Ah the York day.
We woke up a bit tired and a bit sluggish, but we had a train to catch and no time to doddle. We made a quick breakfast and skeedoodled out the door with luggage in hand. We caught the tube, to the train, caught the train, and sat down relieved that we had made all the right transportation options.
The train was a bit rocky and we ate our food immediately, but other than that it was a great train trip. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous. Annie read up on some Rick Steves travel stuff while I listened to my music and stared out at the sheep and cathedrals gracing the hillsides.
Two hours later we arrived in York. And I knew it would be much colder than London, as previous experience 3 years prior (I was wearing a dress and had to do a quick change in the restroom.). We bundled up a little more and headed out to find our b&b. It always feels awkward dragging one's luggage through the streets and trying to navigate your way past slow and fast walkers. But we managed, through chattering teeth, we managed.
Once we made it to the b&b, and had a slight awkward interaction with the employee, we put our bags down, had a cup of tea, grabbed another layer of clothing and decided to go wander the town. I believe we went to the shambles, and just walked around taking loads of photos. We had 3 nights in York so we felt less pressure to see everything, plus I had been there before, so I had a slight handle on what we needed to see.
After wandering for a while, we went to York Minster for the evensong service. Which we were late to. But it's okay, we just had to wait for everyone to enter the church (choir and leaders) and then we climbed into the back of the church. We sang beautiful hymns and just took it all in. It was absolutely wonderful.
After the service, we were absolutely starving. We couldn't decide where to eat, but we ended up finding a pub on the way back to our b&b. Funny thing, we stumbled into the exact same pub that my parents and I had stumbled into on our first night too. We grabbed a table, and ordered some fabulous food. I ordered a curry dish, Annie ordered something else (I can't remember). We each ordered from the bar as well, cheers ourselves and continued with announcing loudly and as often as we could that we were sisters. The bartender was massively attractive. And then I realized he looked exactly like a guy I dated and I was like, oh that's why I think you are attractive. Cool. But wait, YOU'RE BRITISH. EVEN BETTER.
After dinner, we headed home, stopping off at Sainsburys to get some nibblets and peruse the aisles. We didn't find much but we found some stuff. After that, we headed home and watched some classic british television, facetimed our parents who were in France, and then we hit the hay. We had a busy day planned for the next day. But the first day in York was a success.
Love that beautiful city.
December 23, 2017
December 18, 2017
England, Day Six-Salisbury to London
This was our last morning in Salisbury. We had to catch an earlier train back to London as we had plans to see our friend that night and the following day we were headed to York. But here's what the day looked like...
We had packed our bags the night before, so there was only a short amount of rummage and bed checking before checking out of the b&B. BUT FIRST BREAKFAST! We signed up for an earlier time to eat since my sister desperately wanted to visit the Saturday morning market. We devoured our breakfast, chatted with the other guests at the table, and then checked out of the b&b. They kindly allowed us to leave our bags as we meandered through the town. It was bit colder that morning and so our walk around the market was quick. We didn't end up buying anything but we did enjoy people watching. We headed back to the b&b after an hour, said our goodbyes to the hosts who then told us, "You were such kind girls, your mother would be so proud." I love b&b hosts so much! We thanked them, and off we went to the train station, this time a bit more confident in the direction we needed to head and much more aware of traffic patterns...always look right then left.
Once we arrived at the station we weaseled our way to our platform where there was a very large crowd of people waiting, we had no where to sit and had about 45 minutes to wait. A lovely couple moved their stuff over and offered us a seat (I feel like this is a rarity in England, like people are wonderful and much more manner oriented but still I appreciate the gestures greatly). Our train arrived sooner than we expected and on we went. We found a table seat (WOO WOO) and put our luggage on the rack. YAY! Let's go to LONDON BAYBAY!
