DAY THREE:

Country walk:

Today we went out to the countryside. It was a nice break from the city, also very “un-touristy.” I think we were the only tourists there. We took from the train from London to Dr. Burt’s hometown. We walked around there for a while before getting lunch and setting off on our journey. We found this beautiful old church shown below which we were able to go inside. The outside is made of flint, which I think looks magnificent on buildings. I had never seen it one any until here. A good number of buildings and walls around here are constructed with the material.

We ate lunch at a local deli. I got a very good sausage and cheddar cheese Panini. The cheese here is very strong, but also very good, and then set out on our all day hike. We went up some very steep hills, and without Dr. Burt leading the way, I probably would have gotten lost, but the countryside is a beautiful place. I can definitely see why people want to live here. We looked up housing prices for that area and they were absolutely outrageous. The footpath we went down was pre-roman, and an interesting fact about all the footpaths is that they all lead to the church. We also came upon S.S. Peter and Paul Ellesborough church, where many Prime Ministers have regularly attended church in the past.

Dinner – “Fish and Chips” experience

Most people went to get Indian tonight, but I was tired and wanted to grab something quick so I could come back to get some rest (However, it is almost 12, and I am still up). So a few of us went to get fish and chips. And yes, I went to try fish. Shocking, I know. But I figured it was a must-try while in England. So a couple of us went to this “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant that was near our apartments. It was busy though, so we assumed it to be good. I had every intention of getting fish and chips. I was going to look past my disgust of fish, suck it up and try it. However, when I got in the place and smelled the fish, I chickened out. I decided to get the chicken instead and just try some of my friends. So I ordered a quarter chicken and chips… excepting for them to come out with some chicken fingers similarto Zaxby’s. Instead, they brought me out a whole grilled chicken, legs and everything. I am not sure how this considered a “quarter” chicken.

I also found out that you have to pay for ketchup, because next he asked me if I wanted some. Since I eat it with everything, I told him yes, I would like a lot. He then asked me how many packets, so I told him four. Then he rambled on about something I could not understand (he was from Poland), and after a few trys, I got out that is was cheaper to buy the small bottle of ketchup, seen in the picture above, instead of the ketchup packets, the exact same ones you get a McDonalds or Burger king.

After that I asked for a knife. He proceeded to point to the stick shown to the right and said to use that to pull the chicken apart. So that is how I ate my chicken….I didn’t get through very much of it, and not be a downer, but the chips (or what we call fries) were not very good either!

I also never tried the fish. I couldn’t do it. At least I tried to try? It was an interesting experience to say the least. Although we are in another country, I did not expect England's food to be this different.

DAY TWO:

We started out at Saint Paul’s Cathedral. It was amazing. At first we got the audio tour, which tells you about the museum according to your location. After that, we walked up to the top for an amazing view of the city. The cathedral is 365 feet high, one foot for each day of the year, and the steps are very steep, and they go through very narrow hallways up to the top. It is very neat and completely worth it once you get to the top. We also walked across the Millennium Bridge to get to the Tate Museum. The museum was very odd to say the least.

Next we walked along the river to the Tower Bridge, which is an amazing site. We walked up to the top and then went down to the engine room after. The had a 3-D model of how the bridge was constructed which was very cool to watch. After that, we went to view the 30 St. Mary Axe (aka, the “gherkin”). This is a very unique building, one in which we learned about before coming over here.

That night we went to Royal Albert Hall for the Jackson Browne Concert. I accidently left my camera, so I loaded an outside shot from the internet, and the inside one is from Clinton’s camera.

DAY ONE:

Arrival:
When we arrived, we took the Brit-rail from the London-Gatwick airport into London. We have a 15 day Brit-rail pass, which means we can ride the train (to locations in England, Scotland and Wales) on any 15 days within a certain time limit – I think it is 60 days. The train was very, very crowded. We were packed together like sardines. It took about an hour to get into London, and from there we went to straight to where we are staying. As soon as we were checked in and put our bags in our rooms, we headed to CarPhone Warehouse where we all got prepaid phones.

