When In Rome

Hello everyone.

Sorry for not blogging in such a long time, I really have no excuse... But I'm back with my post about my trip to Rome! Whilst there I took lots and lots of photos so trying to narrow down the amount I'm uploading has been very difficult.

So the journey began on Saturday evening when me and my dad drove the 4+ hour journey all the way down to Manchester where we were getting the flight. It may sound a long time however because we used to live there, we're used to the journey - it's still tedious though. When we finally got there, we checked straight into the Premier Inn we were staying in (I love that place. It has purple everywhere.) to get some sleep as the next morning we were waking up at 4am - that time exists? - to go to the airport. Now if you read my last post (link) on what I packed for this trip, you'll know that I had squeezed everything into a rucksack - my dad did the same with his luggage - as we were only taking hand luggage this time, so you can imagine we looked quite turtle-esque as we waddled through the airport to our gate. Then at 5:30am we hopped on the plane and jetted off to Rome. I love flying in the morning because you get such an amazing view of the sunrise. It's breathe-taking.

After we landed, we managed to find a taxi and set off for the Vatican which, in real-life, looks a little smaller than when you see it on TV. Don't get me wrong, it's still beautiful and impressive, but I found that with most places we visited-everything looked bigger on TV. It's strange. So after a quick photo in front of the Vatican, we set out to look for the tour bus my dad had arranged for us to go on so that we could have a look around Rome but without all of the traffic and people trying to sell you everything - there was a lot of both! Once we found and got on the open-top bus, we got a tour all around Rome! But just as we were coming to the end of the tour, it began to rain and I mean rain. It was coming in at the sides (we were on the open-top area which only had a flimsy roof) and within 20 minutes there was literally a pool forming at our feet which meant that everytime the bus stopped - and there were lots of stops - all of the water would come running forward like a mini tidal-wave and we'd have to lift our feet quickly or risk soggy socks. Luckily, we are a family with good humour and me and my dad found the whole thing hilarious. Not quite as hilarious as when we finally got off the bus for lunch near the hotel though and dad accidentally ordered a litre of beer - the glass was bigger than my face! - and I then proceeded to accidentally knock over some of the best orange juice I'd ever tasted all over my dad in front of the whole cafe and about 50 Popes in magnet-form which were on a stand beside us. We were in stitches. I think it was the lack of sleep finally taking it's toll which is why we then set off to find our hotel. It was a lovely hotel with an outdoor pool, gym and jacuzzi (which was always closed or busy when we went to use it). We then left our luggage in the room and headed out again to explore a bit more as the rain had died down. It was whilst exploring that we visited one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. The detail in this place was just mind-blowing! After that, the rain began to fall heavy again so we decided to adjourn our exploring and head back to the hotel where we fell asleep at 5:30pm. We were knackered.

       

  Me by the Vatican.                                                          Dad with his huge beer and my orange juice prior to spillage. 

Gorgeous designs in the cathedral.

 Our swanky hotel.

Day 2 consisted mostly of me lazying around the hotel and watching films as dad was of course working during the day and it wasn't safe to explore Rome on my own. But by 4pm he had finished and so we decided we would set off to the Trevi Fountain on foot, but not before a quick stop at an ice-cream place - you've got to try Italian ice-cream whilst in Rome, right? It's basically law. I had mixed fruit and strawberry and dad had cherry. They were delicious.Then, with our sugar high, we continued on towards the fountain as dad navigated us through street after street with our little map. We even stopped to see Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument which was beautiful as was the Trevi Fountain when we finally reached it. We managed to get right next to it - so  close that I touched the water. We then threw our coins in and made a wish. After that we wandered around a little and saw an amazing street artist who worked with spray paint and yet another beautiful cathedral before heading to McDonald's for dinner. Yup, even in Italy we went to McDonald's but I mean, we live on an Island, you've got to grab your chance when you can.

Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument 

Me and dad in front of the Trevi Fountain.

