In the spirit of "why the hell not", Dave bought tickets to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour a few months ago (yes, the wait is that long) and we finally went on Saturday. We do this a lot here, buy tickets to do very random things. For example, on Sunday we went to Thorpe Park with a few of Dave's coworkers. Thorpe Park is a really shitty version of a really small Magic Mountain (come on guys - please clean up the trash and cobwebs, have some self respect because at least you aren't in really bad elf costumes or something). The Brits don't seem to mind, perhaps because they don't know any better and are used to trash anyway.
Anyway. The Harry Potter studios are in a town called Staines (sounds like a lovely place, not really), about an hour or so from London via train. I weep for the prospects for this town once the studio tour business ends.
Se we came, we saw, we Happy Pottered. You'll recognize the sets from the pictures for sure. I'll give it a score of Pretty Darn Cool. You really get an appreciation for all the energy, time, and money it takes to make all the scenes and props.
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| I love a good audio tour......I am a douche. |
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| On the set in the dining room with the actual movie costumes on display. |
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| Gryffindor dorms. |
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| Gryffindor common area and more costumes. |
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| I always though this woman looked like my Grandma Riordan. |
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| Dumbledore's office. |
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| 4 Privet Drive, where Harry grew up. |
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| Diagon Alley. |
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| The art, costume, and animatronic departments were just insane. |
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| The set of Hagrid's house. |
This upcoming weekend is our 9th anniversary, awww so sweet (barf). We are going to Cologne, Germany. Why, you ask? Well because it is a new country (and we are way behind on the whole "24 in 24" country count), and at $100 per ticket to fly there - why the hell wouldn't you. We plan to sight see, drink beer, eat sausages, then recover at the Claudius Therme Spa.
You have to love a spa that has specific areas where clothing is strictly NOT permitted. But then, this is not surprising to me considering we had the Dong Show at the spas in Austria too (thanks Finny for the awesome "Dong Show" reference). Peace out.
5 comments:
Have fun in Germany and happy anniversary you two totally loveable freaks.
(Harry Potter museum? Really?)
xo
Let's clear up a few fact-check items here, shall we? The town was previously called Staines (note the e) and was most famous for being the home of Ali G -- I assume you know who that is.
Anyhow -- Staines changed its name in May of this year to Staines-upon-Thames in an attempt to distance itself from the negative image portrayed of it on both the Ali G show and movie. Perhaps Sacha Baren Cohen's only significant achievement...
I prefer Stains, I think it captures the feel of the place. And that is the name on the train station signs, which are always right, right? The whole Stain"e"s-upon-whatever makes it sound slightly charming, and it isn't really.
I had no idea on the Ali G. Though I am a bit in the dark and am not entirely sure who or what Ali G. is, we never had cable in the US - I prefer to drink.
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Hello...
I discovered your blog today and am enjoying learning about your UK travels, but I had to grin at your complaints about the trash in Stains, since I was having the same feelings about your blog being peppered with references to crap and a-holes and the like, which to me is trash that brings down the fun of reading and imagining. Either way... Love the blog. Love the photos. Thanks for creating it.
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