Trafalgar Square:
From there we walked around the city, and ended up at Trafalgar Square, and although it was very crowed, I loved it. There were some people playing soccer in the middle of the square, others sitting around the fountain, lots of people (Like us) taking photographs and others even putting on a dance show. From there we went to dinner. At this point I was about to fall asleep just standing there. I was beat. Our teacher wanted us to stay up though and not fall asleep to early to try and fight the jet-lag the next day. After eating dinner, we got some ice cream and then headed back to hotel. Some people decided to walk the couple of miles back, but Mallory, Clinton and I decided to take the underground (which is equivalent to our subway) back to the apartments.

Plane Ride

We took the red eye plane, which left Atlanta, GA at 5:15pm and arrived in London at about 7:30am. I hadn’t slept very much the two nights before. I was up working on thesis late, and then would also get up very early to start working again as well as pack. Also, the apartment I subleased for the beginning of the summer was SO VERY loud! My room overlooked the pool, and every night I was kept awake until at least 2 or 3 because drunk people would be out yelling and swimming in the pool. Even my earplugs and fan blowing did not override the noise.

So I got to the plane very tired, and also excited that I got to sleep the whole time. However, there were babies that cried ¾ of the entire plane ride. I am not exaggerating one bit, either. If I even started to fall asleep, one would start screaming. Everybody one the plane was very annoyed! So instead I watched worked on thesis until my computer died, and then watched two movies – “When in Rome” and “Valentine’s Day”. I stayed awake, but only because of the noise! I think I drifted away for maybe a total of ten minutes. For dinner on the plane, we got to choose from chicken or pasta. I got the pasta and it was okay, but definitely better than the chicken Clinton got!

Backpacking through Auburn

Our advisor thought it would be a great idea to go for a walk with all of our backpacks packed just to ensure that no one packed to much stuff. So on Thursday, we packed our bags and walked from the Gorrie Center (Building Science Center)and to Mellow Mushroom, where we had dinner and then walked back. It was about half a mile each way. We definitely looked odd backpacking through Auburn, AL in the middle of the afternoon. Here is a shot of us walking in front of Samford Hall (Thanks to Clinton). I also posted a slideshow to the right which has more pictures of this, as well of pictures of us on our crazy Friday night spent at Gorrie working on thesis!

Hey everyone! I started this blog to document my trip to Europe and my thesis as well as a way for my family and friends to keep up with me while I am gone. I have heard from multiple people that it is a good idea to keep a journal or blog of my trip, so I can look back and remember what I did every day. I decided to start a blog, that way I not only have it for myself once I return, but my family and friends can also keep updated on what I am doing while I am gone, since it is way too expensive to call home! So even though I am not much of a writer, I am going to try my best to update it every day!

I am in my last semester at Auburn University and am in the middle of my thesis, which combines every course that I have taken since entering the Building Science Program into one four hour course. I have spent the first five weeks of the summer in Auburn working on my thesis, and on June 27th, I leave to go to the United Kingdom. While there, we work Monday-Thursday and then get Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Our thesis is due at the end of July. After we turn it in, my friends and I are going to Italy for a week. My schedule for the remainder of the summer is posted to the left for you to check out. I arrive back in the states on August 7th, graduate August 9th, and start working August 30th!

I chose to do a BIM (Building Information Modeling) Thesis, where I use a software program to build a very accurate 3D model in which material quantities, energy analyses and a 4D scheduling can be extracted. Additionally I will be creating a full estimate for my model using Autodesk’s QTO program and Microsoft Excel. I also have various other tasks, such as pay requests, a site specific safety plan, a MEP scope, a collision log generated from my model, a project schedule and two other options of my choice.

I spend on average of about 70 hours per week in the thesis lab. I am hoping to get as much done as possible before I leave. I would much rather take no breaks here and be able to have as much time off as possible while overseas! Here is a quote from Mallory’s blog to give you an idea…”I was heading home from school (to Kay's apartment) last night around 11:30 PM, and saw all these people out on the street hanging out. I was wondering why all these kids were out so late and being so loud, then it hit me that it was the weekend (a Friday night). All the days are starting to run together. I then proceeded to go in and go straight to bed. LAME, I know. We set our alarms for 7:00 AM, and as usual, snoozed for 2 hours; but we quickly excused ourselves for snoozing because "it was Saturday." … hopefully all our hard work over here pays off and we have lots of free time while gone!

I have mainly finished the models (with the exception of the site and landscaping portion) and just started on the estimate. The building I chose is a Harley-Davidson building in Ohio…Thank you to Hanlin-Rainaldi Construction for providing me with a project! Below are some exterior renderings of my model.