By the third day, my dad was still busy working all day so he arranged for two of his colleagues' partners, Naomi and Corkie, to come and explore Rome a little with me. They were both American so had amazing accents (they found mine cool too) and they were really nice. We decided to go and visit the Museum of Borghese as I had told them I was interested in art. As it was quite far away, we chose to take the metro which was an interesting experience as we had absolutely no idea where we were going! We managed to find the right place though and were soon on our way however, when we left the metro and came into the light of day, we had no idea where we were. We were in some sort of side road with no signs or anything, luckily for us Naomi was good at reading maps though so we weren't lost for long. On the way to the Museum we had to walk through some sort of park area which was so peaceful and beautiful with a little fountain; It was a nice change from the busyness of the city. Something we weren't expecting to see walking to the museum though was an older lady brushing a stray cat after tempting it to her with food...it was an interesting sight to see. Unfortunately though, that was the only sight we were to see on that trip because after arriving at the museum, we were told that there were no tickets available for 2 days so we went and got some lunch and then headed back to the hotel.
I then chilled by the pool for the afternoon before dad finished work and we went out with Corkie and her husband, Bruce (my dad's colleague) to do some more sight-seeing (which including visiting the Coliseum and the Spanish steps!) before heading back to the hotel and packing for us leaving the next day.

The woman brushing a cat.

Me with Bruce and Corkie.

Then on Wednesday morning we began our looooooong journey home. And that was my trip to Rome in a nutshell. It was amazing to visit and every morning we woke up, I couldn't quite believe I was in Italy; it's somewhere I've always wanted to visit and i'm so grateful I got the chance to! Though Rome is in many places very beautiful, it is also quite dirty and full of graffiti like most cities which surprised me and my dad as we were picturing everything almost glistening white. Also, the traffic was horrendous. You didn't know when you took your foot off the curb if you'd make it to the other side of the road alive sometimes because nobody really likes using their brakes there. You just kind of had to run across and hope for the best. But other than those things, Rome is very beautiful with some amazing architecture and I'd definitely recommend it but especially to those of you who are interested in art and design because there is so much of both to inspire you in Rome! Something that really stood out to me whilst being there was the incredible amount of intricate detail and pattern that adorned everything from statues to bricks on walls. It almost makes me want to go and sculpt something.
 Going to Rome was an amazing experience and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to see so many of the sights whilst there. We even bought a Pope pen! You know, when in Rome...

Until next time (which will be soon, I promise),


Mollie♥

In 5 Years Time

Hello everyone.

Sorry for a late blog post this week but it's been a busy one with work so I've been exhausted. This is why I'm not going to do my typical review of my week post today because it's literally been work, work, work and I don't want to bore you with dishes and coffees. Instead, I thought I'd keep on topic from last week and talk about what I hope to achieve in 5 years time.

Now you may not know, whether you know me or not, that I tend to be a very passionate person. If I set a goal for myself then I want to achieve it and I'll put my very all into it. This can obviously be a good thing but it can also be stressful because once I have my heart so set on achieving a goal, I often end up getting very cross with myself and upset if I fall even a baby step short of what I was trying to achieve. The good thing about being passionate though is that I do my very best to achieve my goals. So here is a list of 5 things that I am passionate to achieve in 5 years time.

Travel

I know that this is quite a common longing for most people these days but something I really want to try and do (as soon as possible) is travel! The fact that you can wake up one morning in the UK and go to bed in a completely different country amazes me. The idea that there a millions of people far away living their own lives and doing their own thing but in a different culture and language is incredible. In 5 years time I would love to have traveled  the world at least a little. And if I do, I will not just be sitting by the pool and soaking up the rays, (with sun cream of course) oh no, I want to get to know the culture of wherever I visit and communicate with the people who live there so I can really experience what life is like for people all around the world.

Volunteer 

This photo belongs to the Butterfly Tree charity.

This is a really big one for me. I am so passionate about giving back to others through charity work and since I was little I've had dreams of going to Africa to visit schools and charity organisations. In 5 years time I'd love to have had the opportunity to get involved in lots of volunteer work in the UK and elsewhere and have been able to change lives and raise money for charities all over the world. I think it's so important that we all do our part to help as many people as we can in our lives. The world would be such a better place if we did.


Study

For me, of course this studying would be in film. In 5 years time I'd love to be either finishing university, have finished university or be in a job involving film production. I've loved film all my life; from the age of 5 I was interrupting precious recorded family moments with my "Daddy, can i have a shot of the cameraaaaa?" and ever since I've made sketches with my friends and sisters, filmed and edited videos of family holidays and generally just played around with a camera. In 5 years time rather than just playing around with a camera, I'd love to be able to really use it in a professional environment so that I can have a career based around what I love.

