Alright I know last post I said I think I fell in love with Iowa, but after spending last week in London, I think I fell in love with London. I also think I have what you call “Grass is always greener” syndrome (at least that’s my official diagnosis). Anyway I don’t want to bore you with an hour-by-hour recap of my London Adventures but here are some of the highlights.
1. Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour. After taking the red eye to London and landing at 7 am, I dropped off my luggage at the flat (so cool typing “flat”) and headed out to find the WB Studio for an 11:30 am tour. Let me say, the studio was not IN London. It took me three tubes lines, one above-ground train, and a bus to get to the Warner Bros Studio. I also went by myself (which might be slightly creepy to you non-HP fans, but I was fine with it), and while I think I’m pretty good with directions, it was a little confusing traveling so far outside of London (I had never been there before) on little sleep and a small amount of caffeine.
Did I have high expectations going into the tour? Yes. I basically thought I was going to get a wand, dress robes, and start doing magic right away. Dream Big People, Dream Big. So when I saw the outside of the WB Studio (see below), I knew I had to start re-evaluating my expectations.
To be fair, the whole tour was very well organized, and the staff is super friendly (or at least their British accents make it seem like they are friendly). The first 30 minutes of the tour is with a tour guide, the next 2 to 3 hours you are free to wander by yourself. (Less its a 3 and a half hour tour…I don’t think 80% of the parents who were there knew that. You could see the terror in their faces when the tour guide announced that.)
Anyway, first stop was The Great Hall. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be be, but still pretty cool none the less.
I won’t bore you to death with the millions of photos I took of all the sets. But here is one of the Weasley kitchen that I thought was neat to see all the details that goes into the sets.
I obviously had to try the Butterbeer (half way through the tour) even though it was 5 POUNDS (aka 7.75 DOLLARS). It wasn’t even real beer. And wasn’t it REAL BEER in Harry Potter? I’m 99% sure Hermione was drunk in HP and the Half Blood Prince?? Can some other super HP fan, please confirm this?
It tasted like a cream soda with whipped cream on top.
Overall, I would give the tour a 9/10. I thought everything was really great, well-organized and impressive, but like I said I thought I was going to be able to do magic by the end of the tour.
Alright I have decided to make London into two posts, since I seriously have to get to work now and stop blogging about my love for Harry Potter.
DO YOU LOVE HARRY POTTER?
{ 13 comments }
I saw signs for that tour when I was in London; I regret not going! I visited Oxford a few years ago and saw the dining hall that was used in Sorcerers Stone. It was pretty much the only reason I went on that weekend trip. In sum, of course I love HP!! I remember being away at summer camps and having the book delivered on the day of the release to my dorm rooms. Between my sister and I, we have both US & UK versions of the entire series
Glad you had a good time in London! It’s my favourite city in the world.
OMG I wish I had gone to Oxford. That sounds so cool!
I actually bought the UK version of the series while I was there, but I wanted to keep my “HP obsession” to a minimum on this blog….
OMG I LOVE Harry Potter too!! I went to the Wizarding World of HP back in Oct. in Florida. It was SO awesome. The ride was completely realistic & the butter beer was super yummy, even though it was ridiculously expensive. I even bought a wand from Olivander’s wand shop! Post more pictures from your tour!!
GLORIOUS GLORIOUS GLORIOUS. I need to get there ASAP. Also, I am almost positive that there was some alcohol content to butterbeer.
Yes. It was definitely alcoholic! Did you get to see Platform 9 and 3/4?? I regret not going there…
That looks like fun! I have never seen Harry Potter but I did read once that J.K.Rowling herself approved the recipe for butterbeer so its probably pretty good!
Glad you’re having fun!! Did you go on any fun runs over there?
Hmm. I bet I would be disappointed with butter beer if it tastes like creme soda. I had always imagined it to taste like liquid butterscotch, like liquified butterfingers.
Damn it that is a much better description. It does taste like Butterscotch!!!
LOVE harry potter! but i never finished all the movies…just haven’t taken the time to watch the last 3-4. terrible, i know. but how awesome is that tour and set! can’t wait to read about the rest of the trip. and WIMBLEDON!
I’ve nominated you for a Versatile Blogger Award! Please check out my most recent post for the rules and if you’ve already received this award then don’t worry about doing it again. Keep up the great writing!
(Also the HP tour sounds wonderful! So jealous!)
Awesome! Have you been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida? It’s so much fun! Oh and Butterbeer wasn’t supposed to be alcoholic! It’s what all the kiddies get on their trips to Hogsmeade!
As a Brit, living in California, i’m SO glad you had a good time in London. PLEASE post the other London photos soon, I’m feeling a bit homesick!
this looks like it was a blast, and this destination is on my bucket list. can’t believe that butter beer isn’t really beer?! we have this conversation of what we think it tastes like almost every week in my house.