Trip Diary: Exploring the Movies of London

Today’s theme was definitely movies! It was all about the movies of London as I adventured around on my first solo trip to Europe. So without further ago: Lights, camera, London!

Don’t miss: My itinerary for how to spend 3 days in London!

To start the day off, I took the tube to Notting Hill and strolled through the Portobello Rd. Market. I had a pretty early start (can you believe it was before 10?) and was visiting on a weekday so the market wasn’t as busy as it’s famous Saturday afternoons, but I got a good feel for it.

Notting Hill is such a cute community. The main streets are filled with vintage shops, bakeries, fresh fruit stalls and antique stores.  All the homes are colourful.  It’s kind of got a Haight-Ashbury, SF feel to it – except cuter because it’s English!

And, of course, no trip to Notting Hill is complete without a stop at the Travel Bookstore from the movie! After much searching, I finally found it and stepped in the very place Hugh Grant was starstruck by Julia Roberts! I tried to find the blue door but I read that the owners had painted over it so I didn’t have much hope.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch Notting Hill.  Now.

After Notting Hill, I started my long trek to Watford Junction where I rode a double-decker bus to…. The Warner Brothers London Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter! Walking into the main entrance was one of the most magical moments.  The room is full of fans running around and the walls are lined with huge portraits.  I was pretty much beaming from that point in.

And the tour did not disappoint! I could die happy after having seen all of that! It starts off with an intro video from Dan, Emma and Rupert.  At the end of the video, they open the doors to the Great Hall and walk in.  And then the screen lifts up and there, right in front of me in real life, were the actual doors to the Great Hall!

It was literally breathtaking! The entire audience was amazed and I had goosebumps! I got to walk through the doors of the Great Hall and walk down the path where Harry got sorted into Gryffindor, Prof. Quirrel screamed about a troll in the dungeon and Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix! I basically nerd-ed out from that point on, but so did everyone else!

From the Great Hall we moved into a big soundstage where I got to see costumes, props and sets.  Most notably: the Gryffindor Commonroom, The Burrow, Hagrid’s Hut, The Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore’s Office etc. etc. I was so amazed by how much stuff there was to see! I guess 8 movies worth of stuff can easily fill a room.

It was just so cool that I was looking at the actual sets and props and costumes! And everything was so detailed.  Parts you can’t even see in the films are intricately hand-crafted like murals in the Great Hall and wand boxes at Ollivanders. (I will be posting an album on Facebook of just Harry Potter tour pics.  Get excited!)

After spending a good hour in that room, I ventured outside and bought BUTTERBEER! And it was delicious! I also took my photo in front of a certain despicable muggle house, and saw the knight bus, the Potter’s home, the Hogwarts Bridge, the flying car and the chess pieces! And magically enough – it was gorgeous and sunny outside!

From there, I went into another sound stage to see the most intense make-up/creature pieces. I got to see all of the monsters: trolls, goblins, werewolves, mermaids, etc. It was incredible to see how detailed and life-like they were! Then I got to walk down Diagon Alley! SO COOL!

The next room had a bunch of artwork from the films.  All of the blue prints and scale models that went into creating things like The 3 Broomsticks and The Burrow.  There were beautifully painted pieces by concept artists as well.  I was tempted to buy some at the giftshop but seeing as they started at over 200 pounds…

Lastly, I got to see the amazing Hogwarts castle model.  It’s a huge piece of art that sits in the middle of the room.  It’s actually breathtaking and I didn’t want to leave.  Sadly, the tour was over.  I was very tempted to buy out the whole giftshop but my tight budget and inability to carry a lot home in my backpack stopped me.

Still on my Harry Potter kick I took the train to King’s Cross Station and got my picture at Platfrom 9 and 3/4! It’s a bit of a let down but I appreciated the photo opp.

Next: Trafalgar Square! I visited the National Portrait Museum.  It wasn’t terribly exciting but it was free and they had cool things going on like live music and a drawing class.  I walked around the square, watched street performers and listened to a youth choir.

I also found the M&M Store! I know they have one in Vegas but I couldn’t believe how insane the place was! There were 4 floors! Of course, I had to buy some cool coloured M&Ms!  For dinner I got bad Chinese food from a street vendor (no worries, I secretly love bad Chinese food).

After dinner I headed to the Garrick Theatre to watch Chicago! Unlike last night’s show, this one was indoors! Also, they had a student discount so I got an amazing seat for only 20 pounds! The show was great! Awesome talent and very cool staging with the band front and centre. It was cool seeing one of my favourite musical movies in its original musical form! And the hot English boyfriend from Smash was the leading man.

I might have a theatre-addiction problem as I bought a cheap ticket for The Wizard of Oz on Sunday, I’m seeing a comedy show at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Monday and I’m seriously considering looking into rush tickets for Wicked tomorrow night…

All in all, my second day in London was busy but awesome! I loved exploring the movies of London and getting to know the city better. I can’t wait for tomorrow: with any luck I will have a very blurry, zoomed in photo of the Queen!