London.
After spending a very cozy night on a bench at the Girona airport, Harmon and I woke up early to set off for London.
Now after arriving in London, we decided to simply wander on our first day, exploring up and down the Thames river.
Tower of London at night
*SPOILER*
Now be warned. Harry Potter fans will love the following post, while other Muggles may be bored or uninterested... Harmon and I were able to snag last minute tickets (a true miracle, as the tickets are sold out until September, and our lack of planning skills left us sadly ticketless until a wondrous cancellation) to the WB Studio Tour: the Making of Harry Potter! But there are about 1.5 million pictures of us on the tour. You have been warned.
We even bought a digital guide for this tour (something we would normally never do), and it gave us a lot of inside information on the making of the films.
Leaving the Great Hall, we travelled into the props and costumes area, also housing some smaller sets.
Looking into its depths, we saw our deepest desires. We saw ourselves holding each other, for their is no greater happiness than being together ;)
Obviously my own house common room... Harmon wouldn't normally be let in, seeing as he is a Hufflepuff. Did you know there is a portrait of young Professor McGonagall inside?
Also, I didn't get a picture of the paintings in his office of previous headmasters, but they were all painted after the actual actors.
The next area was, I believe, my favorite in the tour. It was the collection of printed and other paper works from the movies. The designers created so many books, fliers, and other items that were true to the book and incredibly detailed, although rarely if ever seen.
In this collection, they had the assorted works of Gilderoy Lockhart, Quidditch Through the Ages, Flying with the Cannons, Tales of Beetle the Bard, and others. They also had many school books, including Hogwarts, A History, A History of Magic, the Standard Book of Spells, Unfogging the Future, Advanced Runes, Advanced Potion Making, and others. They had all sorts of advertisements for Weasley's Wizard Weazes. Newspapers, everything you could imagine!
Then we stepped out into the Backlot...
The trusty motorcycle and sidecar with the Hogwarts bridge in the background.
One of the 27 Ford Anglias used in the Chamber of Secrets
We then entered the Creatures Room, with the animatronics and other special effects items.
Ollivander's
Now our tour was over, and we entered the shop....
And although many things inside were too expensive for our budget, we did walk away with a few spoils.
Following the tour, we just had to go to the next Harry Potter sight
The rest of our London trip was wonderful as well, but not quite as magical... I am currently waiting on my Hogwarts acceptance letter. I definitely feel like witch material.
We enjoyed some traditional British food
And some not-so-traditional...
Onion rings and an Oreo peanut butter milkshake. Couldn't resist!
And we saw some key sights
And we couldn't help but get tickets to the London theater! We decided to try out a new play... ONCE
The love story of an Irish boy and a Czech girl who fall for each other through music. Quite good actually, with real Irish and Czech music! All of the music was created by the actors o stage-very unique and fun! It made us excited for Ireland! Only problem was that our ears were slightly numbed by the profanity... It prepared us for the Irish ;)
And with an early Ryanair flight to catch to Dublin, we once more camped out in an airport for the night!
Doesn't it look comfortable?
Traveling Wisdom:
Check the Harry Potter studio tour website as well as outside tours (like Golden Tours) when trying to buy last minute tickets. You might get lucky!
It is impossible to stay under budget in London, especially when you love Harry Potter!
Sometimes a super cheap, grimey hostel is enough for a few nights rest in the heart of London.
Once again, sleeping in the airport is not bad...especially when you have small pads, blankets, and pillows.