After 2 stops, the train was jam-packed. I forgot it was Saturday, and that well we were headed into London with the rest of the Southern folks. It was unreal how crowded it was. Two elderly women got aboard and my sister very kindly offered them our seats. This was after about 10 minutes of her whispering to me "Should we give them our seats? I think we should. Should I go ask them?" I retorted with, "Yes we should, but wait until they've moved down a bit as you cannot get their attention. It'll be fine we still have another hour to London." Eventually we caught their attention and they were ever so grateful. I was ever so grateful not to sit across from teenagers who looked annoyed the whole train ride. So there my sister and I stood for the next hour. Our bodies wobbling back and forth, being squished into men and women. Grabbing seats or anything to help hold me steady. One stop before the London stop nearly 1/2 the passengers disembarked. Which was such a relief. We snagged two seats and felt less wobbly. 10 minutes later we arrived at Waterloo.
The traffic and chaos at the station on a Saturday was very undesirable. We lost each other for a second and then regrouped at the underground. Unfortunately, the line we thought we would be taking was closed, hence the mass crowds and annoyed faces. We found a different route, a much longer, a transfer loaded route, but it would have to be the option since we had a long journey anyways. We survived it, and luckily made it back to our friend's flat in one piece, sweaty and tired piece albeit but a piece nonetheless.
We were absolutely exhausted from traveling and so we made ourselves a cup of tea and toast and settled down to watch The Crown. We also cleaned up a bit, removed items from our suitcases but didn't entirely unpack as we were heading to York in the morning. We just had some down time. It's very likely we did something else, but I think we decided to lay low since we hadn't really done that at all. We made plans with our friend David, to meet in Shoreditch after his acting class. Since we didn't have service outside of wifi we had to make sure we had all the plans set before setting out for the evening. We got dressed (as shoreditchy/londony as we could), put some face on and looked much more human. And off we went!
I hadn't seen David since my study abroad days 3 years prior, and my sister hadn't seen him since 2012 when we went to England and stayed with him in Cambridge. Here's the thing about David, he's an absolute gem. Like hilarious, but also like a little brother who just likes to be the trouble maker/annoying one. He's basically my sister in male form. So obviously once we met 5 years ago, we were like uh yeah this'll do. We adore him and could not wait to see him.
We waited outside the studio for what seemed like ages. It's all good, except a man came up and hit on us and we couldn't not look at him I mean he was in our face, but we tried our best to brush him off. We also realized we would NEVER be cool enough for Shoreditch. Like people are ridiculously cool, hipster, homeless, 90's grunge mixed with 60's vibes up in there. Nevertheless, we were there. David eventually came outside, we nearly leaped across the road, hugged and then immediately started in on the sarcastic remarks and laughter.
We headed to Wagamamas for dinz. We all ordered the exact same thing because we are identical. Chicken Katsu Curry obv. We chatted for ages, finished our meal and then it was on to a night out. Annie and I had not gone out in London yet this trip, so we were thrilled to be back in it again. David wanted to take us to a cool rooftop bar. We knew it would be pricey, but we were also like "When in Rome." Plus the view was stellar. And then it rained. So after about 45 minutes of sitting in the small drizzle and freezing, we decided to head inside. And then we decided to leave. Because 28 pounds for two drinks is not worth the view.
We found a random bar for the evening where there was loads of young folks like us and a jam packed bar. It was a blast and a half. We played foosball, had some drinks, laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Until about 1 AM, to which we decided we should catch an uber and head home. And so we did. It was a hilarious evening and such a great catch up with our friend!
We had packed our bags the night before, so there was only a short amount of rummage and bed checking before checking out of the b&B. BUT FIRST BREAKFAST! We signed up for an earlier time to eat since my sister desperately wanted to visit the Saturday morning market. We devoured our breakfast, chatted with the other guests at the table, and then checked out of the b&b. They kindly allowed us to leave our bags as we meandered through the town. It was bit colder that morning and so our walk around the market was quick. We didn't end up buying anything but we did enjoy people watching. We headed back to the b&b after an hour, said our goodbyes to the hosts who then told us, "You were such kind girls, your mother would be so proud." I love b&b hosts so much! We thanked them, and off we went to the train station, this time a bit more confident in the direction we needed to head and much more aware of traffic patterns...always look right then left.
Once we arrived at the station we weaseled our way to our platform where there was a very large crowd of people waiting, we had no where to sit and had about 45 minutes to wait. A lovely couple moved their stuff over and offered us a seat (I feel like this is a rarity in England, like people are wonderful and much more manner oriented but still I appreciate the gestures greatly). Our train arrived sooner than we expected and on we went. We found a table seat (WOO WOO) and put our luggage on the rack. YAY! Let's go to LONDON BAYBAY!
