So it's Day Five in London and we finally get to see Simran today.
We skipped the bacon sandwich and met Simran outside the London Bridge tube station. The kids ran up and gave her a hug while Jo and I restrained ourselves to "air hugs" and we then wandered for a couple of hours through the most amazing Borough's Market. I could have eaten *everything*. Vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, meats, fish, bread, wines and beer, fruits. I'd rather shop here than Whole Foods any day. I bought myself some mushroom pate and excellent bread and munched my way through the market.
Then we walked for a few minutes to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen where we fed our faces with burgers and fries and very nice shakes to recover from the walk. Followed by another walk up London bridge along the Thames Path to the London Tower where we arrived famished and replenished ourselves with Ben and Jerry's ice creams. Along the way we played "I spy". I suck at it. But it passes the time and stops Evan from asking me to carry him on my shoulders. Though it does make us look like a shifty eyed bunch as we suspiciously scan everything around us to find the object of the game, as you can see in these photos.
It was impossible to get Evan to pose for a photo - either he covers his face and darts away or he makes a gross/funny face. We didn't have time to take a Tower of London tour because we had tickets for a 5:30pm start at the Warner Brothers studio in Watford. Busy sightseers today.
So Simran went back to her studies and we caught the tube to Euston and then a train to Watford Junction, and finally a double decker shuttle bus to the studios. This is where most of all eight Harry Potter movies were made. It isn't a theme park or a Universal Studios type thing. It's more a museum of the artifacts and sets and costumes and creatures and models made for the movies. The cast members, especially the three main kids, Harry, Ron and Hermione lived and worked and studied here for 10 years - from their preteens till they were past 20. Vivian is into Harry Potter and Evan has been dragged along though he's probably a bit young for it. Everyone else there are grown-ups. People who probably grew up reading Potter at the times of their lives when they were younger but not any more.
In the picture where Evan appears to be sitting in a train, the window has been replaced by a screen and it is playing what you'd expect to see outside the Hogwarts Express as it wound it's way through Scotland. Then the dementors appear and frost freezes on the window and Harry faints. That's Vivian's head towards the bottom of the picture as she pretends to faint.
The place was pretty amazing. With full sized versions of the entrance to Hogwarts, the great hall, and platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross. The locomotive and two carriages used to shoot the movie were moved here a few months ago. The kids attended spells classes, walked through the night bus and sat on Hagrid's motor bike. They also had movies made of them on mechanical brooms in a green screen and backgrounds were added in later. I'll add a clip or two from there when I get back to Austin.
By the time we made our way back to our hotel, it was another long fun filled day and a late night.
We skipped the bacon sandwich and met Simran outside the London Bridge tube station. The kids ran up and gave her a hug while Jo and I restrained ourselves to "air hugs" and we then wandered for a couple of hours through the most amazing Borough's Market. I could have eaten *everything*. Vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, meats, fish, bread, wines and beer, fruits. I'd rather shop here than Whole Foods any day. I bought myself some mushroom pate and excellent bread and munched my way through the market.
Then we walked for a few minutes to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen where we fed our faces with burgers and fries and very nice shakes to recover from the walk. Followed by another walk up London bridge along the Thames Path to the London Tower where we arrived famished and replenished ourselves with Ben and Jerry's ice creams. Along the way we played "I spy". I suck at it. But it passes the time and stops Evan from asking me to carry him on my shoulders. Though it does make us look like a shifty eyed bunch as we suspiciously scan everything around us to find the object of the game, as you can see in these photos.
So Simran went back to her studies and we caught the tube to Euston and then a train to Watford Junction, and finally a double decker shuttle bus to the studios. This is where most of all eight Harry Potter movies were made. It isn't a theme park or a Universal Studios type thing. It's more a museum of the artifacts and sets and costumes and creatures and models made for the movies. The cast members, especially the three main kids, Harry, Ron and Hermione lived and worked and studied here for 10 years - from their preteens till they were past 20. Vivian is into Harry Potter and Evan has been dragged along though he's probably a bit young for it. Everyone else there are grown-ups. People who probably grew up reading Potter at the times of their lives when they were younger but not any more.
In the picture where Evan appears to be sitting in a train, the window has been replaced by a screen and it is playing what you'd expect to see outside the Hogwarts Express as it wound it's way through Scotland. Then the dementors appear and frost freezes on the window and Harry faints. That's Vivian's head towards the bottom of the picture as she pretends to faint.
The place was pretty amazing. With full sized versions of the entrance to Hogwarts, the great hall, and platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross. The locomotive and two carriages used to shoot the movie were moved here a few months ago. The kids attended spells classes, walked through the night bus and sat on Hagrid's motor bike. They also had movies made of them on mechanical brooms in a green screen and backgrounds were added in later. I'll add a clip or two from there when I get back to Austin.
By the time we made our way back to our hotel, it was another long fun filled day and a late night.
No comments:
Post a Comment