London - Day 8

We had loose themes to the days we had planned while we were in Britain, the previous two days being Jane Austen themed, and today was the Harry Potter portion of our trip.  We has pre-booked tickets to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden.  It said we had to be there 20 minutes prior to our tour time, which was 11 AM and I was paranoid from the day at Chatsworth and the difficulty with the trains.  I had researched and knew we needed to buy an "Anytime" ticket so that we could come and go without having to adhere to a time schedule.  So up we got to at 6:30 to get ourselves to the Euston train terminal at 8:30.  We did and got our tickets for the trip out to Watford Junction.  There was a train leaving in just a couple of minutes so we hoofed it out to the platform and jumped on.  Well, we still aren't masters at that sort of travel because we got on an Overground line, which is like the Underground but...over ground.  It made probably a dozen stops before we got to Watford Junction and took quite a bit of time so I was glad we had left early.  If we had gotten on one of the National Rail lines it would have only been one or two stops.  But get there we did and we got to see a little of the suburbia that is around the main city of London.  The trains pass by the backs of many homes and you could see into the back gardens which really gave you a sense of how people live.  A lot of people air dry their clothes, because there were lines strung and clothes hanging all over.  And a lot of homes have a small glassed in space in the back, which is sometimes used for holding a lot of stuff and other times used as a garden room or eating area.  When we got to Watford Junction I wasn't sure where to catch the bus to the studio but we just walked out the entry and there was a sign pointing us to the tour bus which was covered in Harry Potter amazingness.  Mom asked which bus was ours and I said, "It's probably that bus."  We paid our 2 pounds for the trip out and return trip and off we went.  Pretty much every bus here is a double decker and we enjoy sitting on the top level and it was the same with this one.  It dropped us right at the door and we went in to collect our tickets.

The tickets included an audio guide to take us through the tour and a souvenir book which we could pick up afterwards.  We had about an hour to kill so we went and strolled through the gift shop (which was huge!) and made decisions about what we would buy on our way out.  Good thing too because when we came out it was packed!  I was willing to lug home the entire collection of Harry Potter books (not that we don't already have two of each) because they had all new cover art and the wording is slightly different from those released in the US.  But Mom convinced me that I had bought enough books to lug home and we each got our favorites, the first book for her and the third book for me.  Decisons made, we got our audio guides and jumped in line.  First you are qued past the cupboard under the stairs and then you are taken into a congregating area where you are shown a video of how the world of Harry Potter became the phenomenon it is.

Next they take you into another cinema area where you sit and the guide joked that we should get comfortable because they were going to play all 8 films back to back.  Yes!  In really it was an introduction to the tour by Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.  Then takes you directly to the doors of the great hall and in you go.  It was amazing!  The costumes and the props and the sets...

The Invisibility Cloak

The Goblet of Fire

Seeing how they used green screen and how they used models.  What was real and what wasn't, like the door to the Chamber of Secrets!  It is real and the snakes actually move back as one slithers around the outside of the door!  (I really thought it was CGI this whole time...)

They had a staircase that actually moved...

The Griffyndor common room and the boys dormitory...

See the painting?  It's Professor McGonagall as a young woman.
Seriously!  The detail!!

The audio guide was really helpful and gave you excellent insight to what you were seeing.  Like the beds in the dormitory!  They were built for the first film and never changed, but they were built to fit 11 year old boys and as the actors grew they had to really curl up to get in them!  Dumbledor's office and the Potions dungeon were both amazing looking sets.

See the Sorting Hat?

The Pensieve

The Sword of Gryffindor

Hagrid's hut and the Burrow...

How they did the quidditch scenes and how the animals were trained that were in the movies.  How to dress Voldemort so that he looked evil (hint:  it's all in the movement of his robes).

The Ministry of Magic...

Hem, hem!

The Knight Bus, Privet Drive, Harry's parents' house, the Hogwarts bridge...

The butterbeer!  The makeup and props...

I totally read the questions to see if I could pass my OWLs...

The animatronics and an actual Buckbeak that really looks alive as it moves...

Diagon Alley and the art that was used to create so much of the sets and costumes and feeling of the shots (and could be published as a book they are all so beautiful)...