After 2 stops, the train was jam-packed. I forgot it was Saturday, and that well we were headed into London with the rest of the Southern folks. It was unreal how crowded it was. Two elderly women got aboard and my sister very kindly offered them our seats. This was after about 10 minutes of her whispering to me "Should we give them our seats? I think we should. Should I go ask them?" I retorted with, "Yes we should, but wait until they've moved down a bit as you cannot get their attention. It'll be fine we still have another hour to London." Eventually we caught their attention and they were ever so grateful. I was ever so grateful not to sit across from teenagers who looked annoyed the whole train ride. So there my sister and I stood for the next hour. Our bodies wobbling back and forth, being squished into men and women. Grabbing seats or anything to help hold me steady. One stop before the London stop nearly 1/2 the passengers disembarked. Which was such a relief. We snagged two seats and felt less wobbly. 10 minutes later we arrived at Waterloo.
The traffic and chaos at the station on a Saturday was very undesirable. We lost each other for a second and then regrouped at the underground. Unfortunately, the line we thought we would be taking was closed, hence the mass crowds and annoyed faces. We found a different route, a much longer, a transfer loaded route, but it would have to be the option since we had a long journey anyways. We survived it, and luckily made it back to our friend's flat in one piece, sweaty and tired piece albeit but a piece nonetheless.
We were absolutely exhausted from traveling and so we made ourselves a cup of tea and toast and settled down to watch The Crown. We also cleaned up a bit, removed items from our suitcases but didn't entirely unpack as we were heading to York in the morning. We just had some down time. It's very likely we did something else, but I think we decided to lay low since we hadn't really done that at all. We made plans with our friend David, to meet in Shoreditch after his acting class. Since we didn't have service outside of wifi we had to make sure we had all the plans set before setting out for the evening. We got dressed (as shoreditchy/londony as we could), put some face on and looked much more human. And off we went!
I hadn't seen David since my study abroad days 3 years prior, and my sister hadn't seen him since 2012 when we went to England and stayed with him in Cambridge. Here's the thing about David, he's an absolute gem. Like hilarious, but also like a little brother who just likes to be the trouble maker/annoying one. He's basically my sister in male form. So obviously once we met 5 years ago, we were like uh yeah this'll do. We adore him and could not wait to see him.
We waited outside the studio for what seemed like ages. It's all good, except a man came up and hit on us and we couldn't not look at him I mean he was in our face, but we tried our best to brush him off. We also realized we would NEVER be cool enough for Shoreditch. Like people are ridiculously cool, hipster, homeless, 90's grunge mixed with 60's vibes up in there. Nevertheless, we were there. David eventually came outside, we nearly leaped across the road, hugged and then immediately started in on the sarcastic remarks and laughter.
We headed to Wagamamas for dinz. We all ordered the exact same thing because we are identical. Chicken Katsu Curry obv. We chatted for ages, finished our meal and then it was on to a night out. Annie and I had not gone out in London yet this trip, so we were thrilled to be back in it again. David wanted to take us to a cool rooftop bar. We knew it would be pricey, but we were also like "When in Rome." Plus the view was stellar. And then it rained. So after about 45 minutes of sitting in the small drizzle and freezing, we decided to head inside. And then we decided to leave. Because 28 pounds for two drinks is not worth the view.
We found a random bar for the evening where there was loads of young folks like us and a jam packed bar. It was a blast and a half. We played foosball, had some drinks, laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Until about 1 AM, to which we decided we should catch an uber and head home. And so we did. It was a hilarious evening and such a great catch up with our friend!
