Harry Potter and Back to the Future -- in England!

[angryduck71]

Interesting side note. I went to British Museum to see the Elgin Marbles (Big subject in my Museum Studies Class), Rosetta stone and The Bog guy. The Bog guy was behind a construction wall. But I got to Sutton Hoo so I was pretty fine with it. Only slightly bummed that I didn't get to the see the Bog Guy.

The Egyptian Collection, Reading room and sculptures of Hindu Gods/Goddesses were an added plus. Westminster was our favorite Church that we visited so much history. We had a week to run around London and I still wish we had another week so much to see.

Can't wait to hear about you Harry Potter experience. One of the many reasons I want to go back

You really must. Exceptional.

 

[angryduck71]

So, folks, I have a job interview on Wednesday -- still with the federal government but a promotion -- on top of getting my tennis team ready for sectionals (a competition with other teams in the five-state area). So, I will likely be off of here until late Wednesday. I thought life was going to slow down when I got back from England. LOL.

 

[angryduck71]

Day 3: The day I was most excited for -- Wimbledon! I have been a tennis fan since I was a kid. I now play and captain tennis teams. Wimbledon has always been a favorite to watch so I was so excited to go in person! We roamed around watching various courts and some favorite players. We tried strawberries and cream (overrated). Davy isn't a big tennis fan, but he had fun just soaking in the atmosphere. We had a great time talking to one of the ushers for a long time before the gates opened. He had quite a life traveling around.... My favorite part was actually watching the players practicing. They had their kids there, they were joking with opponents, and you could get pretty close. I want to go back and JUST do Wimbledon one of these days. Some of my tennis friends say the are in. Maybe in a couple of years!

Some pictures:






We even had a great time during a rain delay when we had high tea. I then stole this image of the day from my favorite tennis writer, Jon Wertheim from Sports Illustrated:



Tomorrow -- I make a mistake, high tea with the Queen, and BACK TO THE FUTURE!

 

[schumigirl]

I like I had a sneak preview of some of those....

I`ve never been to Wimbledon, well not for tennis, but I`m so glad you had such a good time there, knowing how much you love tennis.

As a hat gal....I love that one you`re wearing......

 

[angryduck71]

I like I had a sneak preview of some of those....

I`ve never been to Wimbledon, well not for tennis, but I`m so glad you had such a good time there, knowing how much you love tennis.

As a hat gal....I love that one you`re wearing......

They hat -- you'll laugh where I got it... the "other" place down in Orlando. LOL.

 

[angryduck71]

Ok, we've gotten through the first day of school (see pic) -- how do I have a junior in high school now? -- my tennis team's tournament run in Oklahoma City, and still waiting to hear about job I interviewed for.... have some time, need to get this trip report done!

 

[angryduck71]

Day 4

So, we set out this morning to go on our tour of the Tower of London.... get there... our names are not on the tour... turns out, somehow I goofed and made reservations for the next morning. I was so upset but Ginny and Davy were really ok with it. I had planned everything, so to make one mistake, they said, was expected. Not for me! I was pretty miffed at myself. So, we started walking ... and walking... and we ended up in kind of an ugly part of town. There was one pretty part -- seeing the Shard. I sugggested going up to the top of it but neither Davy nor Ginny were up for it.



Anyway, Ginny tended to always walk way ahead of us and not wait at all and we were not seeing anything else worth really seeing. I started not feeling well too. I yelled out at her and asked where she was going. She didn't know. I said I may have to go back as I was not feeling well suddenly. And, Davy kind of wanted to rest too (his tooth was better for now but he was still just exhausted). Ginny got kind of mad and said she did not spend all this money to come here and stay in the room. I was taken aback. I told her it was fine if she wanted to keep walking around, we could just meet her later. So, Davy and I started heading back but I suddenly got really dizzy. We saw a Starbucks and I told Davy I needed some water. He said, "hey, I'm good sitting down -- maybe eating a muffin?" So, we sat and had a nice chat. I started feeling better, so we headed to the nearest tube (was only a few minutes walk) and headed to the flat. We JUST got there when my stomach EXPLODED. I was so sick. I told Davy I was going to lie down for a bit (he wanted to watch Stranger Things -- last couple of episodes had dropped this day). I texted him some ideas of what we could do for lunch and to walk around -- although I wasn't sure how much I could do. I took a nap for about an hour and felt perfectly fine after. Not sure what happened -- but never felt sick again. Davy and I decided to go to Little Venice. As we were walking out (after being in the room a little over an hour), Ginny came back. I told her we were off to lunch at Little Venice and she was welcome to join but she had been to a market and wanted to look at what she wanted to do next. Ok then. Off we went (Davy was kind of glad it was just us two after Ginny's outburst).

We had a so-so lunch but with a gorgeous view and then walked around. Lovely area. We really enjoyed ourselves (and luckily both felt good at this point. It misted a bit on our walk but we had a blast anyway. Besides, Davy loves rain:








Then, we took the tube to Daunt Books (so gorgeous). I usually hit a bookstore in every city I go to. This one was amazing. I think I got five books (one Davy picked out):



we then had to head back as Ginny had booked a high tea for us...