And finally a giant model of Hogwarts that was used to do fly over shots and more in the first few films before the CGI caught up.  They continued to add to it as the movies added new locations so that everything is there.  It seriously brought tears to our eyes.  It was so REAL. You were just so moved by your love for the stories and the amazing and magical feeling that comes from living in that world even if it only in your head.  It was there right before you.  Hogwarts.  And you could believe that it was all real.

At the end of the tour you were dropped out in the gift shop and like I said it was bustling!  So Mom and I did the quick thing and went for those items we had decided on earlier, and a few more of course!  Much poorer in pocket but fuller in spirit we returned to the bus and the train back to London.  It had already been quite a day and we still had more to go.  We snoozed on the way back into London and when we got out Mom was a little stiff.  Her foot has been hurting her through a lot of this trip but she's been a real trooper.  I asked her if she needed something and she said water to take some Advil, so I went into a Pret a Manger (which is the bestest "Fast" food place here!) and got water and some lemon cheesecakes cups.  We sat and had our snack since it had been a while since lunch at the studio (hot dogs and butterbeer).  As we were heading out of the plaza, a sweater caught my eye in the window of a store.  I thought, "I should come back to look at that", but then I was like, "You ain't comin back, better go look!"  We went it and I ended up buying the sweater, a purse and a scarf.  They were all so cute!  I had to do a little clothes shopping, this IS London the fashion capital after all!  Then it was on to Kings Cross Station.  Thanks to the train mix up we had found the real thing and I knew there was a photo opportunity at Platform 9 3/4 there.  I wasn't sure we'd be able to find it, but the long line gave it away.

Photos taken we went and bought the professional ones and a few more souvenirs.  Then my last goal of the day was to get to a second yarn shop called Loop that I'd been hoping to visit.  This meant using the bus system.  I have to tell you I'm not very comfortable with buses.  But we found the right stop and got on the 73 bus towards Islington.  I wasn't sure of the stop but I knew we needed to get to Angel Islington and when I saw Angel Station I told Mom I thought this was our stop.  I ended up using maps to get us to our destination, but it worked!  We had gotten off at the right stop and we were only a little ways away from the store.  It was so quaint!  And I bought probably more yarn than I should have, but it was so pretty and I even found yarn made in Yorkshire for my Miss Bennet wrap in a color I'm sure Elizabeth Bennet would have appreciated.

Lizzie Bennet Approved!

They put it in the nicest cloth bag with their logo and "Loop London" on it!  I think the bag might be my favorite souvenir!

With the day done we made it back to the bus stop and onto a 73 bus back towards Kings Cross and St. Pancras.  It was only a short walk back to our flat and we climbed to the top to deposit our spoils.  I had also wanted to go into a real English pub and have a beer so we went back to Maybel's Tavern for dinner.  We got these giant cheeseburgers that must have been half a cow and Mom got a rose wine while I got an English ale.  It was delicious and hard to finish.  Thankfully it was only around the corner because we were beat.  We got to have a small relaxing evening getting caught up on all our to-dos.  Last full day in London tomorrow!

London Sunset

Fun Observations of the Day - They have to make dozens of replicas of the costumes they use in a film.  There was a set where Harry's clothes get dirtier and burnt in places when he's in a battle.  We just take it for granted that if there's fire it burns it perfectly in the right way, but it's all very intentional and amazingly well done.

And also it's easier to do complicated costumes rather than very simple ones because if there's something not as clean or out of place it's harder to see on the complicated costume.  The basilisk head was real!  They made a full size animatronic head that they used to film with.  If Harry seems to be very convincing in the scene where he's fighting it, it's because it's basically a real basilisk coming at him.  They shot on locations a lot in the first two films.  Since it was many different castles or cathedrals used for locations, when they made the model of Hogwarts you can see all sorts of different styles but they all seem to blend together in harmony.  All of the boxes in Ollivander's wand shop were hand made and labeled.  All of them.  It's just mind boggling the amount of work that went into what you see on the screen.  On our way home there was an older lady sitting across from us and she had eyes that were the same pale blue color of Grammy's.  It made me nostalgic and sad at the same time. Grammy would have loved all the Harry Potter stuff we saw today.

Step Count-  Carrie:  8858 steps, 7 floors - I really though it would be more because my feet are killing me since I was on them ALL day.  But I guess it was more standing and shuffling at the studio tour rather than all out walking.  Mom:  9951 steps, 10 floors