We thought we would want to sleep in a bit on vacation but once we got to London we realized we didn't want to waste any time! There was just so much to see and do.
After another delicious breakfast we headed down the street on a lovely walk to the Churchill War Rooms. It was like stepping back in time. Everything was preserved as it had been used during the war and the blitz. I have always loved studying World War 2 and Mark loves it even more than me. He knows so much about Churchill and was so excited to walk where he walked and see what it was like. It is incredible what London endured during the blitz and what a leader Churchill was! There were actual sound bytes playing from back in the 40's of secretaries and officers and even Churchill himself and every so often some songs from the 40's played. I loved every minute of it...I felt so a part of history. We took our time, listened to as many stories we could and soaked it all in. It was humbling to be there and realize the sacrifices that had to be made to keep the Germans from taking over their little island. We bought a souvenir bag that has the famous quote from Churchill "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." He was ornery and stubborn and knew what he wanted...which honestly, was not such a bad thing.
You can't see it in the picture but back in the 40's, an officer drew a funny cartoon of Hitler on this map that they used to strategize.
May be a bit small for a kitchen but I love the vintage appliances and utensils, etc!
The nicest part was that we got there about 5 minutes after it opened so there was no line, there were not many people down in the bunkers and when we left the line was out the door just to get in. Win! In the gift shop Mark bought me the coolest apron. It has this on it:
It is my favorite apron to date, mostly because Mark loved it so much and wanted me to have it.
As we left CWR and Whitehall, we headed down Pall Mall for another picture or two in front of Buckingham palace. I mean, Buck House was right down the street from our hotel and I just couldn't get enough of it!
And here is part of the Diana Memorial Walk...man she was a neat lady.
Then we headed to Victoria Station to meet up for our next tour at 1:00 pm: Harry Potter Studios! First we had some lunch at the train station after a crazy bathroom quest and only finding locked bathrooms or bathrooms under service. But once we were full, and empty, we found our tour bus. It was a double decker bus and on the drive to the Warner Brothers studio, we watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.
Once we got to the place, we were on our own which was nice. There wasn't a tour guide and we could take the studio at our own pace. We went through security, waited in line for just a bit and then were ushered in to watch a video of grown up Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint talk about how this was home to them for all those years of filming. Behind them on screen were the giant doors in Hogwarts that lead in to the great hall...and as they went through them, the screen lifted up and behind it were the actual doors! It sent chills up my neck. We walked through the doors and were in the great hall. I mean, I couldn't believe it. Mark and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans so to be where it was all filmed was almost too much.
This was in the line as we waited to go in!
When I see these statues I can't help but think when Professor McGonagall says "I've always wanted to use that spell!" as they jump down to protect Hogwarts
We saw every prop used, saw special effects in play, walked through privet drive, diagon alley, stood on the train on platform 9 3/4, and right by the giant chess pieces. We talked to as many staff members as we could and learned so many cool facts! They loved being talked to and I am guessing not too many people are as folksy as Mark likes to be. One staff member brought out the actual diary that Harry stabbed in the Chamber of secrets and showed us the vial of ink that was in the back that Daniel Radcliffe has to break to get that spilling out effect. We learned about how JK Rowling had to tell Alan Rickman the entire ending of the series before they were even written just so he would accept the role as Snape since he didn't want to be a villain. And for all the movies, he knew the ending but no one else did! We learned that diagon alley and hogsmeade are the SAME set...hogsmeade just always has snow on it so you can't tell.
Mirror of Erised
Potion class
Goblet of fire and the golden egg clue
Dumbledore's office was awesome! I just wanted to climb the ropes and play with everything
Horcruxes
Mark calls this a human grilled cheese
Halfway through the studios we had some butterbeer and butterbeer ice cream. Yummm-yyy!
The foam on top of the drink was the best part but the ice cream was a close second
Picking his wand
And then as we rounded the last corner, with epic music playing, we saw the "miniaturized" castle they built for the outside shots and aerial views. Oh. My. Word. I got teary eyed! It was actually magical! Even took our breath away. I couldn't narrow these pictures down because none of them do it justice!
We had lots of fun in the gift shop buying things for the kids like books, chocolate frogs, figurines and lollipops and of course Bertie Botts every flavor jelly beans! We loaded the bus at 6:30 and were back at Victoria Station by 7:30.
We took a leisurely walk home, again by Buckingham palace, which is beautiful at night and crashed at the hotel.
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