Harry Potter fans unite

So since a very traditional meal in England is the full English breakfast we decided to go out and see if it was really everything that everyone (mostly my dad) said it would be.  So, luckily we woke up at about noon, so we were literally starving.  There are tons of places that sell full English breakfasts, but the closest place to go was Potters.  So we went on a short 15 minute walk up to the pub, which was EMPTY, and ordered some juice, tea and breakfast.  The tea came out and was very nicely presented.  we were each given a pot, cream, and sugar.  It was delicious, and I was desperately in need of a cold drink, so the ice cold orange juice was also amazing.

Morning tea

After we had made a good start on our tea, out came the main attraction, the breakfast.  I had had these full English before but it was all new for Tyler.  I think that he was surprised with the array of foods that were on this plate.  There was egg, hash-browns, Heinz baked beans (not like the US kind), a grilled mushroom, grilled tomato, a English sausage (also not like the US kind), and bacon (which is not the same as in the US either, because this bacon tasted more like ham, but really salty and delicious).  Finally, personally my favorite....the fry bread.  This may sound disgusting, but fry bread is simply a slice of bread, fried in the fat of all the other items on the plate, so this thing was literally dripping with fat, but it tasted soooo good.  If you ever go out for a full English, DO NOT pass up the fry bread (even if it is super unhealthy)

The full English

As you can see we literally cleaned the plate as we were very happy with the meal.

Happy ending

The following day we had booked the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford.  I had some cousins who went on this tour last year and highly recommended it, so a few weeks ago I booked us a time online.  From what we had heard you were able to see all of the Harry Potter sets, costumes, makeup, designs, electronics, sketches and models.  So, Tyler and I were very excited to drive up to see this amazing tour.  Even better, we are both HUGE Harry Potter fans, as in we have seen all the movies...multiple times.  As we walked in, we were greeted by a mass of photos of the actors on the walls.  Since I have an obsession with Ron (Rupert Grint) we were looking for pictures mostly of him.  There was a Starbucks and a cafe on the left, and on the right there was a giant gift shop, which you could've gotten lost in.  We were scheduled for a 2:30 tour time, so we had a quick look in the store before heading to the line to wait to be let in.

Warner Bros.  Studio Cafe

 So we got in line for our tour.  After the quick look through the gift shop we were ready to line up for our tour which was about to be underway.  In line we were happy to see that one of the people checking tickets was an American!  He was from Georgia and a really nice funny guy.  It was kinda nice for me to hear something close to my own accent again.  We took a good survey of our tickets (as you can see below) and they were pretty neat!  This was a special thing as well because I know Hannah enjoys collecting tickets from everything and looking back to see what she did, so these were neat.

The tickets

Once they round everyone up in line for the tour that we were scheduled for we were off!  They take you to a smaller room where a tour guide introduces themselves, and on these screens that are all around the room they show you a quick video of how Harry Potter changed the universe overnight.  After this video (which leaves you a little more excited than before) they lead you into another larger room that is very similar to a theater, and you sit in these large leathery and very comfortable chairs and the tour guide warns you not to fall asleep :)  After everyone is settled they play another video, about 6 minutes in length, and this one is hosted by the 3 stars of the HP franchise (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint).  They tell you about all that went into making the Harry Potter movies, and how there were many aspects of production that you probably never thought of.  They informed everyone about how every part of the main studio tour was indeed authentic and played a role in the movie.  After the video, IT BEGINS.  The big screen that you just watched the intro on lifts up into the ceiling and you're greeted by the huge door that young Harry Potter first encountered before he went into the great hall at Hogwarts for the first time.  This is the first set that we were allowed to see, and also this was when the photos began.  What I mean by that is, that the groups of people there LOVED taking pictures and people were snapping and flashing their cameras all over the place, including Hannah and myself :)

The Great Hall of Hogwarts

 The tour guide eventually opened the door and everyone was enamored by seeing the Great Hall which was so famous to all Harry Potter fans and served as the center of Hogwarts.  Everything is laid out exactly as you may see it in the movie (except of course the CGI of candles you would see on the ceiling), the dining tables, the fireplace, the front of the room where Dumbledore would be expected to make his elaborate speeches.  It was all very overwhelming!  The tour guide encouraged everyone to wander as far around as they want, and even though they kept speaking through the whole room, most people were off on their own taking lots and lots of pictures.  Up front I was especially interested in the costumes of some of the Hogwarts teachers they had up.  Snape, McGonnigal, Dumbledore, Hagrid, quite a few.  This room was no doubt a great start.

