Wizards, Punks, and Mummies...Oh My!

So its my third day here in London and I only have a couple hours left before I need to leave the hostel and head to my bus for Southampton. I'm starting to get a little nervous about Semester at Sea and meeting everyone (probably its my introvert side that is nervous) but luckily one of my co-workers is on my same bus so I will have some time to spend with them and get to know them which should help calm my nerves.

The past couple days in London have been great. I've become a great map reader and I've really enjoyed getting to see and do as much as I can in so little time. This morning one of my roommates managed to be super loud and wake me up at 5:30, but it worked out because it allowed me to have a lovely stroll around the Buckingham Palace area when no one else was around. It is a beautiful, crisp morning here and the walk was just what I needed to start my day and wake me up! Here are a few pictures from this morning.

 Buckingham Palace and Queen Victoria Memorial

 Memorial for Canadian Soldiers who served in World War I and II in Green Park

Queen Victoria

So back to yesterday, I started the day off heading to the Harry Potter Studio Tour which is about 30 minutes outside of London. The tour is not cheap, however, if you are a Harry Potter fan, this is something that you absolutely have to do. It is amazing to see all the sets, costumes, and learn so many behind the scenes secrets. I literally grew up reading Harry Potter and I knew I was going to be an emotional mess throughout the tour. I actually managed to hold it together until I saw the model of the castle which is just so detailed and beautiful. The details that went into every aspect of the films is so unbelievable and incredible so it was amazing to get to spend time seeing all the heard work that resulted in some of my favorite films of all time. I paid a little extra to get a digital guide which was really nice as it was narrated by the gorgeous Tom Felton and provided lots of extra details that I would not have been aware of it I hadn't gotten it. Here are a few pictures from the studios.

 Great Hall

 Tri Wizard Cup

Snape and Dumbledore at the front of the Great Hall

 Voldermort and Bellatrix Costumes

 Harry's Hogwarts Letter

 The bus that I would NEVER want to ride

Part of the Castle

Once I had finished the Harry Potter Studio Tour which took me a little over two hours, I headed back into London for more exploring. I contemplated taking a nap, but knew that would not be good for jet lag and it would make me mad at myself later for missing out on time to explore. I really wanted to go to a market, but since it wasn't the weekend that meant limited options. If I were here tomorrow I would go to Portobello Road for sure, I guess that just means I need to plan another trip back to be here on a Saturday :) One of the other markets I had heard of was the Camden Market. From what I knew, Camden is an area/market where there are quite a few vintage shops and it tends to house some of the remaining punks in London. When I got there I realized how true that was. There were quite a few characters in the area, but the market was nice- mostly clothing (honestly, it wasn't as great as I had expected but maybe it was due to it not being the weekend and being a little rainy) and I did manage to snag a deal and haggle with a shop keeper to get a new dress. Those of you who know me, know that I currently own over 50 dresses, so I probably didn't need the new one, but it was really cute and its from a London market which makes it 100 times cooler than the dresses I currently own. I also managed to be the best sister ever while I was in Camden and found the makeup that Lauren wanted and even mailed it to her :)

After the market I still had a few hours before the show so I was excited that I had enough time to head down to the British Museum. This is another tourist spot that I had never seen in London and since it was absolutely free it was in my budget to go and visit. You could literally spend days and days in the museum. Luckily for those of us who don't have days to spend in there, they have created an awesome map of the museum which includes the major highlights and don't miss exhibits. I went ahead and did the entire list of don't miss exhibits which included things such as the Rosetta Stone, Easter Island Statue, and Samurai Armor. I also managed to find the Lewis Chess Set which is a set my dad made when we were little and I remember quite well. I was excited to see that and to take a picture of it to send to my dad, or rather to tag him in on facebook. I also spent some time looking around the Roman exhibits as well as the Egyptian ones. I was amazed by everything that the museum has and especially by their vast collection of mummies. If you are ever in London, you need to check out this museum. 

The last part of yesterday was going to see another West End show, Matilda. I was so excited to see it because it is a show I haven't seen yet and because after the Broadway version performed on the Tony's I instantly feel in love with the music. The show was incredible. It was overall such a great combination of the total package, the music, the choreography, the design elements. It was so beautiful and left me an emotional mess. If you are anywhere near London or New York, you need to go see this show. It is just so smart and so well done. I'm really glad I took the time to see shows while I was over here because I have been missing that so much now that I live in Florida. 

I did make another friend yesterday/today her name is Georgia and she is from Australia. Australians are the nicest people ever, especially when they travel. I seem to gravitate towards Canadians and Australians when I make friends abroad. We spent some time this morning hanging out together and chatting about life as well as her plans for the next couple weeks. She is over here visiting because she is hoping to be able to move over here permanently and work after she finishes school. The people that you meet when you travel are always wonderful and add to the experience that you have abroad. I'm hoping that I can make at least one "friend" in each port that I can tell you all about because it will help me have a better experience and reach my goal of being less introverted. So far in London I think I've done a great job balancing talking to strangers and having "me time." I also met a nice lady at Matilda and helped her navigate her way around after the show was done and then this morning at breakfast I was the only person in the cafe for a while so the owners came out and talked to me. People have been so lovely the past few days and I hope it stays that way the rest of the trip.

Well, it is time for me to go and start lugging all of my stuff down the street to Kings Cross so that I make it to my bus on time. The next time you hear from me I will be in Southampton and will have met all of my SAS co-workers. To leave you today, here is a picture of the GIANT breakfast I had today. I seriously won't need to eat for the rest of the day after this (and I didn't manage to finish everything)