Start up my own business

As well as developing a career in film I'd love to be able to one day own my own business. This business being one where I sell products with my floral artwork on them such as lamps, cushions, cake tins,  mugs, aprons etc. and maybe one day even clothing. This is something I am focusing on beginning in my gap year and right now I'm looking into getting some of my smaller paintings printed onto greetings cards. (If anyone has good connections to places that could print these I'd really appreciate the help). In 5 years time I'd love to have even a little product range of mine own and to be running a successful and enjoyable business.

Growing with God

I know some people won't share the same beliefs as me and this may not interest you and that's fine but God is a massive part of my life so I couldn't possibly leave this goal out. In 5 years time I hope to develop my Christian faith by getting more involved in Scripture Union and church events so that I can learn more about Jesus and become closer to God. I also hope to study the Bible and have a greater understanding of what it contains. I can't wait to see how God intervenes in my life in these 5 years and how He pathes the way for me as I set out to achieve all of these goals and I know that without Him, none of these will be possible.


So there we have it, my five goals to try and achieve in five years time. I know that this time in my life is crucial as it can shape the kind of person I'm going to be and what I'm going to do. That's why I wanted to write this post so that no matter what I get up to I can look back and remember what is I set out to do so that I will always be working towards these goals. Check back in five years time (I'm certain that I'll still be blogging then) and we can see how I've got along! Don't only come back then though, I have plenty of posts to keep you going until then!

Mollie

♥

What do you hope to achieve in 5 years time? Do you have any similar goals?

Ink and Paint

Hello everyone.

I feel like I need a new opening to my posts rather than “Hello everyone”..hmm. Any suggestions?

So this week I have finally managed to focus my attention (for at least 30 minutes every 3 hours…) on admin revision.  There’s been quite a lot even though I've only this year got one exam (my other subjects don’t have an exam). I've been through 2+ pens. And now it’s all finished as I sat my exam today and I think it went okay.

I always surprise myself when I’m revising at my ability to find so many new interesting hobbies and interests in order to distract myself in any way possible from the revision I’m trying to do. In one of my many breaks I even developed a whole business that I’d like to run complete with product lists and some price ideas. Yes it really went there.

Something I've been enjoying about revision is that I've had time to just sit out in the sun all day. It’s almost made revision fun. Almost.

A beautiful view from where I was revising

 My bedroom floor right now. So many pieces of paper and books.

As well as revising however I've had my Advanced Higher Art folio to complete and stick down and it had almost slipped my mind with the thought of Admin being at the top of my list. However after a little panic moment on Tuesday evening thinking I’d never get it done in time I decided to risk losing a day of revision on Wednesday and make-up for it one Thursday so that I could do my art. It seemed to work and things are back in control. Phew.

Here's a sneak peak of some of my artwork:

I will hopefully be selling some of my art/prints of my artwork once it is returned from the SQA. I also have lots of other plans for it too...exciting.

Now I have my new job to think about. I can't wait. My first day/training day is this Sunday so I’m preparing myself and hoping that my waitressing experience from my last job will help me out. It’s great to know that my best friend is starting work there with me and my other best friends already work there. I’ll always have someone to answer my questions and spend my lunch breaks with.

I think that’s it for this update as I haven’t really anything more to tell you as I've been mostly sat revising all week. *sigh*. I hope you've had a lovely week and been able to enjoy some beautiful weather.

Mollie

♥

School’s Out

Hello everyone.

Well, that’s me finished school now. Goodness me I can’t believe it. 6 years of my life has passed already, that’s really scary to me. As promised I will fill you in on my last school day shenanigans.

The day began with everyone signing each others shirts and sharing our prank plans for the day. It also involved everyone agreeing that as it was our last day we would not be required to go to class as no other year had. How wrong we were. I had double-art first thing and as we’d all finished our work and thought we would just be painting for the sake of it if we went there was a unanimous vote that we’d all stay in the common room with everyone else who were also missing classes. Besides, we thought that’s what teachers would expect on our last day but when the bell rang and everyone stayed soaking up our last day together we had a rude awakening by our head and class teacher telling us to get to class or we’d be sent home. Oops. So I spent the first two-hours of my day painting which isn’t so bad I guess, but plans for pranking were delayed.