Hannah with Ron's bed

 When you left the Great Hall (which you could do whenever) you found yourself in an atmosphere close to what you would see in any general museum: a huge room with tons of little exhibits and cased goodies to look at.  Off on the sides they had the real sets of just about every part of the Harry Potter world, including Dumbledore's office, the Weasley house, and the Gryffindor boys dormitory.  I insisted that Hannah take a shot with Ron's bed, given her deep love for those gingery locks of his!  There was a lot of wandering and meandering to do in this area, and they had a very full of every kind of prop you saw in the movie as well.  This room took a healthy amount of time and there is no WAY I could fit all my pictures onto this blog, unfortunately :(

BUTTERBEER

 Butterbeer.  Fewer words can give a person who's never heard of it a very strange look on their face along with the question of "huh?".  Being avid HP fans Hannah and I were well aware of the mystery that butterbeer held for us.  It was something you heard about in legends..  Butterbeer was only supposed to exist in Daniel Radcliffe's world of money and magic, but it seems like they had a little left over for the average joe.  After the major room with all the sets to see there is a small outdoor terrace with a place to get some drinks (butterbeer included) and a place to sit.  We ordered two, we couldn't leave without a good taste of the stuff.

The sweet and bubbly froth

 The stuff we got was absolutely non-disappointing, even though it cost 6 pounds.  We sipped it and felt like Ron and Harry recouping after a victorious game of Quidditch.  It had such a lovely sweet flavor, buttery too!  The only flavor I can begin to associate this with is butterscotch.  Of course the famed froth on top!  This had to be something from another world, it sure tasted that way.  It was such a creamy blend of bubbles to pop delightfully that I was almost hoping that it was possible to order an entire cup of only butterbeer froth.  We finished quickly given the small glasses we were given, however it makes a bit of sense considering how many people want to order it and how much they have behind the counter.  We threw the cups away only to see other cups where people left about 90% of the froth left in the bottom of the cup...Tsk tsk..

In front of the Dursley's house

Continuing on outside, when you walk out from under the rain-roof ( by this time the English weather had given us a little rain, but it was to be over in a minute) there are a few things to see outside.  One of these things was a full model of the house that served as the evil meeting place of Harry's wretched guardians: the Dursley's, also known as Privet Drive.  We had to get a picture so we found the nearest English speaking tourist :)  Among a few other things to see before you go into the next warehouse and continue your tour, was the Knight Bus, as seen in the Prisoner of Azkaban, and another one of Hagrid's flying motorcycles (there were quite a few on the tour).  Moving on inside there was a room filled with the masks that some of the characters wore.  For example, we saw the masks of all of the goblins who worked at Gringotts.  We also got to see all of the electrical elements of how some of the monsters move.  

Masks of the Goblins

Next we headed to Diagon Alley.  We were able to see Olivanders, the owl shop, the book shop and Fred and Georges shop.  It was almost surreal to see everything that we had been seeing for years in the movies.

Diagon Alley

Then there was a room with a full model of Hogwarts.   We were even able to see all of the bridges and courtyards.  Tyler and I had to get a picture in front of it.  Although the lighting wasn't very good, it was still worth it.

Right before we exited the exhibit.  We went through a faux Olivanders with wand boxes with all of the names of the people who helped in the making of the Harry Potter movies.

Finally after storming through the Harry Potter Tour, we decided that it was time for a bite to eat.  There was a studio cafe with a multitude of dishes to choose from.  Unfortunately none of the dishes were HP themed.  In the end I ended up getting a simple tea, Tyler got a ginger ale which was unusually strong, and we shared a BBQ cheese and chicken sandwich.  This sandwich was amazing, but I don't know whether it was because we were so hungry or if it was legitimately delicious.  

