Hogwarts

Hey guys, I took a trip to Hogwarts! Kind of. I apologize ahead of time for my Harry Potter jokes.

My journey to Hogwarts. It all started with a 9 a.m. walk from Regent's to Euston Station. At Euston Station, a group of eight friends and I took the 15 minute Hogwarts Express train from Platform 9 3/4 to Watford Junction, then the Knight Bus (shuttle) to the studio. When we arrived at the studio, I was amazed at how big it was! Like it's own little warehouse town. It makes sense, though, because when they filmed the movies, they must have needed a lot of room for the different sets, props, and crew.

We waited in a long twisting queue (line) to get into the studio tour. It was a busy day for little English school fielld trips! I may or may not have eavesdropped on the kids speaking in their cute little accents. Once all nine of us shuffled in, we were put in a sound proof room with TVs lining the walls. They showed us a short video on how the adaption of the Harry Potter stories started. Apparently, the script writers saw the potential in Harry Potter before it became a popular book.

Then, we were shuffled again into a larger room with a big Imax looking screen and comfy seats. I actually fell into mine because it was more of a cushion than we have in movie theaters in the states. Then, the tour guide told us to put our seat belts on. I got nervous because I couldn't find mine, someone then explained it was a joke... oop! In the theater, we watched a more in depth introduction of what it was like on the set of Harry Potter. The last scene was Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in front of the Great Hall doors telling us to enjoy the tour. They disappeared behind the doors, the Imax screen went up, and there were the actual Great Hall doors! We all jumped out of our seats and rushed to be in the front of the crowd. They invited the people celebrating birthdays to come to the front and open the doors, buncha liars.

The doors opened to the Great Hall set. The Great Hall is where all four houses of Hogwarts ate while the professors lined up in the front. On the set, they had two out of the four rows of tables so that we could easily walk in the middle of the set. The tables were set as if they were going to have a meal, while robes from each house were displayed around the hall. At the front, they had the costumes of many of the professors, Dumbledore included!

After the Great Hall, we were free to roam the big open room containing partial sets and important props. This is where the warehouse type feel came into play. they were set up in sections that you could go around to each one and observe.

After the spacious room, you could go outside and see the bigger iconic sets. Outside was the flying car, Knight bus, Potter's cottage, those big chess pieces, and 4 privet drive. This is also where you could get Butter Beer! It tasted like butterscotch and was really sweet.

After the outside section, you could go into the next and last building of the tour. The first room was full of the creatures they used in the films, and all about how they made it happen. THEY HAD A REAL LIVE BUCKBEAK. He was only featured in about 10 seconds of the movie because he was built to lay down. They also had the Hagrid head. Did you know Hagrid wasn't real? Could've fooled me! His head was on a platform and moved very human like. One of Doby's heads was also displayed in this section.

Next up, Diagon Alley! The full set had every shop the movies used in the film, but the rest was green screened. The stores were all so detailed; very well done!

After Diagon Alley, we walked into the White Room. It was modeled after the drawing room where the artists designed what the sets would look like. This room also had scales of many important sets from the movies. An informational video explained how they went about designing the ins and outs of the sets.

After the White Room, you turn the corner, and there's Hogwarts! It was a scaled replica of the Hogwarts castle and grounds, and it was simply amazing. Every inch of the castle has such detail and architecture. The pathway went all the way around the castle and sloped down to the bottom floor. The lights changed slowly to represent day and night in which there were lights inside the castle at night.

The last but not least room was the room of wands. There were 7,000 wand boxes labeled with names in which each was someone who worked on the film in some way or another. The famous actors were mixed in with the rest of the crew. They say it was like one big family on set. Wish I could be in Rupert Grint's family!

Thanks for reading!

Stonehenge and Bath

Hey there! On my first free weekend at Regent's, I went on a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. When I first tried to buy a ticket a few days prior, they were all sold out and I was really bummed. Luckily, we have a great Student Services department that managed to get another small bus last minute. When I saw the flyer posted saying there were a few more seats available, I pretty much ran to my laptop. The trip was £29 (about $45) which included entrance to Stonehenge, entrance to the Roman Baths, the tour bus and tour guide commentary. The trip began by meeting at the Regent's College entrance at 8 a.m. to board the doubledecker bus. Of course, I was one of the last people in line. Whoops! So, of course I got the bad seat squished in the back row. Less room and longer legs, not a good combo. Especially when the girl in front of me reclined her seat. Let's just say I could smell her shampoo she used that morning.

