Tuesday 7 July 2015

This morning we began at the British Museum, where they had the best security we have encountered thus far. There is so much stuff in there that it's a bit overwhelming! We had a few hours to spend there before we had to go to Harry Potter, so we tooled around in the Enlightenment Room, Europe, and Egypt before shopping a bit. Then we walked to a market to get lunch, which we ate in Bloomsbury Park. I made the mistake of tossing a bit of my sandwich to a pigeon, so they all swarmed. We grabbed a coffee, then walked to Euston Station to catch a train to Watford Junction. It was only about 20 minutes or so, which meant we had a LOT of time to kill in Leavesden. We walked up the main road one direction, then went the other way. We perused the British candy selection and chose a few tidbits. Then we went into a pub and had some drinks. Toria liked the "lemonade", which was fizzy, yet not as sweet as our lemonade. Hedge liked his Guinness. ;)

We caught a bus to the studio, and then still had some time, so we perused the gift shop, which was pretty impressive. Everybody found stuff they liked, but I wanted it all! We made note of what all we wanted, then asked if we could get in line early. You go in to an antechamber with movie posters from around the world, and they show you clips on the genesis of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Then you go into a theater, where the main actors discuss how they grew up on the set, spending ten years living there. Finally, you enter the great hall, which is really beautiful.

After the great hall, you go into this huge room with basically all the rooms from Hogwarts. It was so cool to see all of the costumes, wigs, makeup stuff, and rooms. Hogwarts Express is in a separate wing, and it has a separate gift shop, where they warn you that you can only buy some of the stuff in that shop, so of course I had to get one there. After the train station, there's a café where you have to try a butterbeer! It was extremely sweet…. Like cream soda with butterscotch foam on top. Outside you see the Knight Bus, #4 Privet Drive, the Hogwarts Bridge, Lily and James Potter's cottage, the infamous blue Ford Anglia, and some wizards chess pieces. Then you enter to see the magical creatures, and models of most of the sets. Finally, you see a huge model of Hogwarts, which fills the entire room, with two floors. Absolutely beautiful! The end of the tour is Ollivanders, where you learn that every box is hand wrapped and labeled by hand. Then… the gift shop. We shopped, buying too much, then got back on the shuttle bus, and caught the train back to Euston in London. Unfortunately, Toria was feeling ill again! In Euston, we got some milk, wine, soup, and a banana. We ate up the last of our food in the fridge, and started packing for our move tomorrow. Edinburgh, here we come! It's our longest train ride, and we're hoping to be able to see the countryside.