Tea, ginger ale, and sandwich

After we had our lunch we spent about an hour walking around the Harry Potter store, we ended up getting a bunch of goodies and some matching Gryffindor PJs.  We were picked up and started heading home but were caught in a giant traffic jam.  So, it took us over 3 hours to get home, instead of 45 minutes....But, instead of going home we just had to stop by to get some fish and chips.  We went to a family favorite restaurant called Jacks and ordered simple cod and chips, accompanied by tea.  There was a little issue with the fish, so we had to return it...Tyler and I thought that it was fine, but my Granddad thought otherwise.  The fish was just as good the second time it came to our table as the first.  I would say it was a successful day out.

Matching HP pajamas!

Paris: Cheese and the French

Finally the time had come for our big trip to Paris.  I didn't know what to expect because I had only been there with my parents so this was a totally new experience.  We had to wake up fairly early (4:30am) in order to catch the 7:10 Euro-star train from St Pancras to Gare du Nord.  The St Pancras station was beautiful although we didn't get to really enjoy it because we were still tired from having to wake up at such an early time.  We were able to grab a few photos of the station before we headed out.  Since we hadn't had breakfast before we got to the station we decided to grab some coffee and a bite to eat before we got on the train.  We both ended up getting cappuccinos from a french looking coffee store, and food-wise I got some honey porridge and Tyler got an almond croissant.  There we also some condiments on the table so I put some nutella and jam in my porridge (:  It was also extremely nice being in the station and hearing some fellow Americans.  

St Pancras Station

Porridge, Croissant, Cappuccino

After getting through security and passport control we were ready to go!  The train trip took about 2 hours, we tried to nap a little but it didn't really work because we always have trouble sleeping in vehicles of any kind.  Going through the Channel Tunnel ("chunnel") took about 20 minutes and when we popped back up we were in France.  Unfortunately the weather did not seem to be in our favor as it rained a bunch while we were on the train.  When we arrived in the Gare du Nord station in Paris we were ready to start exploring.

Gare Du Nord international train station

We headed out of the station, not knowing where to go at all, we headed out and just started walking.  The smell of smoke was overwhelming, you could tell we were in Europe.  I think we started of in the outskirts of  Paris so we really just wanted to get to the main tourist area so we were not totally out of place.  So we made our way towards the metro station called Barbas Rochechouart (line 4-purple line).  Something that really surprised Tyler and I was that the metro was absolutly filthy.  Since it was a hot day (about 80) and very humid it made everything 150 times worse.  When we got onto the metro it was totally packed and you could hardly move because of the massive amount of people.  From that moment we realized that we should take the metro as little as possible.  We got off at the Charles De Gaule station right next to the Arc de Triomphe.  The weather had been pretty crappy before we got on the metro, but when we arrived at our first  location the sky had brightened and we were ready to explore Paris!

Hannah, Tyler and the Arc de Triomphe

After we took a few photos with the Arc de Triomphe (we even walked under it), we walked down the main street for tourism in Paris, the Chanselise.  There were pleanty of interesting sights to see and stores to explore.  Something that caught our attention was the McDonalds.  Usually the McDonalds in the US are run down and dirty, but this was completely different.  Like many of the McDonalds in Europe, the one in Paris was modern, two stories and clean.  You could order  electronically and there were hundreds of choices.  Different burgers and drinks, you could even get beer there too.

After we were done looking through a few stores (everything was extremely pricey) we decided to head towards the Eiffel tower.  So we got to the Seine river, and decided that it was about time for a little food break.  We found a corner restaurant called Le Grand Corona, and ordered something very traditionally french.  The assorted cheese plate,which contained a bunch of cheeses that we couldn't identify, with the addtition of salad with a sort of wasabi-like dressing, pecans and a jelly like substance which according to Tyler tasted like wood.  We were also given a basket of bread (only 4 slices) which defintley wasn't enough to go with all the cheese, so we just ate the cheese plain.  We also ordered some french Affligem beer.  The cheese plate was very refreshing, but the waitress didn't speak much English so the language barrier was a little difficult.  In addition, we had to ask for the bill instead of them just giving it to us.  It was surprising how many people in France couldn't speak English.

Assorted Cheese Plate

Wimpy serving of bread

After our little food fix we continued on our journey in Paris towards the Eiffel Tower.  Before going to France we decided that we were going to paint locks and place one on a bridge, in order to leave our mark, so we found a nice little walking bridge called the Pl. Debilly and placed our decorated lock with hundreds of others.  If you ever happen to visit Paris, look out for our lock, its definitely unique compared to all the others.  Hopefully we will keep up this tradition and leave our mark on all the different places that we visit.

