Day 6.
London, Thursday June 19, 2014
We try to make an early go of things. But with four kids things can get hairy. We head out and make our way to Baker Street. It's where the Sherlock Holmes museum and store is located. Naomi flips and starts acting like a real teenager. We get a couple of souvenirs and make our way to the tube. Our 24 hour bus tour ended at 11:40 and we needed to make our way to Victoria Station.
I study the map and proceed to follow my instincts. When Marc starts second guessing me I know I have to put an end to it. It's almost 24 hours of questioning my knowledge of navigating busses, trains, and now the tube. Granted, I do not have prior experiences here, however, I have lived in major cities with decent public transport. So I remind him of this little tidbit and we manage to get ourselves to Victoria in no time at all.
We stop for lunch at The Shakespeare. The service was not the best. The food was not the best. I seem to be the only one sticking to a chicken and potato diet. I am craving a spinach salad. And maybe less salt added to everything. No one enjoyed their burger. I take a bite. I almost spit it out. I have no idea what spice or flavoring they added but it made my mouth pucker and eyes slightly tear. Marc found humor in it. He said, "I told you. The food is bad here."
We walk around a bit to kill some time. We have a 2:30 tour scheduled and the kids are dying to know what it is. This was the only tour I left as a surprise. They tried to guess and I didn't twitch a facial muscle for any of their suppositions.
We walk from Victoria Station to Victoria Coach Station. And I try to remind myself to take video of Naomi's and Brendan's reactions. Alora has again fallen asleep. It may be her 3rd nap of the day and it isn't even 2pm.
We find our way to our terminal and for the love of God and all that is holy will you look at the pigeons walking around the inside of the station!!! I'm certain that all color has drained from my face. My palms begin sweating and I find a seat as far away from them as possible.
It does me no good. There are several of them and they are fearless. I use Brendan as a shield and I'm not ashamed to admit it. My fear of birds began when I was about 5 and my aunt made me watch the Hitchcock film. I made my older two children watch it once. Brendan can empathize. Naomi is now afraid of them as well. Yes, I have a lot of fears and phobias. I like to think of them a part of my charm.
I think we can make it just before loading without them finding out what we are doing. I should have known better. There's a woman, a 40+ year old woman, who is yapping away about how much Harry Potter means to her and how it changed her life.
I completely feel the same way but thanks for ruining my surprise for my kids. I didn't even have time to open the camera app on my phone.
Naomi now has tears in her eyes and Brendan is showing more excitement than he has since we left Rome. Aidan is near to spazzing out. My heart swells with pride. It was the reaction I was hoping for. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's like the Sistine Chapel for teens.
After a 90 min drive to Warner Bros Studio we finally arrive at what I think will be the climax of the trip for them.
The walls to the entrance are lined with early photos of the cast members and replicas of props. Inside we get to see the real deal. Everything in here were actual sets, costumes, and props.
We meet in a room for a little bit of early Harry Potter history. We then file into a theatre where we see behind the scenes magic. The screen lifts and the door to Hogwarts lies in wait.
The door opens and we are in the Great Hall. All that is missing is the ceiling which I believe was CGI'd. I hear nothing else from our guide. I have been transported to a place where magic exists. I halfway expected the Sorting Hat to appear and tell me where I belong. It has been 15 minutes and my mind has officially been blown.
We walk through a doorway and find ourselves face to face with various rooms filled with sets and props. Potions Class. Harry's bedroom. Dumbledore's room. Hagrid's hut.
Each piece was carefully removed and placed back in its original spot on this lot. It's a hot set which means they are ready to shoot if necessary. I can't think of a more wondrous place for my family to be right now. It's that same feeling I get when I ride the boat at It's A Small World. A little piece of me is filled with hope and joy. For a small moment it's possible that we can achieve world peace. That cancer can be cured. CF will no longer be a death sentence for young children. And all of these feelings I have stirring inside of me is made possible through the imagination of one J.K. Rowling. Unbelievable.
We make our way through the room collecting stamps in our "passport." Alora's and Naomi's get filled. The boys are missing one or two. The excitement is evident.
We exit Studio J. It's a bit chilly out. I'm a little hungry. I grab a tuna sandwich and send the others to line up for the butterbeer. I remind someone no cream for Alora.
I take my sandwich and swap out bread slices. Aidan takes half and we sit together, drinking butterbeer and discussing our favorite parts so far.
We head into Studio K (were you paying attention the the name of the first studio? Clever, clever.) and I am about to lose my mind. Haha suckers. I'm in Diagon Alley!! Seriously!!! I no longer feel like I'm such a cool mom for planning this part of vacation for my kids. I feel like I'm a cool person who did something nice for herself.
Just when I think I've hit the mother load of coolness we round the corner to see a scaled down full display of Hogwarts. It's amazing. I would be lying if I said I didn't have tears in my eyes. Magical, simply magical. We all take a moment and let it sink in.
As we come down and around the walkway we enter Olivander's. 37,000 boxes of wands, each one was handwritten and contain the names of everyone who worked on the films. I looked for my name certain that at least one Cecily worked on one of the eight films. No such luck. Then again, my eyes can only travel so high.
The whole day is like a whirlwind. But a magical whirlwind. Although Alora will never remember this she will have the pictures and know that one day, when she can appreciate it, we shall return.
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