There’s something absolutely magical about London. Admittedly, I was a little salty about going back to London at Christmas time after I found out the Tottenham Hotspur game was postponed until AFTER we left. I have no idea why … London is 100% my favorite city in the world. I could live there if someone would be willing to hire me and go through the whole visa process. Haha. Half-jokes. But here’s why.
Harry Potter Paradise
I’m not a Harry Potter fan. That’s an insult. I’m a die-hard mega fan who knows the most obscure pieces of trivia. I read the first four books by the age of nine and then waited for each subsequent book at midnight. I went to the premieres at midnight and had posters hanging on my wall. Harry Potter is the reason I’m an Anglophile. If you look at my previous posts from two years ago in London, it was a 12 year dream in the making.
The final Harry Potter book may have been released ten years ago (Cursed Child doesn’t count), but that doesn’t mean Harry Potter is any less alive. In fact, it’s more alive than ever. After going on our free walking tour in Paris through Sandeman’s, I looked up tours in London. I stumbled up a special three-day-only Harry Potter walking tour of London. Unlike the free tour, this one did cost money, but it wasn’t too expensive.
The Walking Tour
My parents and I met up with the tour near Westminster. The guide said the tour isn’t very long (it was decent, about 1.5-2 hours) because usually a lot of kids go on the tour. There wasn’t a single child. Well, one, but it was a baby being pushed in a stroller. It’s amazing to see how many adults are still so interested in Harry Potter … and have a house loyalty. (I’m a Ravenclaw.)
Unfortunately, the tour was only available for three days in December, but the guide hopes that they will be able to make it an all-year-round thing. We walked through downtown London seeing places that inspired JK Rowling (she worked in London when she wrote Harry Potter in the early 90s) and places that were used for filming. We saw the street that inspired Diagon Alley that is full of wacky and amazing shops and we went “diagonally” to Knockturn Alley, which was used in filming!
King’s Cross
When we arrived in London, we actually arrived at St. Pancras/King’s Cross. It had been such an infuriating morning with the Eurostar debacle (ugh) that I just wanted to put my things down. Luckily, at the end of our walking tour, the guide took us to King’s Cross. For those who don’t know, there’s a trolley at Platform 9 3/4 where you can take a picture. If you’re short on time, do not go here. It’s packed. We actually had to wait outside for a little bit until the line inside went down. Then they shuffle you along until you get to the front. It took probably about 30 minutes or so of waiting.
Once you get to the front, you can choose your scarf and take a picture. I put on a Ravenclaw scarf, picked up a wand, and took a picture. The good thing is, they take your picture for you, but they don’t care if your friends or family take a picture with another camera. Yay for free pictures.
That’s where the niceness ends. Then you walk into the gift shop next to it where they hideously overcharge for everything. I really wanted a niffler, but he cost 35 pounds, or about $50. No thank you. I was a bit salty after that.
Mina Lima
This is probably one of the lesser known Harry Potter gems, but it is amazing. Mina Lima is a designing duo that designs all the art work for the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies. Even the little things that you don’t even know are there. Their shop is right around the corner from the Cursed Child theater, so if you go to see the play, make sure to stop by the Mina Lima shop.
The shop is a quirky, four-story building. Each floor is filled with artwork from the movies. They have posters and post cards there pretty cheap, but then they have number prints which are more expensive, and premium prints which make a pretty big dent in your wallet. My parents probably thought I was crazy because I got a numbered print of a poster for the Quidditch World Cup from Goblet of Fire and some postcards with magazines that were designed for Fantastic Beasts. I could have done so much more damage.
Mina Lima are constantly updating their shop. I heard that they are going to update their shop again this year to coincide with the release of the new Fantastic Beasts movie this November!
A Rich History
I’m a huge history nerd. I especially love English history. I’ve read so many books about English history and have my eyes on a few more. (I also have a 1,000 page tome at home that I’m going to tackle this summer when I go home.) History is around everywhere you go in London, and a little beyond. Here’s what we did.