November 21, 2017
England, Day Five-Salisbury
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| Salisbury is perfect. |
-Had a FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST
-Climbed the cathedral and up the spire
-Went for high tea
-I felt sick
-Went back and down for a second
-Wandered the town again
-Found a restaurant-NOT a pub to eat at
-Got lost
-Went to a very old pub for drinks after dinner
-Made it back to the b&b for showers and sleep
-Slept
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| My favorite thing to do in England-drink tea and stare out the window at the english world. Also note the church spire in the background...yeah I climbed that. |
Here's the day with a little more detail:
We awoke (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this...), threw on our clothes and headed down to the family table for breakfast. They stagger all the guests so each guest has a 15 minute increment time slot. We were first served tea, then toast, then jam and butter, fresh fruit salad (this was available upon arrival, the host made it), and then our breakfast was placed infront of our faces. I was in heaven. Everything tasted good. And everything was devoured. We chatted with the guests, again placing "my sister" or "our parents" in as many statements or convos as possible. Everyone was very friendly and it was very enjoyable.
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| Me outside of the cathedral (taken on the 1st day in Salisbury) |
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| Me in the cathedral |
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| Up in the spire, 200 FT UP. |
Now, how did I get sick? Well in these cathedrals there are spiral stairs, and loads of them....that's what made me nauseous. Just looking at something spinning...yuck.
We finished the tour 2 hours later and decided to get tea at the church cafe. We ordered a pot of tea and split a scone with jam. I think we got a brownie, or we thought about it. I can't remember. But we did have jam, clotted cream, and SCONES. So obviously I was very very happy. Still a bit motion sickness, but happy.
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| In the cloisters |
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| View from the above photo. |
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| The Magna Carta is kept here. |
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| The flooring from the photo above. Stunning. |
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| This houses widowed or unmarried women |
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| A beautiful driveway |
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| Just beautiful. |
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| Salisbury is adorable. |
She finally returned and we cheers'ed ourselves, and then everyone in the small confined snug left. And then a drunk solo man walked in and started heavily breathing next to my sister (he was at the table next to us and very very drunk). My sister and I were trying to not explode from laughing but it was hilarious and so Annie was like trying to suggest what to do the next day and I couldn't contain my laughter. AT. ALL. I was legit crying. My sides hurt. And I could not breathe. My sister grabbed a book on landscape in Salisbury to not join in on my laughter but she was failing miserably too. We eventually finished our drinks and scampered out of the room as to avoid anymore of the drunken man breathing thing.
We made it back to the b&b, showered, watched Escape to the Country on TELEVISION. Ate digestives, did face masks, packed our stuff and went to sleep.
It was a great day.
November 15, 2017
England, Day Four- Salisbury
Ah, the 4th day in England. This was, in my mind, the beginning of our trip. We had actual reservations at a B&B and that meant a full english breakfast in the morning along with loads of tea and wanderings around a cute town. I was very excited/very nervous because I had done all the bookings this trip and I just felt a bit responsible for everything.
We headed to the station, bought our tickets (next time we def need to get a rail pass) and waited for the next train to Salisbury. Obviously this meant we had time to get money out of the ATM and get some food for the train. We caught the right train this time, no overground for us. HA!
Once on the extremely empty train, we headed south. I was reminded, on that train journey, why I love England. It's those countryside hills and pastures. I LOVE THEM. Everything about them makes my insides just twirl with happiness. It was about an hour and a half train journey and then we arrived in Salisbury.
The B&B hosts had give me walking directions from the station, which was easy to follow...I thought. See it was easy to follow, but the hosts didn't give me instruction on how to handle my second guessing when you have a sister who is overly worried and very directionally challenged...I managed though. I continually checked the directions every five seconds because my sister was wheeling her bag behind me going, "Uh, are you sure this is the right direction? We should be heading the other way...' 'This is a residential area, are you sure this is right?', 'Katie, do you know where you're going? This doesn't look right to me...'" My favorite quote of hers was when we reached St. Mary's Cathedral and my sister goes, "No this is not the Salisbury cathedral, this is St. Mary's, we need to be by the Salisbury Cathedral. This is the wrong direction. Are you sure you know where you're going?". The thing is, St. Mary's is Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury is St. Mary's Cathedral. My sister was beyond convinced she knew she was right, even though neither of us had ever been to Salisbury before. There is only one giant cathedral in Salisbury...and I have already mentioned it was St. Mary's...