To be honest we were all a little disappointed with ourselves at what little pranks we played. I was involved in a few petty ones including me and my best friend dressing up as our head teacher. We weren’t sure what his reaction would be or if anyone would realise who were imitating but we were definitely not expecting the reaction we got from him! He was flattered that we’d dressed as him and almost proud of us-I don’t think he grasped that we were taking the mick.

We also made a poster saying “S6 2013” and had everyone in our year sign it then we placed it in a hard-to-reach area in the hope it will stay there for a while.

The next prank involved me and my friends writing random comments such as “Hug a sloth” or “Tickle my pickle” (my contribution) on lots and lots of post-its and sticking them all over the walls of the downstairs corridor.

This plan didn’t work out quite as we’d hoped though because the janitors (who were amused by our attempts) simply took them all down before anyone in the school could see our master-piece. *sigh*

Next up we provided sticker moustaches for people in our year based on that of our head teachers’. Once again however, I think he felt we were simply creating a shrine to him. Then when lunch-time came, me and my friends very suspiciously walked out of the canteen and went up to the balcony above it and dropped a bin-bag’s worth of balloons over everyone in the canteen. They fell to the cheer of everyone below who seemed to like our colourful contribution to the day.

That was pretty much all me and my friends did as we were too busy trying to spend time together and saying “goodbye” and “thankyou” to teachers however the rest of our year’s pranks included: putting a plant, table and chair on a hill outside our school with a hoody and a balloon-face based on our head teacher, then two boys in my year ran around the school in morph-suits, leeks were then put on a teacher’s car and the best one, when one of the girls in my year managed to access our school’s tannoy system and made an announcement about our year in the style of our head-teacher.

So that’s that. School? Done. Next up is my gap-year, university and then who knows what else. Exciting times ahead and I’ll be sure to bring you along with me. Thankyou for your continuing support each week.

Mollie

♥

Butterflies and Growing Up

Hello everyone.

I’m very sorry this post is a day late. It’s been a little bit hectic this week with studying for a NAB and then a Prelim but things are pretty much back in order now (well, as ‘in order’ as they can be with ditsy me). Now I can begin to properly focus on this Saturday…

Scottish Island Mum (Fiona Doubleday) has given me a wonderful opportunity to be part of her Butterfly Tree Project this Saturday. The Butterfly Tree is a charity that supports rural communities in Zambia - they provide the necessities such as safe water, feeding programs and health and education for the people in Zambia.

To raise money for this charity (namely for malaria nets) Fiona has planned a variety of sub-projects including her workshop opening tea party this Saturday. Here people will hopefully donate to the charity and begin buying her delicate and beautiful hand-made butterflies which have mesh-like wings to signify the malaria nets they are raising money for.

As I am very interested in film and hope to go into film production in my future Fiona has kindly asked me to film the event. It will be wonderful experience for me and will hopefully compliment the hard-work put into this event. We have decided the most important point to get across is that just £5 can save a child’s life in buying a malaria net. The film will also feature some natural scenes from Arran and of course the cutting of the workshop’s ribbon and the tea party itself. All very exciting!

(These pictures are from The Butterfly Tree facebook page and belong to them.)

In other news, it is now beginning to hit me that I only have a few weeks left at school. Ahh. I don’t really know what to make of it. Part of me is really excited to have some freedom in my life and see where my gap year takes me but the other part of me is going to miss high school so much. The fact that I live on an island, everyone pretty much knows everyone in our school including the teachers so I will literally miss everyone. I’ve found myself beginning to appreciate the little funny moments that happen in our 6^th year common room and the friendships I’ve made a lot more knowing that we’ll all go our separate ways soon. I think my 6^th year at high school has really helped steer me towards what I want to do and who I want to be (cheese anyone?). I think I might talk about this in a separate blog post altogether because there is a lot to talk about and I feel this may turn into a very, very long blog post.

I hope you’ve had a lovely week so far and if you can please check out The Butterfly Tree’s website!

Mollie

♥