First stop, Stonehenge! It was a two hour ride from Regent's to Stonehenge. So basically, a two hour nap. It was a beautiful ride, though. It was my first time really seeing the English country side full of rolling green hills and farm land. A little about Stonehenge: Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in the English county of Wiltshire. It is a ring of standing stones forming a circle. There are many different myths as to what it was used for. The easiest to understand is that it was used to tell time by the shadows it left. There are also remnants of ancient burial grounds, believed to be constructed as early as 3000 B.C. Wouldn't it be bad if I pushed them over?

The thing that surprised me the most about Stonehenge is that I didn't realize how big the stones were. They're over 4 meters tall and weigh over 150 tons! No wonder it's a mystery how the ancient people moved and formed the towers. We spent an hour at Stonehenge walking around the outer circle path taking pictures from every angle possible, along with the essential selfies.

Roaming sheep just outside of Stonehenge.

Next stop, Bath! It was an hour ride from Stonehenge to Bath, then a ride around town with the tour guide pointing out some destinations we could check out on our free time if we wanted. We were dropped off and headed into the Roman Baths. A little about the Roman Baths: The temple was originally built around 60 A.D. It has been destroyed and rebuilt within the last 2000 years, but there are still remnants of the originally structure. The bath was once simply where people came to wash themselves and socialize until it was abandoned years later. There's a story about a man who was exiled from his village because of a disease and was sentenced to Bath. He would bring his sheep to the bath for a drink, but soon realized the water had a healing effect on them. He started to bathe in the water until he was cured of the disease. Word got out and people from all over started coming to the Roman Baths again.

The Roman Baths and Bath Abbey in the background.

The Roman Baths were absolutely beautiful. They've done a great job maintaining the original structure; it was really cool to know you were walking on the original 2,000 year old stone. The tour started on the top deck of the original bath where there were statues overlooking the healing waters. 

After the top deck, we made our way through the museum part of the tour. They had so many artifacts ranging from things related to daily life in the Roman times to the original structure that had been destroyed many times. 

Next, we were able to go out onto the lower platform to the bath, where people would step into the water. From here, you were able to see the steam coming off the warm water, like an all natural hot tub. From here, there was also another warm bath and a cold bath used like a wishing well. 

 The Roman Baths.

The Roman Baths.

 A smaller warm bath.

Wishing well!

At the end of the tour, they had the option to let you taste a filtered version of the bath water. I didn't drink  it, but it smelled like my water at home. Nice one, well water! After the Roman Baths, a group of friends and I went to explore the city. It was beautiful because they have laws in place that prevent people from changing the look of the 18th century buildings. I felt like Jane Austen taking a walk through town on the cobblestone roads and detailed architecture. 

We were all getting hungry, so we went into a small take away (to go) restaurant with a line out the door. Must be good! I had a ham and cheese panini which was delicious. We went in a few cute stores including a milkshake place where you can combine almost any flavor into a milkshake, so cool! Next, we went to find the Assembly Rooms. 

These rooms are where they used to have matchmaking parties. Groups of unmarried men would host a party and invite all the unmarried women in town in order to find a wife. The parties could get as big as 600 or 700 attendees. Bath is also where Jane Austen lived for the majority of time she wrote her novels. It's neat to think these rooms were talked about in her stories. It was £2 admission to get into the Assembly Rooms, which was quite expensive since they were just rooms with no informational guides whatsoever. What surprised me about the rooms were how small they were, to fit over 600 people. 

We explored Bath a little more after the Assembly Rooms by going into a few stores. There was an antique store that put American antiques to shame. The store had thousands of items with history older than the United States. We checked out an indoor market, too. Vendors were selling tapestries and all sorts of knick knacks. We tired to get into Bath Abbey, a beautiful church with stairs to the top of the tower, but it was closed for Saturday mass. We also tried to get a Bath Bun (Sally Lunn Bun). Bath Buns are like a big roll with different flavored glazes and sugar in the middle of the bun. The line was out the door and you needed to have table service for a glazed bun, but they did sell regular ones in their gift store. 

The Sally Lunn House.

 Ye Old Water Fountain in front of Bath Abbey.

 Bath Abbey looking down on me.

 Beautiful architecture.

 The streets of Bath.

Covered Bridge. 

We then boarded the bus for a three hour ride back to London. Fortunately, someone took my back of the bus seat, so I was forced to get one of the best seats on the bus. I sat in the second row on the top of the double decker. It was like a panoramic view of where ever the bus was facing. Beautiful for cruising the country side! The closer we got to London, the more it reminded me of my rides from Tiverton back to Boston. From a small town to the skyline and craziness of a big city. Well, that was my day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Thanks for reading!