 

[angryduck71]

Day 4 continued...

So, we head back to the flat about four hours after we left... and Ginny was where we left her. I asked, "have you been here the whole time?" She said yes, she was planning on what to do the next couple of days (so much for not wasting time in the flat....).

Anyway, we headed out to our high tea. Because of the Queen's Jubilee, it was themed in her honor. It was a pretty hotel (apparenlty, I did not write down where we were...). It had lovely gardens in back and Davy had a blast exploring some of the hidden little areas in it. We had a lovely time. Ginny did well picking this out.



Such a relaxed wondeful time. And, boy, did I eat! Now, we were off to one of the things Davy was looking foward to most -- Back to the Future, The Musical. I had low expectations... we would see.....

 

[angryduck71]

Day 4 continued....

So, we did not realize we were about to walk right by Buckingham Palace. What a treat. Davy had been there for the changing of the guard 8 years before, but they were pretty far away. He was delighted to be so close. He made some memes too after our look around:






We continued walking and saw a wedding in progress in the park (we were too far to get good pics but it looked lovely). On to the West End!

The only pics we could take were before the show and it did get us pumped:



The show was INCREDIBLE. It was funny (and poked fun of itself a bit too), the actors were terrific, and the special effects were mind-blowing. Both Ginny and I were skeptical going in (although I love the movies), but we were BLOWN AWAY. Davy absolutely loved it. This was his favorite part of the trip (or at least tied with some Harry Potter stuff). Cannot recommend highly enough! We started heading home and I realized it was pretty late and the early morning tour that was supposed to happen this morning was now scheduled for tomorrow. Davy said he'd like to maybe stay home from it. I told him I would wake him up and he could decide then. He was good with that. Tomorrow.. a long, wonderful day -- the Tower of London and all the Harry Potter you can handle!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

I LOVE that book store.......holy moly you could spend a week there and never get bored!!

Sorry Ginny had a strop.....can`t have been fun and you not feeling well and Davy still not 100%. Glad it got a little better though, but glad you weren`t poorly for too long, sometimes a sleep sorts us out.

Love the afternoon tea...The Goring? Never been there before and don`t know it, but sounds lovely.

We didn`t get to the Shard, but Kyle would love to go see it. You were so close to Whitechapel......for me a must do place to visit when in London. All the Ripper memorabilia and weirdly the place does have a strange sinister feeling about it in certain areas. Not just me being overdramatic, many have said so, it has a bad feeling around it. Sounds odd to suggest visiting, but it is amazing.

Glad you enjoyed the show too. And sounds like it was a big success really all round.

Look forward to more.......

 

[angryduck71]

I LOVE that book store.......holy moly you could spend a week there and never get bored!!

We spent an hour or so -- I could have spent forever there if Davy had let me!

Sorry Ginny had a strop.....can`t have been fun and you not feeling well and Davy still not 100%. Glad it got a little better though, but glad you weren`t poorly for too long, sometimes a sleep sorts us out.

She has one more spat coming up, but I shut her down and that was that. Fine after that. When I give advice on traveling to Universal, I always say, listen to your kids. If they are tired and need a rest, let them. Know you spent lots of money, but no one is happy feeling tired and cranky and trying to carry on.

Love the afternoon tea...The Goring? Never been there before and don`t know it, but sounds lovely.

It would have helped if I had read the menu when trying to remember where we were. LOL. The Goring it is!

We didn`t get to the Shard, but Kyle would love to go see it. You were so close to Whitechapel......for me a must do place to visit when in London. All the Ripper memorabilia and weirdly the place does have a strange sinister feeling about it in certain areas. Not just me being overdramatic, many have said so, it has a bad feeling around it. Sounds odd to suggest visiting, but it is amazing.

I should have looked into that -- starting to read "The Five" about Ripper's five victims. Next time I will likely want to go! But, at the time, had no idea where we were or where we were going. And, didn't feel much like figuring it out!

Glad you enjoyed the show too. And sounds like it was a big success really all round.

Look forward to more.......

I am still just amazed how great it was. Davy has his marching band playing some of the music from it now. He really just adored it.

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5

Got up bright and early for our tour of the Tower of London. I woke Davy up but he was groggy and not feeling it. I knew we had our long Warner Bros. Harry Potter tour that afternoon -- one of the things Davy wanted to do most -- so I let him sleep. He had food at the flat to eat for breakfast so we were off.

On our walk to the tube, I passed this store front decked out for Wimbledon. LOVED it!