Hampton Court Palace
I wanted to go to Hampton Court Palace two years ago, but there’s just so much to do in London that we had to table it. When the Spurs game was postponed, I decided that we had to go there. My dad’s also been watching “The Tudors”, so he was more than willing to go here, too.
We took a train to Hampton Court Palace. It was super easy and drops you off right around the corner. We arrived right before it was about to open, so there wasn’t anyone crowding us. Hampton Court Palace was the main residence for Henry VIII. There are many different rooms to explore and recreate the experience as it was during Henry’s time. There’s the Great Hall that was designed by him and Anne Boleyn, there’s the place where he married Catherine Parr in a small ceremony, and so much more.
There’s also a section devoted to the Georgian kings and William III (who was one half of William and Mary). An audioguide helps to take you through the different parts of the palace. Sometimes there’s even a Henry VIII impersonator, but he wasn’t there when we were there.
Also, in December there’s an ice skating rink if it tickles your fancy to pay nearly as much for entrance to the palace as it is to skate for 45 minutes on a small rink.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle. Ugh. It’s amazing. It’s the Queen’s preferred residence over Buckingham. Buckingham is her work, Windsor is her relaxation. In the winter, the Queen is in Norfolk, but during much of the year, she spend a lot of time at Windsor. So, you are able to see the Queen’s residence while she is there. Sort of.
Of course, you don’t get to see her personal rooms, but there is still a lot of it to see. Unfortunately for us, we were on a tour that stopped at Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath, so we only had an hour or so to explore. It was a real shame because Windsor is absolutely amazing. The Queen has a large collection of art that is hanging on the walls. Queen Victoria also loved Windsor and has some influence on the decor. Pictures aren’t allowed, which was very disappointing because it was so breathtaking.
Windsor is also the site of the upcoming weddings. Prince Harry will marry the wrong American in May at St. George’s Chapel, and Princess Beatrice will also getting married there later this year. For this reason, it’s a pretty hot spot four tourists. St. George’s Chapel is also stunning, but once again no pictures. Henry VIII is buried in a very modest tomb in the middle of the floor. There’s also a small chapel for King George VI, the Queen Mum, and Princess Margaret. After watching “The Crown”, it really hit hard.
Windsor as a city is also very charming, but like I said, we had such a short time there. It was really a let down because I think I could have spent all day there! Windsor should definitely be on the top of your list, but be ready to go through tons of security.
(Non-Paid) Plug: I am in no way paid by Netflix, but if you are interested in the Royal Family, both “The Crown” and “The Royal House of Windsor” are great programs to learn more about them.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is an odd place. It’s not close to London by any means, and it is simply a pile of rocks. An amazing pile of rocks, but there is nothing else around there. Stonehenge is in the middle of pastures. I’m not joking. It’s actually surrounded by miles of grass fields. Also, the weather is insane. It was so cold and windy and apparently it’s like that for most of the year.
There are two ways to get up to the henge: walking or bus. As we didn’t want to get frostbite or be blown away, we took the bus. It’s a short ride, probably about five minutes or less. At the top, there is the world famous Stonehenge. You can walk around and see the rocks from different angles. I had to of course recreate the scene from Parks and Recreation where Andy “gets lost” on his way to work and ends up at Stonehenge.
… and that’s about it for Stonehenge.
Bath
Our final stop on our full day journey was to Bath. Bath is all the way out in the western part of the country. A good two hours away from London. It’s a fantastic place to see and I wish we had had more time.
The main site in Bath is the Roman Baths. Bath is built on hot springs. The Anglo-Saxons didn’t bathe, but when the Romans came, they were entranced by the springs and created the baths. Because those people didn’t bathe, when the Romans left, they just kind of left it alone. The baths are still in existence from their Roman times. Of course, some of the decorations and stone are gone but some have been preserved. Also, the baths are highly toxic because the water has been sitting there for two thousand years and Romans built everything with lead. Don’t fall in! You can taste some fresh water at the end. Mmm … minerals.
