Busy, Busy, Busy

Half-term Day 4:

On top of St. Paul's Cathedral

On the fourth day of Half term (October 31st) my family and I had tickets to tour Leavesden Studios, where pieces of the Harry Potter films were shot. Our tour wasn't until late, so we decided to tour St. Pauls Cathedral first. 

St. Pauls was stunning! The cathedral was very open and bright (due to crystal windows rather than stained glass ones). We had a tour guide show us around the cathedral and he did a very good job with his audience. Our guide showed us the different chapels and memorial statues. I liked best the choir chamber with the organ. A stained glass window was opposite the large organ and it was quite beautiful. Next our guide took us to the crypts and showed us the graves of famous architects, writers, painters, etc. The crypts were cool, but it was so hot down there I got sleepy. I almost didn't want to climb the stairs to the whispering gallery, but my parents convinced me to do so. I climbed over 200 steps to the whispering gallery, the first balcony on the huge cathedral dome. It was so cool to see the dome's paintings up close and to look down at the people in the chapel. I wanted to go even higher!! My sister and I climbed to the next balcony outside and got some good views, but the railing was so high, it was really poor for photos. We then climbed up the narrow stairs and had to duck and squeeze ourselves into small passageways going up to the topmost balcony of the dome. It was really windy, but the view was spectacular and we were able to get some really great shots. After walking back down all those stairs, I thought I would be sore and tired, but I really felt great! I would certainly do that again. 

A Magnificent view!

After St. Paul's Cathedral, we made our way to Leavesden Studios It took us over an hour to get to the studios and it was dark by the time we arrived. We started out in the gift shop awaiting our tour, but I was itching to get started, so we snuck in with an earlier group. The Harry Potter Studios was amazing! We toured the great hall first and made our way out to view the different sets. We saw the wigs and costumes of the characters along with different sets such as Hagrid's Hut, the potions room, Umbridge's office (VERY pink), and my favorite - the burrow, where we could even control things around the house electronically. Next we made our way outdoors and saw the Knight bus, Weasley's flying car, and the Dursley's house. We even got to try some butterbeer, which I LOVED! Too bad its not widely sold. Next we went into the creature room, and this was my favorite room of all. This room displayed all the heads and animatronics used for the different creatures used in the films. The giant Aragog was hanging from the ceiling and I saw the basilisk skeleton as well. I especially liked seeing Buckbeak, the hippogriff. The animatronics were going as well, so I got to see him move! Another fascinating thing was the werewolf which Lupin turned into. It was originally designed as a pack strapped on to the actors back and the wolf head hovering overhead. The boots designed as the wolves feet were extremely angled and looked uncomfortable. I find this behind-the-scenes stuff fascinating!!

The Burrow

Kristi and I in Weasley's flying car

And  now, since were going on about how busy I've been. This past Tuesday night (November 6th) I went to see the musical Wicked. I had only an inkling what the musical was about, so I made sure I had no expectations going in to see  it. I'm SO glad I did see it though. It was the most amazing performance I've ever witnessed. The singing and acting was great. And the musical itself was brilliant. I hope everyone gets a chance to see this at some point. Its funny and heart-breaking at the same time. Such a great musical!