Okay, so over the past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to be brought on multiple shoots with Digitas. It has been incredible working with these people and getting to see this side of the industry as the shoots are really the stuff that I want to go into more specifically. So it was very rewarding to see all the hard work that goes into these shoots and the attention to detail these people put into their work. I am very excited to see how the end products look. Especially because on one of the photo shoots we made a behind the scenes video for the cast and crew which I will be making an appearence in! So I look forward to finding that on youtube in the future! But overall the internship has continued to be an incredible experience and I am just trying to soak up as much of the knowledge as possible.
Moving forward, two weekends ago I finally got reconnected with my homeage and got over to Ireland! It was stunning in so many different ways. For one, I flew over on Friday to Shannon, which is a port town on the west coast. Then went to the small village of Bunratty where I stayed in an amazing country B&B for the night. But when I got off in Bunratty all I saw was a few building, a pub, and a castle. I knew my B&B wasn't right in the center of town but looking down the other roads off the main route there were no street lights. While this might have scared some people I felt right back at home in Maine! I have some of the best memories walking down moonlit streets in the calm of the winters and summers in Maine. Luckily for me it was a full moon that night and so I could see perfectly. I saw a little rusted sign that pointed down a back country road with the name of B&B on it, saying 2 miles. And yes, it definitely was 2 miles, but I was fortunate enough to have a clear night and only a backpack to carry so it was easy. I enjoyed the scenery beautifully lit by the moon and the grazing animals. It was very iconic. Anywho, as I arrived at my B&B it was rounding 11pm and luckily the host was still awake. She was a fantastic old woman who took me in and gave me a glass of milk, cheese and crackers before I settled in to go to bed. My room was amazing, it felt like I was staying at Grammy's for the night with the old linens and the 70's photos of the kids on the walls. It was great. The next morning I got up, had a great Irish breakfast and then headed out to the train to get over to Dublin. The train ride was very nice and smooth and I was in Dublin in only about 2 hours. From there I went to find the free walking tour that was based through the same company that the one I took in Paris was. So I had high expectations. This one did not dissappoint either. It was really fun to get a back story on the wonderful city of Dublin and get to see some great landmarks (such as the medevil castle that housed prisoners in which only one person escaped, through the septic system, and inspired the movie the Shawshank Redemption). On our little lunch break on the tour I happened to stumble upon a photo exhibition of one of my favorite documentary photographers of all time, Steve McCurry, who works for National Geographic (most of you will recognize the photo he took that was at the exhibition as it is a very very famous photo). So that was incredible, got to see a lot of his work and all in massive scale as the prints were all huge. It was amazing. After I finished up my tour and then explored a little around the city, finding a pub that had my last name in the title, my last name in many souvenier shops and then discovering that apparently Fitzsimons translates to Snub-Nosed. Good. That night I headed up to Belfast where I was flying out of in the morning. The train ride up was interesting as during the day there was the hugely popular Ireland vs. England rugby match. And so my entire train was full of drunk Irish people. But they were really fun and sang many a songs in unison mocking the English (as they lost terribly to the Irish). Finally I made it to Belfast, walked a mile or two to my next amazing B&B and spent the night. This place was called the Camera House and was an old victorian style house converted into the hotel. It was amazing and the hosts were so nice. They had a sign in book and so I got to see where all the different parts of the world guests had come from. It was really neat. After a great nights rest I got up and had another amazing Irish breakfast and then was on my way to the airport. Originally I thought I was flying out of the city airport which was only about 3 miles away, then upon closer inspection of my ticket I saw that I was flying out of the international airport that was located about 20 minutes outside of the city. Great. So after a very speedy and expensive taxi ride I made it to the airport and onto the plane with no problems. And so I "saw" Belfast in the sense that I drove through the city and surrounding area at about 70 mph. Quick but effective. Anywho I made it back to London safe and sound and then had to prep for the next week.
(Bunratty Castle, View from my country B&B, Amazing church in Dublin, and the famed Steven McCurry picture)
The following week was jam packed with work, school and running. And oh yes, my second concert in London. One of my all time favorite bands, Matt and Kim, played in London on Wednesday and I was fortunate enough to go. A few other flat mates went as well, and let me just say.... it..... was...... INCREDIBLE!!!! Hands down the most fun I have ever had at a concert. Matt and Kim are amazing live, they have so much energy and they had us blow up balloons and jump around, essentially it was a sweat lodge. I was drenched (kind of like post-Girl Talk wet for all of you who attended that craziness at Marist this fall) but it was so worth it. Both Matt and Kim crowd surfed, Kim even miraculously danced on her feet atop the crowd as the fans held her feet while Matt played some music for her (it was quite impressive). After they just played some songs and got off stage and danced in the crowd with us. It was amazing. Thus my friend Rachel and I got a picture with Kim! She even took it for us. It was great. But wait, lets back track a little for I stepped over a very important event. One of my best best best friends from home, a Mr. Daniel Pellerin just happened to stop by in London for 3 days to visit!!!! It was amazing. Such a great reunion. We ate at Princess Diana's favorite pizzaria (which actually is right around the corner from our house) and did many other things. Unfortunately since I was working all day Danny had to do many things on his own and I wish I could have gone with him but I was chained to my desk. But it was so great to see him and catch up in this amazing city. Then to top it all off, one my best best best friends from Marist just happened to be in London with her father on a business trip, a Ms. Jenn Alessio!!! Post-Matt and Kim I stopped by her amazing hotel and met her father and got to catch up over some always good McDonalds at about midnight! It was just the typical Marist style. But it was incredible seeing her wonderful self in this amazing city. It was just a shame that it couldn't have been longer. So after that roller coaster of emotions seeing all these great people I was ready for the week to be done.
(Images from Matt and Kim)
(Road Relays.... fun.)This week has not been terribly eventful except for late night McFlurry runs (which I did last night with Rachel where we picked up 9 McFlurrys for all the flat mates) some annoying web-page building work (essentially millions of copy and pastes of information from spreadsheets to a program that is building the new UK Nissan website) and some great runs. Tomorrow I am heading up to the Peak District, which is a national park that looks to be absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous. I am very excited, especially because the weather is supposed to be good as well! Maybe some time in between all of this craziness I will get a chance to sleep, but probably not. I hope all is well back at home or wherever you are reading this and you are getting excited for springtime, as the leaves are blooming here in London and so the city smells deliciously good at times. Take care all and best of luck to all the Red Foxes running in the upcoming meets!!!
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