Harry Potter Walk

Okay nerdy friends, I promised I would give details on the Harry Potter walk, and this girl never breaks a promise.  

Caitlin and I got up decently early on Thursday morning (I skipped class. I figured, I'm only in London once, I haven't missed a class yet, and I didn't know when else I could do it! Don't judge me too harshly!).  The first place we stopped was Number Two Temple Place, the location of what was formerly the Astor Estate Office.  Built in 1895 by William Waldorf Astor, an American, it has never been used by the Harry Potter Films, but it looks a lot like Hogwarts!

 I especially loved this little golden ship, serving as a weather vane.  Perhaps this should be a  Mary Poppins walk instead of Potter? 

We then walked through a tiny alleyway to see the Church of St. Clements.  There is a famous rhyme apparently, that goes "Oranges and Lemons say the Bells of St. Lemons."  It can't be too famous though, I've not ever heard it.  

We saw the Australia House, the inside of which is the interior of Gringotts Magical Wizarding Bank. 

We passes a series of alleyways ans such, before we came to Somerset House. I'm not entirely sure why it ins on the Harry Potter Tour, but it was very pretty and had some very interesting sculptures within its courtyard! We thought it was pretty awesome. 

 We then headed over towards Trafalgar Square, which the Death Eaters destroy in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We passed the Leicester Square Underground Station, which you can see in the opening sequence of the film. 

Trafalgar Square was laid out in the early 1830's and is a memorial to Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.  The National Portrait Gallery is there, as well as a huge column with Nelson sitting on top.  The square is also famous for its GINORMOUS lions, and a cool ship in a bottle.  The Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince launch a destructive attack on London from the air and the opening sequence of the film shows the swooping down over Trafalgar. 

 Caitlin and I stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant, and of course we had to stop.  I love love love Mexican food, and it is RARE to find here. And honestly, it was not that good. I have certainly had better. I am even dying for fake Mexican, like Taco Bell.  In fact, I'm making my family take me there directly from the airport tomorrow. I will be getting cheesy fiesta potatoes, 2 cheese quesdillas, a crunch wrap supreme, and a diet pepsi with LOTS of ice. Don't judge me. I've done without for 6 weeks!

We only made it to page 9 of the 29 pages of the tour, but I had to go finish up the last essay for one of my classes. It felt good to turn it in!

Not Harry Potter related at all, but noteworthy, was the club we went to that night.  It was called Tiger Tiger, and was SOOOOO expensive. We didn't drink a sip of the alcohol, simply to keep some money in our wallets.  But we had a fantastic time dancing, especially in the 70's and 80's room. It was really a good time. 

 It was probably one of the most fun nights I've had here! Notice Alex and Caitlin's MJ gloves? They were stoked haha.