Our beautiful lock on the bridge

We finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower and Tyler noticed a vendor on the street corner selling crepes.  He just had to take a photo of the giant jars of Nutella since we are such fond admirers of this glorious goop.  Oh and another interesting point, the "original" lays chips are called "nature" which we thought was a little funny.  It took us a good while to actually figure out the flavor of nature.  We then took a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower.  Unfortunately there was some repairs going on so we didn't get to see it in all of its glory.  I have been to the Eiffel Tower many times but Tyler hadn't, so he thought that it was enormous.  It's really sad that it seems like all major landmarks are always under construction (Neuschwanstein castle last summer in Germany and the Washington Monument in DC this spring).

Nutella and Nature

At the Eiffel Tower

The weather had changed dramatically and realized that we were in need of something cold to cool us off.  We originally went searching for a drink, but in a supermarket a french woman pushed aside and treated us cruelly because we were American...So then we looked for some ice-cream, found a place and the stupid woman didn't speak any English and didn't even try to communicate with us, so we left, still thirsty and hot.  After walking along the river, and crossing over again we found ourselves close to the Grand Palais and Palais de la Decouverte.  We ended up stopping at a restaurant called Brasserie le Grand Palais.  Here we also had to ask for a menu because the waiters didn't even acknowledge that we were sitting in there restaurant.  We ended up ordering a sorbet dish, with fresh fruit and 2 refreshing coca colas.  We were very pleased with this.  In addition, we found a 10 euro note on the ground right outside the restaurant so technically the sorbet was free!

After this nice little break from our long hike through Paris we were up and moving again and we gave ourselves a choice of whether to make our way across the river again to see Notre Dame or visit the famous Louvre Museum.  After a short debate we wanted to see the Louvre, which Hannah had been to before and recommended that we take a look at the many famous paintings inside (including the original Mona Lisa).  The museum is located at the end of an extensive park just on the North side of the Seine River, and it was a nice walk through to find it on the East end.

Willllllll

The park is surrounded by a multitude of old buildings and statues all encompassing huge grass fields and flower beds.  This area also housed many restaurants and cafes which were packed with people around this time in the afternoon.  On one of the ponds next to a cafe there were lots of stone statues like the one on the left (we thought it was a kodak moment to see a bird on top of the head of the statue, we also have a friend who is the "birdmaster" so we had to take this photo for him)...Willlllllllllllll....

Arc du Carrousel

After about 15-20 minutes of walking through the park we reached Arc du Carrousel which served as the entrance to the Louvre.  We took the opportunity to lean against it and rest our aching bodies and take some  shelter in the shade (at this point in the day my backpack capacity had reached it's max, even though we weren't done buying things..).  Passing under the arch, we were greeted by the Louvre and its' 4 symbolic glass pyramids in front of it.  The pyramids are a nice picture moment, and the fountains and ponds next to them were a perfect place to dip our fingertips in the water; another nice break from our own sweat :P

Outside the Louvre

Louvre "glass" Pyramids

Looking at the mile-long line sprouting from the Louvre entrance we quickly deduced that our tired legs weren't prepared to stand in line for an hour or so for the gallery, so we happily scrammed away to find another bite to suppress our teenage stomachs.  

After we were done with our exploring we decided to do a little more souvenir shopping before stopping by for our next meal, so we walked around a few blocks in search of a bite (we were thinking wine and cheese with some more fresh bread).  There were a good number of cafes in the area so we shopped around a bit and found one with a cheese plate (again!)  and a good selection of wines.  We took a seat and the waitress spoke English well, and was also quite friendly toward us. 

Hannah's rose and my red

Chilled water was very refreshing about this time

After we had ordered our cheese plate and wines (glass of rose for Hannah and I got a red, both very nice) it had started POURING.  Luckily we had had nice weather the whole day on the contrary to what the weather forecast was, so we were fortunate that it lasted this long.  Anyways we got the cheese plate and were instantly gratified :)  This plate had an even better selection than the first and the funny thing about the basket of bread, when we were done with the first one, the waitress came back with ANOTHER.  And when we were done with that basket, she came back with ANOTHER one!   To my surprise these extra baskets didn't come up on the check!  The cheese plate was once again excellent, and it had some of the varieties from the last plate along with some new ones, and it was nice to never go without the fresh bread.  With this amazing bread-service I left a hefty tip on the table which was probably a big indicator of our 'Merican blood.

