to Cambridge?

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My Favourite Movies

16:00:00

If you know me, you'd know that I'm not really a movie-person. I'm way too impatient and lose focus and then fall asleep, so in order to actually stay invested in a movie, I have to watch it in a cinema.

I do still have a few movies that I love, and I thought I'd share them with you. Some of these are fairly recent movies which is perhaps why they're still stuck in my mind, but that in no way discredits my love for them.

The first is without a doubt The Perks of Being a Wallflower. No movie can ever compete with my love for this one. It is such a masterpiece, and the characters are so hilarious and real. It's a movie about a lonely boy, Charlie, who tries to find his place in a friend group in high school. It is so, so touching and beautiful. Fun fact: My dog is now named Charlie, and although I suggested the name claiming I just 'thought it was cute', it is 100% due to this movie.


If you still haven't seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you're seriously missing out. Sure, it's a Harry Potter movie, but even if you're not a fan, it's still overall amazing. It's the story about Newt Scamander as he navigates New York City in the 1920s, and you can just imagine how great the sets and costume designs are. I love the story and characters, but the sets and aesthetic (what a cliche word, but it's the only word to accurately describe it) are magnificent.


Another beautiful movie with Eddie Redmayne is The Theory of Everything. This is truly a cinematic masterpiece. I watched it in the cinema with my grandma when it first came out, and I fell in love. I didn't know much about Stephen Hawking previously (and obviously I'm not claiming to be an expert after watching this movie) but I found it all very interesting. I also visited a friend at Cambridge Uni a couple of weeks ago, and as we walked through the grounds it occurred to me that this was where certain scenes in the movie was filmed.


I actually watched the movie Pride with my school last year, and it was incredible! I definitely wasn't expecting to enjoy it at all, but I really, really did. It's about a group of gay activists who raise money for the miners in 1984, and how the two groups of people work together. It really is such a touching movie, and I highly recommend it to all of you. It might even possibly be my second favourite movie of all time. Also, it has the most incredible cast.


La La Land: I'm reluctant to add this in here. I watched it last weekend, and walked out of the cinema with my mind blown (to be fair, that's me after any show/play/movie). I did really like it and it did touch me, but it is definitely far overrated. Still, I'd recommend you to watch it.


The Cider House Rules: I can barely remember this movie at all, but I do remember loving it. I watched it when I was far too young for it, but it really stayed with me. It's set in the 1930s (I think) and is about an orphan who grows up and becomes a doctor. I'm making it sound boring and not something I would choose to watch, but I would genuinely really recommend it.


This post has actually made me realise that I'm not as anti-movies as I thought I was. I do genuinely enjoy them when I watch them at the cinema, so I should probably go more often.

All of these movies are incredible, and this post is making me want to go back and rewatch them all. Especially The Cider House Rules, which I haven't seen in probably a decade, and The Theory of Everything.

What are some of your favourite movies? I would genuinely love to hear, because I would like to get into movies more.

My recent post is a photography one of the Cotswolds, which can be found here if you're interested!

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Photography

Beautiful Buildings

16:03:00

So here is the final part of my photography 'roadtrip', if you can even call it that. I've mentioned time and time again how much I love England, but this trip really solidified it for me, and I got to explore all these beautiful villages close to where my grandparents live.

I also got to spend the day with my dad, and it was a really lovely day. Here's part 1 and part 2, and if you're interested in seeing more of my photography posts, I have an entire folder of them here. 


 I actually find this photo pretty funny, as all the buildings and windows are so askew.

 The beautiful Arlington Row. Fun fact - this row of cottages is one of the first results when you search for 'Cotswolds' on google. With good reason, it's so picturesque. 

Who doesn't want to live in a house called Honey Cottage?

Now I'm not usually a fan of churches (I'm not religious), but they are beautiful. 


As I was taking this, and old woman stopped behind me to let me get a clear shot. She was very sweet.

 This is apparently England's oldest pub! But then again, how many pubs don't claim to be?


How cool doesn't this look? I'm quite grateful that I don't live on the second floor though. 



This is also a very famous cafe apparently, but I'm not sure why. Isn't it lovely though?

Those are all the photos from my roadtrip. I hope you've enjoyed these three posts, because I've certainly enjoyed writing them. Most of the photos in this post were taken in Stow-on-the-Wold, which was possibly my favourite place we went. 

I'd love to hear if you enjoyed this post, or what sort of posts you enjoy from me. Do you prefer photography ones or chatty, personal ones? 