ANYWAYS. After 15 minutes of dragging our suitcases behind us, going down cobbled streets and trying to still adjust to the way of traffic, we found ourselves going, "WOW! Oh this is so adorable!', 'This is so cute!'" We were so so so excited to be in Salisbury. It was absolutely charm central. We made it to the B&B, and met the nicest B&B hosts (besides Sally in Chipping Campden circa 2012). Our host Steve told us all about what there was to do and see in Salisbury and then he carried our luggage up 3 flights of stairs to the top of the 17th century Georgian home. We thanked him, put our suitcases down, flopped on our beds. GOOD NEWS WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SHARE BEDS!!! Annie offered to make some tea, we opened our digestives, and looked out the window. WOW. What a view. There, just out our window was the most beautiful view of the cathedral. We just stared and drank our tea and stared some more.
After unpacking and settling in, we layered up and headed out to explore some of Salisbury before Evensong that evening. We found a bench by the church and people watched while eating our lunch. When we finished eating, we wandered. One of my sister and mine's favorite things to do when in a new city is to go down as many streets and alleys we can find to try and orient ourselves and potentially stumbled upon something magical. We took a lot of photos, and then decided to pop into the local Sainsbury to buy more digestives, and find all the candy we had been dreaming about before leaving for England. Maoam's, munchies, tangfastics...etc. We headed back to the B&B, dropped off our candy, and headed to Evensong. It was an absolutely beautiful service with the men's choir singing. After church, we went to the BEST pub I have been to...
We decided not to wander too far since we were hungry and tired. We went to the pub recommended to us by our hosts and grabbed a table by the window. My sister and I intentionally try our best to not look like a couple, so in these situations we tend to reference each other as "my sister" more than anything else. We also mention our "Mom and dad" a lot too. Anyways, basically our waiter was DREAMY. Like light blue button down, dark fitted denim, blonde, TALL, british waiter. We started giggling uncontrollably after he left. Not to mention the bartender was also dreamy. The food was phenomenal. And with stomachs and eyes full of loveliness, we headed back to the b&b. We contemplated going back the next night for dinner, but we didn't see the same waiters when we walked past....
That was our first day in Salisbury. We loved it. We climbed into our beds and watched Escape to the Country on the TV instead of catching old episodes on youtube. The best part was that our window had that enchanting view of the cathedral spire at night.
We headed to the station, bought our tickets (next time we def need to get a rail pass) and waited for the next train to Salisbury. Obviously this meant we had time to get money out of the ATM and get some food for the train. We caught the right train this time, no overground for us. HA!
Once on the extremely empty train, we headed south. I was reminded, on that train journey, why I love England. It's those countryside hills and pastures. I LOVE THEM. Everything about them makes my insides just twirl with happiness. It was about an hour and a half train journey and then we arrived in Salisbury.
The B&B hosts had give me walking directions from the station, which was easy to follow...I thought. See it was easy to follow, but the hosts didn't give me instruction on how to handle my second guessing when you have a sister who is overly worried and very directionally challenged...I managed though. I continually checked the directions every five seconds because my sister was wheeling her bag behind me going, "Uh, are you sure this is the right direction? We should be heading the other way...' 'This is a residential area, are you sure this is right?', 'Katie, do you know where you're going? This doesn't look right to me...'" My favorite quote of hers was when we reached St. Mary's Cathedral and my sister goes, "No this is not the Salisbury cathedral, this is St. Mary's, we need to be by the Salisbury Cathedral. This is the wrong direction. Are you sure you know where you're going?". The thing is, St. Mary's is Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury is St. Mary's Cathedral. My sister was beyond convinced she knew she was right, even though neither of us had ever been to Salisbury before. There is only one giant cathedral in Salisbury...and I have already mentioned it was St. Mary's...
ANYWAYS. After 15 minutes of dragging our suitcases behind us, going down cobbled streets and trying to still adjust to the way of traffic, we found ourselves going, "WOW! Oh this is so adorable!', 'This is so cute!'" We were so so so excited to be in Salisbury. It was absolutely charm central. We made it to the B&B, and met the nicest B&B hosts (besides Sally in Chipping Campden circa 2012). Our host Steve told us all about what there was to do and see in Salisbury and then he carried our luggage up 3 flights of stairs to the top of the 17th century Georgian home. We thanked him, put our suitcases down, flopped on our beds. GOOD NEWS WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SHARE BEDS!!! Annie offered to make some tea, we opened our digestives, and looked out the window. WOW. What a view. There, just out our window was the most beautiful view of the cathedral. We just stared and drank our tea and stared some more.
