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! 

Half Term

In my last post I mentioned that this week would be half term, and all the students are granted a reading week to study, which is mostly just used to travel. So, for the past eight days I was in Central London with my mom, dad, and twin sister. I still can't believe my family came to London! It seems so unreal that I got to see them during my semester abroad. I find myself incredibly lucky. 

Unfortunately, the hotel we stayed in did not have free wifi, so I haven't been able to share all of the things we've been up to. I'll do so in a series of posts this week because there is just so much to say about this past week in one post today.

Day 1: Sunday, October 28

Taking the 'tube' into London

I woke up early from a near sleepless night. I was so excited to greet my family at the airport! I hopped on the X26 bus to Heathrow with my backpack packed for staying at the hotel with my family. The bus ride was longer than I expected, so I was getting nervous. Well, more nervous than I already was. finally, when I arrived at Heathrow airport, I jumped off the bus and headed to... wait... I didn't know where to go. I asked a worker where to find my family's Delta flight and he directed me to terminal 5, but I was in terminal 1. After much confusion, and a lot of backtracking, I got to the correct terminal about thirty minutes before my family arrived. I stood there waiting with a giant grin! I was prepared to see them by wearing my bright red sweater so I would be the first person they see after walking into the terminal. Except, just as I settled myself outside the arrivals door, a large group of teenage girls walked through... all in bright red hoodies. Uh oh! Now my family had nearly 40 red sweaters to look at! I watched intently for them to come through, but never saw them walk out after their plane had landed. Finally, I see my sister running towards me past the group of red-sweatered girls. At least they found me! I rushed to hug my sister and walked back to my parents. We hugged and said hello, but we all really wanted to get to the hotel. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't check into the hotel for a few hours, so we decided to leave our luggage and head into the big city - Central London. It took us about 45 minutes to an hour to get to Westminster tube station, and I think my dad may have fallen asleep on the tube at one point. I tried to stay upbeat while my sleepy family got to look at all the things they've only seen in pictures and postcards. I took them to see Big Ben and the houses of Parliament, then we walked through Leicester Square to Covent Garden where we saw a large number of brilliant street-performers. After Covent Garden we went to Kings Cross, so they could get their pictures with Platform 9 and 3/4. It was dark by this time so we searched for a place to eat, but the best we could find was a Subway. After arriving at the hotel late that night, my family and I crashed. It was a much needed sleep. 

Street performer in Covent Garden

Also, today is Guy Fawkes or Bonfire night. I'm hoping to see some fireworks or a bonfire tonight!! I'm not used to seeing fireworks in November, but I've seen a few private displays this week already and I've been just loving it! And really good fireworks are sold here.