ABC = Ashleigh & Brett Campbell: London Day 6 April 12, 2012 Harry Potter Day

I like to say this day was themed Harry Potter and was another close favorite of mine. To give you a little background on the morning, Brett and I had to wake up early to catch our bus and the tube to get to Fountains Square off of Buckingham Palace Road. Brett wanted to leave at 7 a.m. and because I'm punctual and didn't have a great feeling about it, I persuaded with 6:45 a.m. Good thing we did because if we hadn't, we would have missed our coach bus to Leavensden. Here's the story! When we got off the tube station that Google Maps had stated, we both knew something was wrong. We began running at full speed in the rain after looking at the map and noticing that we were looking at a 15-20 minute walk. So we booked it along St. James Park trying to hail a taxi and all of them were full. After about five minutes, a black taxi finally pulled over and we got in. Of course there was traffic and I'm looking at my watch panicking because it was 7:45 and we were suppose to meet at 7:45. Finally, we arrive at our destination and while Brett pays the taxi driver, I see a cop and run over to him for the exact location. The cop tells me this is his first week on the job and that I am the fifth person to ask him. I thank him politely and start running while Brett follows me. People probably thought we were these crazy Americans! When my phone fell out of my jacket pocket and my shoe came untied, I think that was a blessing because when I picked it up, Brett noticed we were right outside the entrance. Brett and I ran inside and got in the check-in line as the last people. Both Brett and I were frazzled and irritated with one another, but after 15 minutes of sitting down we began laughing about it.
Despite that crazy beginning of our morning, the bus ride was a nice 70 minutes to the town of Leavensden which is where a lot of films are made. Warner Brother's bought studios J and K because they would be using them for 10 years for the Harry Potter series. With all the films complete, WB's decided to open up a studio tour with the sets, costumes, props, etc of the Harry Potter franchise. Because I am a huge Harry Potter fan (Brett too) this was so cool!
*If you are not a big HP fan, sorry to have so many pictures!

There it is, the Harry Potter Studio Tour (opened two weeks before)

Yes, the flying car

Voldemort or as I call him Volde

The Cupboard Under the Stairs (where it all began)

Entrance to the Great Hall

The Great Hall

The table is ready to go (basically known as a hot set)

Ravenclaw Robes

Slytherin Robes

Hufflepuff and yes, Cedric Diggory's outfit from the Triwizard Tournament

Crazy hair

Harry Potter's Year One costume

Actual costumes

We found the Golden Snitch

Yule Ball

Ron's Dress Robes

Wigs

Luna Lovegood's dresses

Gilderoy Lockhart

Gates into Hogwarts

Gryffindor Boys Dormitory

All the wands

The Mirror of Erastad

The Fat Lady

Gryffindor Common Room (Details are amazing)

Invisibility Cloak

Dumbledore's Office

The Pensieve

The Trophy (Port Key) and golden egg

Some of the littler props

Goblet of Fire

The harp that put Fluffy to sleep

Potions Classroom

Possibly the copy of the Half-Blood Prince's

Chamber of Secrets door

Hagrid's Hut

Gringotts Vault

The Moving Staircase

Broomsticks

Quidditch

The Muggle Statue

The Weasley's Kitchen

Dolores Umbridge's Office (so cool)

Ministry of Magic

Death Eaters

The Vanishing Cabinet

The Marauder's Map

Dumbledore's Will

The tapestry of the Black's family history

Butterbeer!!!

So excited!

Butterbeer Mustaches

The Knight Bus

The Riddle's Grave

Hogwart's Bridge

Privet Drive

The Potter house in Godric's Hallow

The Chess pieces

The Inferi

Bathilda Bagshot is pretty creepy

Goblins

Fawkes the Phoenix

Voldemort when he was the creepy fetus thing

Dobby

Aragog (ew)

Buckbeak

Walking into Diagon Alley (the best part)

Gringotts Bank

Ollivander's Wand Shop

Weasley's Joke Shop

The Scale Model of the Castle

4,000 wands all detailed and include names

After the Harry Potter tour, we went back to Central London and stopped by St. Paul's Cathedral. I thought St. Paul's was prettier inside compared to Westminster Abbey (also it was the place where Charles and Diana were married). Sorry, we couldn't take pictures inside to show how breathtaking it was. Brett and I had to climb 538 stairs to the top gallery. It was quite the trek up and when we got to stairs where you could see straight down with narrow passages, I had to constantly talk Brett through it (he's a little afraid of heights). There was one point where I looked at him and he was white as a ghost. I calmed him down of course and the blood returned to his face. When you make it to the top though, the view is worth the climb and narrow passages. We could see London very clearly and it was a beautiful sight to see.