Day 2 of the Harry Potter tour today - yesterday was a bit of a marathon and suspect today will be similiar but keen to keep journeying.
First stop Temple underground as to our delight somebody asked us for directions here (and we totally could help them...we felt like such Londoners!). We came across the former Astor Estate office which if you crane your neck high enough you can see the weather vane that represents Christopher Columbus's Santa Maria on top which was a beautiful golden ship. St Clements where they say the famous rhyme "Oranges and Lemons" originated from was next to see and then onto Australia House (The High Commission) which was the exterior and interior shots of Gringotts the wizarding bank. Once again we overcame any embarrassment required on this tour and took Sar was willing to pose as a money hungry goblin outside the bank. We had a peek inside to see the chandelier (the instructions told us too, officer) and then it was off to the Roman Baths off Surrey St, down the well hidden Surrey Steps and up the street abit to this site. It didn't look particularly inviting although Dickens was quite found of a dip...he even sent David Copperfield for a bath! We settled for "swimming" poses outside much to our own amusement!
Next we passed Somerset House (Sarah added to our tour guide notes here with a quick history lesson and Wikipedia proved it to be correct as the signs were less than helpful). Then we walked along the Victoria Embankment and came across the 1st of 4 silver dragons that mark the boundary of the city of London. We ended up finding 3 of these magnificent creatures...the last but a dream. Side note: everyone seems to jog in London on their lunch break we figured it was some kind of rule that you had to - we asked Wendy and she said they were all just crazy people but we had a bit of a laugh which helped as I was starting to get the food grumps and after eating one of our apples annouced to Sar that if I didn't sit down and eat soon I would die. A little dramatic but I was feeling pretty tired. We decided to find something after we crossed Blackfriars Bridge which is one of the bridges they fly under en route to Grimauld Place. Doggett's Pub appeared like a vision in the distance so we decided to stop there for lunch. After using their facilities with some of the heaviest cubicle doors known to man and sneakily disposing of our apple cores we sat down to a Pimms & Lemonade (we were in London afterall) and some fish'n'chips. We were pretty hungry so started with some salt'n'pepper calarmari while we waited for our fish. It was also our first taste of muchy peas but I don't particularly like peas anyway so they were a bit blah.
Then we headed down the other side of the enbankment past St Paul's Cathedral dome on the left and Tate Modern museum on the right then up onto Millennium Bridge where in the Half Blood Prince death eaters destroy the bridge. So according to the instructions we had to pretend to be Muggles running away from these imaginary death eaters...we did no one really batted an eye so people must do this alot. Then we backtracked off the bridge and then headed past Shakespeare's Globe theatre on the right. We wanted to do the tour but it was a bit late so we decided to come back another day. As we continued along Bankside we came across the Old Ferryman's Stool that's built into the wall which looks mighty uncomfortable (most 'historic' chairs seem too I find). Then we headed to the original site of The Globe which burnt down and was a little disappointed to find that the area is marked but have apartment buildings built on the site. Along Clink St with a interesting shop called "Vinopolis" and an interesting tunnel with fairy lights on the ceiling and an interesting museum The Clink Prison museum which we also planned to come back and visit. Then you wander past the ruins of Winchester Palace and then we could hear the faint sounds of "Bob, Bob, Bob" coming from up ahead. As we got closed we could see the Golden Hind ship which is the replica of Sir Francis Drake's flagship which is now a floating museum. We could see a group of people onaboard who for a minute we thought we a bunch of Roberts doing a special tour but then realised they were school kids 'bobbing' for apples. It was Halloween night soon we surmised so hence the "Bob's".
Next we travelled through the Borough Markets and were quite tempted to stop and taste all the delicous sights before us but were keen to finish the tour. We found the flower shop which was the exterior shot of the Leaky Cauldron in the Prisoner of Azkaban where the Knight Bus screeches to a halt and Harry climbs off. Next we walked over London Bridge (which we hoped wouldn't fall down as we did so) and saw Tower Bridge to our right where they fly over in Order of the Phoenix. As we continued off the bridge directly ahead of us was The Monument to the Great Fire of London. Then we paused outside an opticians shop which was another exterior shot of the Leaky Cauldron in Goblet of Fire and then on to Leadenhall Market which was what Diagon Alley was based on. Then this was the only time we got a little bit lost looking for where Dicken's placed the office of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol but we struggled a little bit finding the "easy to spot" sign. After this we started getting really tired and after a quick tube trip we ended up in King's Cross Station and found our way outside to the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. This is where Harry & Ron drive the flying car near the clock tower in Chamber of Secrets. Then we headed back into the station to find the 'Platform 93/4' sign with the trolley pushed halfway through the wall. There was thankfully a small line when we arrived and both had our picture taken with the trolley and then headed back through the station to where the entrance to the platforms are. Platform 93/4 is actually filmed between platform 4 & 5 and we took a photo but we couldn't go in without buying a ticket. THE END OF THE TOUR!
We had a great time on the tour seeing all the film shots from the movies and loved having the opportunity to walk around London to get a feel of where everything was. It was pretty tiring but a great time was had and I'm really glad to have stumbled across this in the interwebs.
We called Wendy but no answer as she works near King's Cross and paid to use the public bathrooms at the station - I suppose that's one way to make sure they are clean! Off home on the tube, stopping to buy ingredients for a vegetable noodle stir fry and to finally put our tired feet up! A bit of research for tomorrow was done but mainly rested on the couch for the rest of the night.
