Harry Potter in London! "--and they mean every flavor"

So I realize I've neglected this blog since May. But I feel good about that, I've been so busy with www.GallerybyLaura.com!

I have caught up on all my photo editing for the first time since my launch party! So I am taking this time to work on my personal blog before I shoot another wedding this Saturday!

Once I decided I was going to write about London, I knew I would have a whole blog dedicated to Harry Potter!! But now with my friend Mary going to the new Harry Potter theme park, I decided now is the time to post it....and be majorly jealous of her. (See last post if you are interested in hearing more about my time studying abroad in London.)

If you are not a Harry Potter fan, you can just put down your Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans and go sit in a corner and wait for the rest of us to finish being more awesome than you. 

If you are a Potter head, lumos your wand and read on!

Harry Potter in no way shape or form influenced my decision to choose London as my choice for study abroad. It was after I had already been planning my trip did I realize all the Harry Potter potential that London held, I did allow my little heart to flutter at the thought of maybe going to find a little space somewhere in between platforms 9 & 10 and staking out a photo-op at Kings Cross train station. Little did my heart know of the joys and wonders that England had in store for me!

Not only did I find the correct station and platform, it was labeled, with a luggage cart halfway disappeared into the wall! As much as England loves their Harry Potter, I felt this meant they also secretly loved me. It only got better from there!

Kings Cross Station where everyone boards the train to Hogwarts! 

(boo, except me, I'm a muggle.)

Before we go any further I feel the need to explain part of my extra special attachment to the Harry Potter books. (I'm sad to see that the collection of all 7 now costs a measly $50, I'm pretty sure I paid that much per book.) I must mention my status as a Hermione look-alike. Hermione is the beloved-brainy-bff of Harry Potter. And even before there was a movie, I felt a special kinship to the first heroine I'd ever known to sport such frizzy hair.

I was pegged as a Hermione Granger/Emma Watson doppelgänger by my driver's license photo, seen far right. Due to some excellent SC laws about driver's license renewal, I am still toting around a picture of myself as a 15 year old. I have watched as friend after friend passed around my license, blinked, stared, and then uttered "yup, Hermione." 

I bonded with her in my mind's eye long before she was ever brought to life in the movies. 

(Shout out to my mom for knitting me a Gryffindor scarf, so much more real than all the ones for sale!)

This is a house near our college that kind of reminded me, of what I imagine Harry Potter's aunt & uncle's house looked like, "number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging Surrey" before the movie went and depicted otherwise.

Whomping Willow perhaps?

I want to say this picture was taken before I knew about floo powder, port keys, and secret entrances into the Ministry of Magic, otherwise I would have been more careful! (I remember I was actually making a phone call to leave a message for some Greek friends I had in the States to see if they had any relatives I could visit for them in Greece. Never happened, had to wait 5 years to go to Greece.)

So of course if you want to see Harry Potter stuff, you must go to Oxford University. Much of the film sets were modeled after the grounds of Oxford, some of it was even filmed there. So my friend Bethany and I were on our way!

(Pretty sure, this room was not in the movie, but it had desks, so we had to pretend we were 

Hogwarts students!)

Quidditch lesson anyone?

And now for the mecca of all Potter Fans....The Great Hall! Which is Oxford's dining hall. 

And big BOOOOO it didn't happen! It was closed for a meeting the day we visited! I had to settle for purchasing a postcard of it, which I'm sure is in storage somewhere, so sorry no post. No one seemed to care when I complained to the people who took my money to not see the Great Hall. ugh!

These are the stairs that the "First Years" stand on with Professor McGonagall 

when they first arrive at Hogwarts. 

Ok, now back from Oxford, and visiting the London Zoo 

to see the scene where Dudley bangs on the snake's glass and Harry unknowingly 

makes the glass disappear, causing Dudley to fall in and get locked in the snake exhibit. 

Ok, but see, I have this theory, when Dudley fell through the glass, he fell into a small pond. The exhibit with the sign over it does not have water in it, but  an exhibit nearby does! So I think this is actually the exhibit used for filming, and someone who wasn't a true fan, hung the sign over the wrong one. Harumph!

So later on in our study abroad trip, ASA, arranged for us to take a tour of Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon & Stonehenge. (More on these places in a later blog.)

This was not supposed to be a Harry Potter sighting....

But at some point on the bus tour, the bus driver casually (casually?!?!) mentioned that the castle on our left was one of the castles used to base the design for Hogwarts. It took every ounce of restraint I had, not to fly to the front of the bus on my Nimbus 2000 and choke the driver while screaming for him to stop the bus. Hence the hurried sideways picture, as I was given no warning, that this (sarcasm alert) non-important landmark was approaching.

Whew, ok, I hope I didn't leave anything out! I will be sure to post it later if I forgot something. 

(Can I just say that I am exhausted? 

Googling all those Harry Potter terms to make sure I spelled them right....sheesh!)

Well then, there's nothing left to say but....

Mischief managed...

24th Bday: Vingt-Quatrième Anniversaire

So in honor of my one month anniversary of being 24, I will blog about my birthday! My day started out with me being left alone until noon, while my brother planned surprises. I was a little afraid he was planning a scavenger hunt for me to learn more about Limoges. Which quite possibly could have been the worst idea for a birthday present for me. If you have driven with me for more than 5 minutes, you already know that "me+maps=bad times".