If you have time, there’s also a big abbey in Bath. We didn’t have time to go inside, but it’s very famous. On the outside of the building, there’s a message that told people to be holy or they wouldn’t get into heaven. We were told that to us, we can’t see it because we can read, but to the illiterate people of the past, it made so much sense to them.
Bath is a cute, quaint town (that is also home to famous people) that is worth your time!
The West End
If you don’t know, the West End if London’s equivalent of Broadway. I had checked a while before our trip to see if there were Cursed Child tickets. There were not. Since the Spurs game was postponed, we had more free time and I suggest we go see a play. But not any play, a musical. And not any musical, but the best Disney movie ever (no bias here): Aladdin.
I’m a huge Aladdin fan. I ran the Disney marathon last year as Jasmine and have a genie lamp tattoo on my shoulder. I’ve been dying to see the musical in New York and was taunted by it last summer since I was constantly passing it on my trip there. I finally had a chance to see it and my mom okayed it.
It was FANTASTIC. I was nervous that my dad was going to fall asleep. Nope. He loved it. My mom loved it. The genie was hilarious (and he is also the original genie from the Broadway version). The sets were gorgeous. When “A Whole New World” played, the audience was in awe of how the carpet was flying. (I have no idea and apparently everyone who works there has to sign a NDA saying they won’t divulge the secrets.) We definitely did not make a mistake in going to see this. It was probably better than Cursed Child because the plot isn’t ridiculous. Go see Aladdin. You won’t regret it.
Museums
London is full of museums. There are so many to see. I really wanted to go to the British Library because they have a Harry Potter exhibit right now, but tickets were sold out by the time I could look. We did check out two museums, though.
The National Gallery
The Nationally Gallery is a huge art museum that has art from all over Europe. The main thing I wanted to see was the Sunflowers by Van Gogh. I painted them when I was in fourth grade, so I have a soft spot. There are so many other famous paintings to see there. It’s like the Louvre, though. Don’t expect to see it all at one time.
The Victoria and Albert
I mainly wanted to see this one because I love Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (shout out to all my “Victoria” fans). This museum has absolutely nothing to do with them, but I had known that going in. This museum is devoted to design and fashion. The free exhibits cover everything from pre-history to the 20th century. It shows how people lives, how they decorated their houses, and what they wore. They also have some cool paid-for exhibits that I didn’t get to see, but would be cool. When I went there was a Winnie the Pooh exhibit, which also has a shirt from when Queen Elizabeth was just Princess Elizabeth. There was also a Balenciaga exhibit that I would have loved to see.
The Grand Finale
I love London so much. It’s also so sad for me to leave it. I live in Madrid and it pales in comparison (and I love Madrid). There couldn’t have been a better way to go out, though. London has a spectacular fireworks show on New Year’s at the London Eye along the Thames. They have tickets on sale in November to see the show in special locations, but I didn’t know that. Still, there are other places you can see them from and one was close to where we were staying.
We went to Vauxhall Bridge which offers a great view of the fireworks. Of course, it’s super crowded and people act like morons and try pushing bikes and babies through the crowd. Luckily, someone let me squish onto a railing to see the fireworks better because I’m super short and wouldn’t have seen them otherwise. They close the street off at 11:30 so people are all over the bridge.
The show lasts about 15 minutes. I was a little sad because I couldn’t hear Big Ben ringing. Big Ben won’t ring for four more years because he’s going under some big repairs right now and it was the last time he’ll ring until 2021. Still, is there a better way to ring in the New Year?
Time to Say Goodbye
If you didn’t get the idea, I absolutely love London. I could write so much stuff about London. I feel like a local maneuvering through the Underground and navigating the trains. London is such a magical city, from Harry Potter to Aladdin, it was a magic dream come true.
