London Day 5: August 6, 2014

Today, we got up early to get to "Platform 9 3/4" at King's Cross. We arrived around 8:30am so there was only a very short line and we got our pictures taken :) You can choose the scarf for your house affiliation and we were the first two Hufflepuffs of the day! It sounds like very few people wear the Hufflepuff or Slytherin scarves :P Everyone is a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw! The staff at the nearby Platform 9 3/4 will help make it appear as if your scarf is flowing and they will take a picture for you to purchase as well as help you take your own for free.

Then we met up with James again, who traveled from Burnham-on-Crouch to spend a day in London with us. We first went to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich which was really cool. We took a picture on a labeled part of the Prime Meridian, which was cool, even though we crossed it several times just to get to the Observatory!

 Thanks to James for the photo!

Next, we had lunch at a fake French cafe and visited the Tower of London. It was extremely crowded so it was hard to see very many things. I learned some things about British money and we saw the legendary ravens! The legend is that if the ravens leave, the Tower would fall and London with it. The ravens' wings are clipped and they are sometimes caged though :( We also thought the Tower of London was just a tower! But it turns out to be a whole fort, silly us. 

We then walked across the Tower Bridge before heading to the British Museum just before it closed to see the Rosetta Stone and other cool things like a bunch of mummies and a statute from Easter Island.

It was very fun to adventure around London with James! Thank you James. We parted ways before dinner so James could get back to Burnham-on-Crouch. Laura and I tried a Northern Indian place closer to where we were staying and it was very good. 

London Day 3: August 4, 2014

Henry is still feeling sick so Laura recounts our adventure to Harry Potter today.

This morning we woke up and ventured into the King Cross Harry Potter Store. We wanted to buy everything in the store, but we settled for a Hogwarts fridge magnet to add to our vast collection. We also walked by the area where you can take pictures of platform 9 and ¾, but we didn't stop because it had a very long line up. We will go back another day to get the picture, as our hotel is across the street.

King's Cross Harry Potter Store

We headed to another Tube station to catch a train to Leavesden. We picked up some sandwiches and fruits from Marks and Spencers on the way. We got to take a special Harry Potter themed double decker bus from the train station to the studio.

The Harry Potter exhibit was really really good, we probably spent three hours looking through everything. We saw behind the scenes videos, the actual costumes and wigs, and actual set and prop pieces. We also learned about a lot of small details the average person would never know about the movies. For example, did you know that the paintings inside of the Gryffindor common room are of all the old heads of the house, and the there is a painting of a young Professor McGonagall? Now we do!

 The door to the Chamber of Secrets - Harry Potter Studio Tour

(The snakes can really move!)

After the Harry Potter exhibit we took the train back to London and headed to a well known scifi store to look around. Our British friend James (who we will visit with tomorrow), said this was the one I wanted to see, but I don't think it is. Either way it was really interesting to see a large scale sci fi/comic retail store. It was even two stories!

Finally we took the tube to Abbey Road, where the Beatles shot their famous Abbey Road photo. The famous cross walk is right outside the studio where they recorded the album. Henry was extremely surprised by the fact that the crosswalk was so small. I was surprised that no one was killed taking any pictures, as the road is very busy. We had to be super careful not to get hit by any cars.

Abbey Road

Not getting hit by cars seems to be a theme in London. The traffic is very confusing in London and no one stop for pedestrians. I also really dislike that everyone smokes, everywhere! Secondhand smoke makes both of us sick. I find it very strange that there are just garbage bags left in the streets. No trash cans or anything. I think it makes the city look more dirty than it really is.

I do however, enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the British life style. There is no real drinking ages, and alcohol is free flowing. The tube network is also very vast and impressive.

We had dinner at a pub near Kings Cross. It was really good!

Tomorrow we are going to Burnham on Crouch to meet our good friend James in his home town. We are going to get the “real” British experience there.

We are having some camera connection and internet issues, so we can't post too many pictures. Maybe we can get some more up tomorrow.