We left the restaurant and made our way to the underground line that would take us back to Gare du Nord, given that it was time to start heading back.  We got on the correct train, which was absolutely packed to the brim, and after a few minutes Hannah and I give each other a blank stare as both of us realized we were heading the WRONG WAY (this was the beginning of the sour attitudes we would have for the rest of the night/next morning).

We got off the metro two stations down, and it was an easy switch over to the line that would take us back to Gare du Nord.  This line however was even more packed before, we definitely felt like packaged sardines, unable to move or breathe in the humid, hot metro.  Finally we got to Gare du Nord at around 7:30, our Eurostar train to St Pancras was scheduled to leave at 9:15, so we were supposed to check in 30 minutes before (8:45) so we had plenty of time to spare.  I got through security about 20 minutes before Tyler did because apparently there was a backup.  We did our last minute shopping in Paris, got a drink then got on the train at about 8:45.  Once on the train everything went downhill.

For starters, our train neighbors were...very obnoxious.  For example, the person behind us was a loud eater and was talking about mushrooms...in addition, the food he was eating stunk up the whole carriage.  On the other sided of us we had two raging alcoholics.  Before the train even started moving they went through 2 stellas and 2 bottles of wine.  After about an half an hour of sitting on the train, the intercom came on and the conductor told us that there had been a "suspect baggage" so we had to wait for 200 other passengers to board.  This train ride turned into hell very fast. We ended up getting through popcorn, a sandwich, red bull, water, 2 cans of beer and 2 cups of tea before we even started moving.  In addition to our eating, the alcoholics went through 2 more wine bottles and some more beer with the addition of some unidentifiable green drink that Tyler said was illegal in the US (ironically they were Americans).  Finally the train started moving sometime between 10 and 11.  We tried to sleep but couldn't.  We arrived at St Pancras at 12:30 am, then had to take a taxi to Waterloo station, to take the 1:05 train to Farnborough.  This was absolutely ridiculous, since we ended up getting home at around 2:30 am.  Oh, and the whole London night scene was not so pretty with all the drunks and such.   But, all in all we had a great day and are excited for the rest of our trip!

Old memories and a picnic lunch

So, the day after we arrived, Tyler and I felt the need to go out and burn off some energy that we had built from all the traveling the previous day.  On our list of places to go in England, Hook was one of them.  I had practically grown up here, and since I had so many memories of this place I decided that it was worth revisiting.  We were dropped off at the local Tesco then walked around the town, reliving my youth as we visited my 2 old houses and my school.

Tyler outside of my old house

old street

Tyler and I at the local park

It was so nice to see all the different sights.  We were also able to see the local pubs and newsagents.  Around lunchtime we went out scouting for some food.  At first we went to a small supermarket and grabbed some crisps.  Since England is practically known for their unique crisp flavors we had to try make a dent.  We got cheese and onion french fry crisps and some roast chicken crisps.  Then we went over to Tesco to look for something more substantial.  We ended up picking up a sandwich that was mozzarella tomato and mayo, and some prawn crackers (despite the name these things are melt in your mouth amazing).  This was a great first day in England

Lunch

The following day we headed to Marks and Spencers, a big store with EVERYTHING.  While we were there Tyler bought some nice european looking shorts and we got  some candy, pesto crisps (chips), white chocolate strawberry popcorn, and some cokes with the names "Hannah" and "Adam" (my brother) on them.  Then we stopped into Tesco which was right next door.  Since we were exhausted from all the walking we knew that we had to take a break so we decided to get some cream tea.  This stuff is to die for. We were each given a pot of tea, accompanied by a fresh scone, jam and Cornish clotted cream, its heavenly.  The food was great, but we had a little issue with the cashiers, as they were making fun of our American accents.  This is the first time Tyler has encountered this occurance.

Marks and Spencer

Cream Tea

We came back to the Grandparents house and decided to try this funky apple cider that we bought down the road.  It was surprisingly good.  Toffee Apple cider tastes very similar to cream soda too.  On to Paris next!