After unpacking and settling in, we layered up and headed out to explore some of Salisbury before Evensong that evening. We found a bench by the church and people watched while eating our lunch. When we finished eating, we wandered. One of my sister and mine's favorite things to do when in a new city is to go down as many streets and alleys we can find to try and orient ourselves and potentially stumbled upon something magical. We took a lot of photos, and then decided to pop into the local Sainsbury to buy more digestives, and find all the candy we had been dreaming about before leaving for England. Maoam's, munchies, tangfastics...etc. We headed back to the B&B, dropped off our candy, and headed to Evensong. It was an absolutely beautiful service with the men's choir singing. After church, we went to the BEST pub I have been to...
We decided not to wander too far since we were hungry and tired. We went to the pub recommended to us by our hosts and grabbed a table by the window. My sister and I intentionally try our best to not look like a couple, so in these situations we tend to reference each other as "my sister" more than anything else. We also mention our "Mom and dad" a lot too. Anyways, basically our waiter was DREAMY. Like light blue button down, dark fitted denim, blonde, TALL, british waiter. We started giggling uncontrollably after he left. Not to mention the bartender was also dreamy. The food was phenomenal. And with stomachs and eyes full of loveliness, we headed back to the b&b. We contemplated going back the next night for dinner, but we didn't see the same waiters when we walked past....
That was our first day in Salisbury. We loved it. We climbed into our beds and watched Escape to the Country on the TV instead of catching old episodes on youtube. The best part was that our window had that enchanting view of the cathedral spire at night.
November 9, 2017
England 2017, Day Three-HARRY POTTER STUDIO
(September 27th, 2017)---HARRY POTTER DAY.
I think the top gives enough away for you to understand what this day was all about. Now, 3 years ago I had the privilege of going to Harry Potter studios with my parents. We spent 6 hours there and every minute of that time spent was well worth it. My sister had never been before, so when we were planning our trip that was the one thing she really wanted to do. I had no objections to this request as I only slightly, like have the tiniest of interests in Harry Potter....(insert Ron Wesley sweater here....). Anyways. Let's talk about Harry Potter Day.
We had 12 o'clock reservations at the studio tour, and I knew with travel time we needed to leave at least an hour prior, maybe even an hour and a half. We decided to sleep in, as we were still recovering from traveling. Then we got up and had a slow morning. Eggs with toast for breakfast obviously accompanied by a cup of tea. We washed up the dishes, got ready and headed out for a fabulous day.
There was no problems finding the station, it's England, they make things easy like that. But once we were in the station we had to buy tickets to the land of Potter. We stood in line, approached the window and the woman told us to use our oyster cards. Okay...this is where I was confused, last time I went we bought tickets, and I did not see any trains that looked like ones I had rode on before. Nonetheless, we had some time to wait as the train had just left while we were waiting to purchase tickets (which we ended up not purchasing...do you follow...) We headed inside a grocery store and bought lunch for ourselves for later. We decided to catch the next train out...except we were dumb and got on the overground. This took MUCHHHHHH longer than the train had taken. I still remember sitting on the overground and seeing trains fly past us. Then, I would look at my phone and watch the minutes just tick tick tick on by. I was trying not to panic on the outside because my sister externally worries enough for the both of us (surprising coming from me, I know). Anyways, any time Annie would ask what time it was I would respond and then add "It's totally fine, people are late all the time I'm sure." I'm not sure if I was reassuring her but I was most definitely trying to reassure myself. 12 years later, we arrived at the station.
I told my sister there would have to be a bus sign for the studios and there was, along with a mass crowd of tourists queuing in line for the "Knight Bus" to pick them up. It's actually just a Harry Potter bus but I honestly don't know why they didn't make it a Knight Bus as that would be extremely fitting. Hmph. Why people don't ask me these things, I'll never know....
Once aboard the bus, we grabbed seats closest to the front. The video started up and one of the first things the announcer said was "Don't worry if you're late, we have plenty of other tours you can join for the day." HALLELUJAH! I was so relieved that I actually could enjoy myself again. We arrived at the studios and my sister and I were so very excited. We got in line to retrieve our reserved tickets and off we went into Harry Potterland.
