when Sophie experienced LONDON: #25: On Holy Ground

Hello Everyone! So, the last week has been really busy! It was half term in London so the family was away spending the week in their summerhouse on Møn (: Danish island). Normally, this would mean that I have a lot less to do since I’m then technically of 'work' (: aside for dog-sitting Oscar), but as it would happen I just had a bunch of very nice people coming to see me which meant that I was practically on the go from early till late. The visitors were a mix of friends and family which made the perfect combination and I had some genuinely great days tripping around London with them.

However, this post really only focuses on one MAJOR event that took place during that week and which made a MASSIVE impression on me - we (: me and my 3 friends from DK) went to The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: excessive amount of exclamation points used to illustrate my state of overly excitement).

So the thing is, a great deal of the Harry Potter movies was filmed at the Warner Bros. studios just outside London and a couple of years back these studios were opened to the public in order to let fans interact with this magical world continuously even though the chronicle had come to an end. After having read the books more times than I can count and having watched the movies to death I think it fair to say that I had quite high expectations for this trip and luckily I was not disappointed!

The tour itself was self-guided and divided in three parts; 1) the interior sets, 2) the exterior sets, 3) 'special effects', all which you would walk through in the given order. Along the way the exhibitions would then be accompanied by taped interviews with cast and crew members and interactive games like ‘try flying broomstick’ or ‘take part in a dueling lesson’! All the sets, costumes and props were completely authentic used in the movies, by the actors etc. and so it went on for 3 hours; magical objects presenting themselves everywhere around you, one spellbinding set outweighing the other. I'm not particularly religious, but walking though these sets I felt as I imagine a Muslim seeing Mekka for the first time would feel - as I was holy ground!

The pictures below are just a tiny selection, but scroll through and you'll get a glimpse into the magical world of Harry Potter. If you've read the books and watched the movies I can only recommend you to go - it'll be a fun experience without a doubt. But if you were of those who waited for your Hogwarts letter at the age of eleven and cried your eyes out when Dobby died, then make this your one pilgrimage.

Okay, I really have to stop the religious references.

x Sofie