But no it was not a scavenger hunt he was just doing some last minute shopping and I was happy to take my time sleeping in and getting dressed. 

Ok so 1st stop, lunch! I looked at the menu and saw a drink called "Cinderella" I thought this would be the perfect birthday drink. I was wrong. It was so the opposite of any of the words you would use to describe Cinderella. We poured it into my water glass because the original glass was too depressingly common. So anyway, it was actually more fun to talk about how sad my fancy drink was than to actually have a fancy drink, so it all worked out. 

Side story, we once went out for drinks, and I ordered a drink called "summer cocktail". I made my request in french but the name of the drink was in english. So when the waiter heard my order he then complimented me for not having a french accent on the words "summer cocktail". I'm sure he would have been surprised to find out I actually had to have what he said translated to me. 

My Crepe! We didn't "save room for dessert", so no chocolate crepes. 

Next stop, haircut! My first haircut since late March. (see pre-haircut picture above)

I love my haircut and the lady was so nice and it only cost 20 euro. Eric's friend/coworker, Christelle, and now my friend, came with me to help translate which was quite entertaining for me and stressful for Christelle. But I think it all worked out.

Christelle got a haircut too! 

Um, we both got haircuts!

Back at Christelle's friend's apartment for a little birthday bakery goodness. Please note single free standing candle for me to blow out.Eric had the very cool/good idea that we should go out for a traditional multi-course french meal. This was our 1st course: Aperitif. I think we were supposed to order a liquor too, but we didn't. (Tip: if you go for a formal french meal, don't fill up on bread at all.)
The menu lets you order from different selections for a set price, there were about 3 choices for every course and 3 of us so we got one of each and rotated. Christelle had to explain to the waitress that we were American, so that she wouldn't die of shock at our manners. These were our Hors d'oeuvres: escargot with salad (not normal, usually its served in the shell with butter and green stuff) I'm gonna butcher it if I try and tell you what the other two were, but I liked the one with bread and dip best, then the salad with something that looks like bacon, BUT IS NOT BACON! And last the escargot. If you go to France, do eat escargot, but the traditional way. Just close your eyes and pick up the tiny fork.These were our main courses. This one was only my 2nd favorite, but everyone else's 1st. It was egg and fish with potatoes. This was not what we wanted to order, but our 1st choice was no longer available, 

so we ATE PIGEON! I know, I know. I didn't like it, I didn't eat much, it was not like normal meat? Is that a good enough description? But I did enjoy walking down the street the next day, yelling at pigeons "Out of my way or I'll eat you!"This was my favorite, to me it tasted kinda like meatloaf. I'm sure french chefs are rolling over in their graves everywhere because of this blog, but its the best I can do.

So when dessert came around, I thought "I'll be french and order cheese and fruit for dessert." And this is what they brought me? I've been introduced to a thing called "Creme Fresh" kinda like yogurt cheese, but nevertheless confusing to moi.

And everyone's personal favorite: Creme Brulee!And fudgey chocolate cake, I'm glad we were splitting 3 ways, this is too much for 1 person.So thanks Eric! Great birthday present! And to say it in french "It wasn't bad."

The next day after we waddled home from our large spectacular meal, we went with a few of Eric's coworkers and friends to a festival in another city. It was interesting. My camera battery died, so not too many pictures, which I find devastating and unacceptable. But here's a few. It was a festival to celebrate flight in this area of the country for 50 years...yeah, I know....anyway.

We just thought this part of the parade was hilarious. It was a Romanian group, but they didn't have anything, no dance, no music, no throwing of swag. They just clapped. It was like someone was like "Guys, we have these awesome outfits, but that's it, we need something else. I know! We'll just clap our hands in no actual rhythm and they'll love us!" 

Um, so this man/baby was racing around in front of the parade shooting people with water/tears/milk? I think....

This is a picture of the band that you can't see in the following video.

So there's really not much to see in this video but the music is cool and they only had like drums and bells etc. 

Ok, now for a seriously exciting part of my birthday. My roommate in the U.S., 

Jessie sent me an apron with owls on it, I have always wanted a super cute apron.

And the 2nd best part is when I opened it up and put it on all kinds of homemade

birthday cards fell out from my friends at home. Thanks so much everyone!

Here's a picture of exactly what happened, exactly when it happened.

Note floor covered in cards and ear to ear grin.

Ok, and finally I think my birthday is over with the free gift of Harry Potter.

A woman at my brother's office gave him 2 free movie tickets and we decided

to go see Harry Potter in french, because originally we decided it would be a

waste of money for me to go see it in french, but since now we weren't wasting 

any money we decided to go see it. We sat off to the side and Eric translated the 

whole thing. He did a good job, plus I know the characters and I've read the book.

But seriously I think the last 2 Harry Potter movies have had no endings, just like

"Ok, there was two hours of Harry Potter, no ending, see you next year."

Here's an illegal taste of watching Harry Potter in french.

I'm not sure what's up for the next blog, but I have lots to blog about so we'll see.