I'd also love it if you could link me to one of your newest posts, I need more to read!

I do also post quite a lot of photography on my instagram, that can be found here.
Part 1 of this series
Part 2 of this series
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Thoughts

A reminder for the bad days

21:03:00

This is a post for the bad days, when nothing can cheer you up and everything feels hopeless. When you feel alone and like you're wasting your life, this is a post to remind you that it is all worth it. That happiness will always come, even if its just in the little things.



Happiness is waking up late with the sun peeking through the curtains

Happiness is when your dog is so ecstatic to see you again that she can't stop following you around.

It's those bone-crushing hugs you share after not seeing someone you love for a while.

It's when you open an avocado and it's completely perfect - bright green and soft.

It's seeing your friend's face light up as you give them the present you've bought them.

It's the feeling of warming your hands on a mug of tea after coming home from school.

It's when friends you don't speak to anymore text you to ask how you are, and to say that they miss you.

It's when someone makes you laugh so hard that you basically collapse on the floor.

It's the first flowers of the season as they cover your grandparents' garden is yellow and bright purple.

It's sitting next to a stranger on the bus, listening to her tell her 7-year-old son about where she grew up.

It's wondering around a new city and finding new things and places to love about the world.

It's putting on a new pair of jeans or a new outfit and feeling confident.

It's long car-rides in the dark, where you get to listen to all your favourite songs for hours on end.

Happiness, to me, is the little things. It's rarely that big event you've been looking forward to, or a fancy holiday. It's those moments where a friend sends you a funny photo because they say it reminds them of you, or waking up one Saturday morning and realising you have the entire day to do whatever you want.

Bad days feel overwhelming and as if nothing will ever feel alright again, so this post is for myself to remember that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Photography

My Favourite Place on Earth

20:31:00

I've mentioned time and time again how much I adore England, but here I am with yet another blogpost about it.


This blogpost is actually part 2 of a photo diary series I've done about a cotswold's roadtrip I went on, and you can find part 1 here.

England is my favourite place on the entire world, and I feel so at-home when I'm there. My favourite part of England is, of course, the Cotswolds, which is where I'm from. The countryside there is so beautiful, and every time I'm there I just feel so at peace with the world, and everything just feels right.



I drove around the area with my Dad, and we walked along this cute little river. Both of the photos above are taken in a village called Bibury, which I thought I'd never been to before, but as soon as we drove up I recognized it. A few years ago my family went there for ice cream and lunch on a hot summers day, which is one of my absolute favourite memories. 

Here's a photo just to show you the scale of these houses. My dad is pretty tall, but I doubt he'd even be able to stand up inside of most of these buildings.

A little lane leading down to Arlington Row. 

Can you imagine living in a house like this? With brick walls covered in plants, with small windows and low ceilings. I love the place, but I can't imagine living in one of these houses, no matter how beautiful.


On the other hand, we'd get to have a courtyard like this: with potted plants and a little shed for my dog to explore, with an entire forest as our garden. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad!

I told my dad to "stare thoughtfully into the distance" as he kept making silly faces at the camera. It really was a fun day.

It was while walking around this church that I discovered that my camera battery was running out, and I didn't own a charger. Cue a moment of panic, and then me deciding to just get as many good photos as I could out of this trip.


There's something about windows like this that really intrigues me, and quite reminds me of how I imagine Hogwarts to be. 


I'm actually really happy with this next photo. I'm not completely sure which village it was taken in, but it sure is a beautiful place. 

And last, but not least, this beautiful church. I saw a picture of this entrance on pinterest, and that's actually what spurred this entire roadtrip idea. It's called St. Edward's church and is in Stow-on-the-Wold, a lovely village where I had the best cinnamon roll I've ever tasted.
Also, how cool is this? It looks like something out of a fairytale.

Isn't it just so breathtaking? I know I know, this entire post is just me gushing about my favourite place on earth, but I truly love it so much. Do you have a place like that? A place where you just always feel so happy, and you can't explain why? I'd genuinely love to know.

I'm going back next week, after a quick trip to Amsterdam. I sound like such a jet-setter, I know, but truthfully it's to visit some friends and then spend time with my grandparents in England. I'm desperately looking forward to it though, so watch out for more photo diaries once I get back!

Also, I'd love to know what kind of posts you prefer to see from me. Photography or chatty ones? Those are the two main types I post, but I'd love to hear if you'd like to see something else. Have a great half-term!

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