On our way to the Tower of London, Ginny scolded me for letting Davy sleep in. I had already prepaid for this tour.... she said, "as I said yesterday when you guys wanted to spend the day in the flat, I didn't pay lots of money for this trip to sleep in and stay at the flat. Once when my daughter was little, we went to the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. She was REALLY sick -- puking in the car. But, I made her get out to look at that hole anyway - wasn't going to waste my money." That was kind of IT for me... I got very testy and said, "You keep mentioning us wasting time in the flat -- we were there just a little over an hour. You spent four hours resting yesterday... so, I don't really want to hear about that again. Also, I don't care what you did as a parent... I know my kid -- if he isn't not feeling it, he REALLY isn't feeling it. If I made him go with us this morning, he would be miserable, which means I would be miserable. Then, we'd also be tired and miserable for Harry Potter. I did the absolute best thing to enjoy this trip and I'd rather not be lectured about it." So, that was the end of that and nothing more was said thankfully.

So, we head to the morning gate opening of the Tower of London. Our Beefeater tour guide gave us a great description of what was happening. Apparently, the keys to the gates are to be treated as if they WERE the Queen herself. It was great fun. Here is our Beefeater:




The pic below is where the Crown Jewels are held in the Tower of London. We were not allowed to take pictures while inside. The best story: The state crown has four pearls on top. Two are Elizabeth I’s and two are Mary Queen of Scots’. Two enemies together on the crown.



One of the things that fascinated me most is that the Beefeaters and their families live at the Tower. All of their homes are identified by a light blue door. One daughter of a Beefeater right now has long red hair and looks like Elizabeth I, so she bought a dress like the long-dead Queen and waves out of windows here and there. There has been a serious uptick of Elizabeth I ghost sightings lately as a result. I was sad I did not get to see her.





Some unlucky ladies… Anne Boleyn execution spot marked by this monument with a “pillow” like the one her chopped head fell on.



Anne, along with Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey, were buried under this cathedral. Anne and Catherine’s whereabouts are not marked. Lady Jane is near the steps to this altar.


Davy texted me that he was fine and having fun relaxing at the flat. He felt MUCH better. But, he wanted me to send pics of the torture devices displayed here at the Tower of London (should I be concerned!?!?!?). So, I did:



Our tour guide (not the Beefeater but the regular guide) was not great. First, I asked if there was any way I could give Davy's ticket to someone waiting in line to get in -- just to be kind and not to waste it. He told me there was no way as they would check IDs... and, of course they didn't. He also told me there would be NO restrooms on the tour (not true -- they were out of the way though) -- this did make me more happy that we did not go yesterday when I was sick to my stomach. He then led us to the Tower Bridge... and said we would be taking the elevator up. We did not. I did not mind that at all though. I was quite pleased that I could make it all the way up without stopping when others couldn't. Ginny, as is her habit, just kind of took off walking... and she missed the prettier view. But, we found each other again... just in time to see the bridge being raised. Our tour guide said it was EXTREMELY rare for it to raise - we saw it go up 3 times in less than an hour.... Pics in next post.

 

[angryduck71]

Davy 5 continued....













We then ate at a wonderful restaurant underneath the bridge. Had a great time there. I grabbed a fish and chips to go for Davy as well and we headed back to the flat. Davy loved the food too and had really enjoyed his time relaxing. He was really excited to go to the Warner Bros. studios. It's about an hour or so north of London. I hired a car.... I had emailed them the day before stating they should pick us up at the theater as they'd never find our flat address. No response. So, I called as soon as I got back and they said they would let the driver know to pick us up at the theater. He was late. I called again. He indeed went to the poor woman's house that the GPS leads everyone to. He got to us quickly though. I was going to nap in the car ride. But, this car had NO SHOCKS. it was the bumpiest ride EVER. No sleep for me! BUT, we were so excited to see the Warner Bros. it didn't matter. It is SO amazing. I am going to just post a bunch of pics in next post. We had an AMAZING time. Just FYI - the deserts look amazing but are just so-so. The food is not great. Be prepared for that if you go. Otherwise, the place is amazing.

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued...

The following pics are all taken BEFORE you get to the main exhibits.






Then, you are taken into a theater where you watch a wonderful making-of film. Next... on to the dining hall.....

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

The dining hall:



After this, the space opened up to a massive room with tons of different sets.

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

The first thing I noticed was the music section. I had just seen John Williams in person at the Star Wars Celebration in May (had front row for that!). I love him so much. Pic of him and Harrison Ford from Celebration -- then plaque at Warner Bros studios.



Then, the Yule Ball:



The "real" Leaky Cauldron:



Umbridge's notices:

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

Stairs..



Harry & Ron's room:







Potions room... heard several folks say "awwwww" when they saw the costume for Snape:







Don't touch this port key!



Dumbledore's office:

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

Wonder what Davy is seeing while looking into Mirror of Esired.....



Gryffindor common room (side note: Davy and I were both Ravenclaw for many years.... a year ago or so, he switched to Gryffindor. Whatevs....









Various pics.

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

The Ministry of Magic. Davy really wants this to be a new area at Universal one of these days....



Platform 9 3/4ths:



And, inside Hogwarts Express:

 

[angryduck71]

Day 5 continued

Some books and Dumbledore’s will:





Outside exhibits were fun:





There was a special creature exhibit (not sure if it's always here?):

Tribute to Warwick Davis: