A day trip to Oxford

Image from Pixabay

Last weekend was full on; cinema trips, shopping, eating out, celebrations, road-tripping and cake making! On Sunday, we decided to head to Oxford. We visited the University city in 2015 and you can see my post here but this time, we had a different agenda.

First we headed to the Ashmolean Museum, where we discovered arts of the Renaissance, incredible Greek sculptures and a marble staircase of dreams. I love exploring museums and learning more about different countries and cultures, especially when those countries are places that I dream of visiting. I think it's good to immerse yourself in the culture of countries you're interested in, it can really make you appreciate another place.

After exploring the Ashmolean, we headed to Jamie's Italian for a pasta fuelled lunch, complete with a gorgeous praline bomb and a few cocktails. Shopping in Oxford is really good but I only came away with a couple of items; I think online shopping is so much easier, stress free and actually allows you to look at the items you're buying.

We spent our last hour visiting the University colleges, parks and buildings. They're absolutely breath-taking; you really don't feel like you're in a city with the culture and architecture that surrounds you. Oxford is one of my favourite cities and heading there just for the day made my bank holiday weekend so much more exciting. 

If you love Oxford, are thinking of travelling there this year or have some great recommendations for the city, feel free to leave me a comment or tweet me @amie_journalist 

For now, here's just some of the pictures I took on my trip:

What I would tell my younger self

Image from Pixabay

I wish I knew what I knew now when I was younger. Although I'm only 20 and still have a lot to learn, there's plenty of things I wish I would have known while I was at school. When you're a teenager, it seems as though you're the only person who has ever had to go through anything and when things happen for the first time, it seems as though there's no-one to turn to or any advice that is ever good enough. 

The first thing I would tell my younger self would be that it's ok not to be ok. It's a quote that I live by and I really believe in. It's ok to cry, it's okay to feel lonely and it's ok to want to be alone. Everyone has down days and sometimes, things just don't work out the way you want them to but it's ok, because everything will always get better - whether you believe it or not.

In addition, everything will work out in the end. Another motto I live by is 'everything happens for a reason' and if you're stuck thinking nothing's going right, if your plans change or if an outcome isn't what you were expecting, there's no need to worry. Everything always works out in the end and you'll see that maybe, things that don't go to plan might actually turn out for the best.

Another piece of advice I'd have told my younger self is to be organised. Since being at uni, I've been super organised with everything; work, assignments, commuting, work experience. But at school I was the opposite, probably focusing more on a social life than work and I wish I'd have put much more effort and organisation into school, especially at Sixth Form. Although things didn't turn out how I wanted at the time, since leaving school everything seems to have worked out for the best which is brilliant, but having a plan could have prevented some of the journeys I had to take in order to be where I am now.

To finish - don't settle for anything less than you deserve. It may seem that the job, boyfriend, opportunities etc you are given at the time may seem like the best thing that's ever happened to you and that might be the case. But if you have a gut feeling about something, it's usually right. Get rid of anything that's damaging you as a person and if that will make you unhappy at the time, think about your future and whether changing habits now will enhance your future for the better.

Believe in yourself. #WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/PRFrNLOwuf

— Amie Rhone (@amie_journalist) April 26, 2017

Film review: Spectre

It starts in Mexico City. The tracking shots of 007; swerving through the crowds, leading a mystery woman up the stairs into the hotel room, walking along the rooftops. Explosions grip us from the start, the storyline yet to unfold.

Bond is most definitely back.

Charming and courageous, Daniel Craig’s performance is everything you imagine it will be. Capturing the essence of Bond time and time again, 007 uncovers the secrets from the previous three films in the series in one thrilling masterpiece. With gadgets and humour, girls and cars, Spectre plays on the iconography of Bond, but with an edge. The wondrous performance from Craig leaves you with hope for the next film, surely they won’t get rid of him?

Every scene in Spectre is anticipated, but with twists and turns that make it enthralling to watch. The thrill of a fight-scene, Bond’s determination and forward thinking which Craig portrays wonderfully. The typical sex-scene, heart racing and expected. But, in the shadows of a boardroom, Bond is lurking. The eeriness and quietness from the scene make it one of the most tense, yet, intriguing scenes from any of the Bond films.

The exotic locations are typical to James Bond films, and these certainly did not disappoint in Spectre. The ancient city of Rome, the bitterness of Austrian mountains and the familiar backdrop of London all serve their own purpose and certainly bring a glamorous, luxury element to the film.

Music is a huge component for any film, especially James Bond. The anticipation of ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ gave us the first glimpse of what the film would be like and alike any Sam Smith track, was outstanding. Throughout the film, the music is brilliant; carefully selected and paced, building up tension or slowing it down, it is evident that Mendes’ selections for every second of this film were thoroughly pondered – something that definitely doesn’t go a miss.

The writing is as always, brilliant. Using the humour and sarcasm that, in the last film, made the Bond series’ really come alive worked just as well again; carefully placed and brilliantly delivered. As well as the humour bringing Spectre to a new era, the scripts don’t hold back on the one-liners that we all know and love. Together with incredible performances from not only Daniel Craig - but Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw - just to name a few, the 24^th film in the series is no doubt the greatest film of the year so far.

This is the perfect end to a much-awaited sequel, one that I can’t wait to watch again.