Day 4: Bloody Hell, Harry!

Had to wait until the following morning to gather enough energy for this post! Yesterday was the longest on our itinerary, requiring a 615am wake-up call for a transportation odyssey from our flat in Battersea to Great Portland Street (iNational Rail + 3 tube lines!) to meet a tour bus for the trip to Oxford and Warner Bros. Studios. The kids were troopers during our 3 hours in Oxford. Carey and I could have spent many more there, learning the history and admiring the architecture and shopping. We had a nice take-out lunch in Oxford Market -- something called a sausage roll for me, which was just mystery meat surrounded by flaky bread, and a chicken tikka panini made with gluten-free bread for Carey. They are big on the GF products here. The grocery store down the street has a very large aisle called "Free From" where you find everything from lactaid to chickpea nuts.

After lunch in Oxford, it was a short drive to Leavensden, UK, where a trio of 11-year-olds named Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint spent the entirety of their teenage years bringing the beloved Harry Potter books to life. The place was really amazing. One massive soundstage filled with sets and props and interactive experiences, another room all about the Hogwarts Express, then an outdoor plaza with exterior sets like No. 4 Privet Drive and the Knight Bus, followed by exhibits extolling the artists and designers who brought the franchise from page to screen, and culminating with the scale model of Hogwarts Castle that was used for all the CGI shots in the film as an owl flies past a turret or a Death Eater descends on his broom. Truly fascinating stuff. They began by herding guests into a couple rooms for some intro videos, then revealed the doors to Hogwarts behind the movie screen. When they swung open into the Great Hall and the theme song blared, every kid, and most of the adults, went slack-jawed in wonder.

One of England's oldest book stores. Greta bought a copy of Wuthering Heights, having just read Jane Eyre. For the record, I haven't read either.

The Brits do hanging baskets very well.

Oddly this statue on top of one of the Exeter College buildings was never brought up during the tour and I forgot to ask.

This statue was allegedly J.K. Rowling's (Exeter, class of 1986) inspiration for Nearly Headless Nick! Although there seems to be some confusion on the matter of her education. Was she ever really in Oxford? Exeter is one of Oxford University's colleges, but from her bio, Rowling attended Exeter Univ., which is elsewhere in England. So was our Oxford tour guide pulling our leg? In which case, I want my money back. Or maybe Rowling was there on a walkabout (she apparently applied, but was rejected) and filed away the statue for later inspiration.

Christ Church Meadow

Your author and photographer. Photo by Greta.

When you did this, the air was perfumed with lavender.

 

Another Greta photo. If I had Photoshop, I'd crop out the construction truck and add hair to the top of my head.

Our Vacation Planner! Isn't she just lovely?

I could spend the better part of a day just photographing British pubs and shop fronts.

Oxford's so-called Bridge of Sighs, though as our tour guide pointed out, it's more a replica of Venice's Rialto Bridge, but centuries ago someone called it the Bridge of Sighs and it stuck. For Oxford folk, they're not very smart.

The Radcliffe Library, or "Rad" as the students call it. No relation to the Potter actor.

Her buddy Fawkes.

The Sword of Gryffindor!

 

Bowing to Buckbeak.