I was thrilled. My sister decided to purchase a listening guide (she did this before we left on our trip, so technically she was picking it up, I tried to discourage her from using it but she's a stickler and had already paid for it...) Anyways...inside the studios we went!
They make you sit in a giant theater where you watch a bit on the movie magic, and then the screen lifts and the entrance to the great hall is just...THERE. And it makes an old lady like me nearly collapse with excitement. Into the great Hall you go where they try to weasel you out of there very quickly, I don't listen to them, so we were some of the last to leave the hall. Also there were school children everywhere and i was annoyed.
Basically we meandered around the rest of the studio looking at every costume and bit of info, set designs, video clips, and reading everything. Annie was like the very last person to leave the hall, I lost her for 15 minutes, but she was actually at the beginning of the studio, where I was very much past and was sitting on a bench waiting for her. She read everything, listened to everything. I had seen it all before so I was going much faster, but I tried to chill. I just wanted to get to the new installments...the forbidden forest and the train station. I would have to wait about 2 hours to get there.
Annie, being Annie, had to do all the photo ops, dress ups, and "magic" practice she could. Slightly embarrassing for me, but then again, I was at Harry Potter studios, and I'm sure they have seen much worse. Annie made me dress up in the school robes and pose for a photo. I was dreading it, and then I saw Mr. Hottie Photo Man and I was like, please please please go on break. Well he did, right after he took our photo. DANG IT. And no, I never saw him again.
We made our way through the rest of the studio A, and then there it was, the FORBIDDEN FOREST. I was beyond excited. Until the spiders dropped from the ceiling and surround you. Gross. But they do have fog pooling out and trees everywhere and it's dark. SO GOOD!
PLATFORM 9 3/4 WAS SO UNREAL. Like I almost cried. The actual exterior train just sits there casually like it isn't a mega movie star. But it so is. Like hello. We got to hop aboard and see each year at Hogwarts on the train. I loved it. Like so so so so worth it. I almost cried. But I didn't.
We ate lunch in the cafeteria, finally getting to feed my hangry self, I devoured the food in a hot second. Annie tried a butter beer and I put my feet up. We were 3 hours into the tour already and still had the outside and studio B to explore.
We took photos (when I saw we I mean I took photos of dramatic Annie posing on every single set piece she could) outside. They had finally opened up the Durselys home so YIPPEE!! We got to walk through the main entry which was awesome and very short lived. Next up, studio B.
Studio B holds animatronics and DIAGON ALLEY and HOGWARTS. I knew what was coming so I took photos of Annie a lot and squealed when we got to go down Diagon Alley because that is so majestic. Annie loved it. It was awesome. I love it. Off to Hogwarts. We were side by side until the end of diagon alley where I lost Annie and thought she had been kidnapped because I stood waiting for her for 15 min, only to find she was around the corner listening to the person describe how they distressed Dumbledore's costume with a truck and chains. Crazy. Anyways, we linked back up and off to see Hogwarts we did. You turn this corner and there it sits. In all it's Hogwarts glory. Annie was like WOAH! I was like yeah, here she be. And then we took a zillion photos and home we went.
We got back rather late in the day about 6 PM, so I believe we just bought pizza, sat on the couch and watched more of The Crown. We were heading to Salisbury in the morning and we were so very excited but all at the same time, exhausted.
I think the top gives enough away for you to understand what this day was all about. Now, 3 years ago I had the privilege of going to Harry Potter studios with my parents. We spent 6 hours there and every minute of that time spent was well worth it. My sister had never been before, so when we were planning our trip that was the one thing she really wanted to do. I had no objections to this request as I only slightly, like have the tiniest of interests in Harry Potter....(insert Ron Wesley sweater here....). Anyways. Let's talk about Harry Potter Day.
We had 12 o'clock reservations at the studio tour, and I knew with travel time we needed to leave at least an hour prior, maybe even an hour and a half. We decided to sleep in, as we were still recovering from traveling. Then we got up and had a slow morning. Eggs with toast for breakfast obviously accompanied by a cup of tea. We washed up the dishes, got ready and headed out for a fabulous day.
There was no problems finding the station, it's England, they make things easy like that. But once we were in the station we had to buy tickets to the land of Potter. We stood in line, approached the window and the woman told us to use our oyster cards. Okay...this is where I was confused, last time I went we bought tickets, and I did not see any trains that looked like ones I had rode on before. Nonetheless, we had some time to wait as the train had just left while we were waiting to purchase tickets (which we ended up not purchasing...do you follow...) We headed inside a grocery store and bought lunch for ourselves for later. We decided to catch the next train out...except we were dumb and got on the overground. This took MUCHHHHHH longer than the train had taken. I still remember sitting on the overground and seeing trains fly past us. Then, I would look at my phone and watch the minutes just tick tick tick on by. I was trying not to panic on the outside because my sister externally worries enough for the both of us (surprising coming from me, I know). Anyways, any time Annie would ask what time it was I would respond and then add "It's totally fine, people are late all the time I'm sure." I'm not sure if I was reassuring her but I was most definitely trying to reassure myself. 12 years later, we arrived at the station.
I told my sister there would have to be a bus sign for the studios and there was, along with a mass crowd of tourists queuing in line for the "Knight Bus" to pick them up. It's actually just a Harry Potter bus but I honestly don't know why they didn't make it a Knight Bus as that would be extremely fitting. Hmph. Why people don't ask me these things, I'll never know....
Once aboard the bus, we grabbed seats closest to the front. The video started up and one of the first things the announcer said was "Don't worry if you're late, we have plenty of other tours you can join for the day." HALLELUJAH! I was so relieved that I actually could enjoy myself again. We arrived at the studios and my sister and I were so very excited. We got in line to retrieve our reserved tickets and off we went into Harry Potterland.
I was thrilled. My sister decided to purchase a listening guide (she did this before we left on our trip, so technically she was picking it up, I tried to discourage her from using it but she's a stickler and had already paid for it...) Anyways...inside the studios we went!
They make you sit in a giant theater where you watch a bit on the movie magic, and then the screen lifts and the entrance to the great hall is just...THERE. And it makes an old lady like me nearly collapse with excitement. Into the great Hall you go where they try to weasel you out of there very quickly, I don't listen to them, so we were some of the last to leave the hall. Also there were school children everywhere and i was annoyed.
Basically we meandered around the rest of the studio looking at every costume and bit of info, set designs, video clips, and reading everything. Annie was like the very last person to leave the hall, I lost her for 15 minutes, but she was actually at the beginning of the studio, where I was very much past and was sitting on a bench waiting for her. She read everything, listened to everything. I had seen it all before so I was going much faster, but I tried to chill. I just wanted to get to the new installments...the forbidden forest and the train station. I would have to wait about 2 hours to get there.
Annie, being Annie, had to do all the photo ops, dress ups, and "magic" practice she could. Slightly embarrassing for me, but then again, I was at Harry Potter studios, and I'm sure they have seen much worse. Annie made me dress up in the school robes and pose for a photo. I was dreading it, and then I saw Mr. Hottie Photo Man and I was like, please please please go on break. Well he did, right after he took our photo. DANG IT. And no, I never saw him again.
We made our way through the rest of the studio A, and then there it was, the FORBIDDEN FOREST. I was beyond excited. Until the spiders dropped from the ceiling and surround you. Gross. But they do have fog pooling out and trees everywhere and it's dark. SO GOOD!
PLATFORM 9 3/4 WAS SO UNREAL. Like I almost cried. The actual exterior train just sits there casually like it isn't a mega movie star. But it so is. Like hello. We got to hop aboard and see each year at Hogwarts on the train. I loved it. Like so so so so worth it. I almost cried. But I didn't.
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| My sister and the train |
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| This is me acting on the train when the dementors come aboard.... |
We took photos (when I saw we I mean I took photos of dramatic Annie posing on every single set piece she could) outside. They had finally opened up the Durselys home so YIPPEE!! We got to walk through the main entry which was awesome and very short lived. Next up, studio B.
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| She likes to act. |
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| She loves posing. |
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| DIAGON ALLEY...and the listening guideEnlga |
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