See The World: Paris-London (Part III)

I was very much looking forward to our 4th day in London cos we were going to visit one of England's most famous and historical attractions - Stonehenge!

I've wanted to visit Stonehenge ever since I watched Brave (the Pixar animation) and finding out that it was an important historical site made it all the more attractive to me. It was definitely one of the top few items on my bucket list! It never crossed my mind that we could visit Stonehenge on this trip until my sister introduced me to this website called Viator, which organises tours to practically all the major attractions in most major cities in the world. So we booked a full-day trip with the company to Stonehenge, Bath and Salisbury.

Our first stop was Salisbury, where we visited the Gothic Cathedral.

"This spectacular building is unique in being built almost entirely in one architectural style, Early English Gothic and has Britain’s tallest spire (123m/404ft) plus numerous famous literary connections. Discover the world’s finest original Magna Carta, Europe’s oldest working clock and the stunning living water font designed by sculptor William Pye." (Read more here) 

T'was a gloomy day, indeed

 

 

 

Always loovvveeee stained glass!

To be very honest, I didn't really know how to appreciate the cathedral. Of course I understood the importance of the Magna Carta (erm.. after KU told me), but I just didn't get the whole place. :x It could also be because I was just dying to get to our next destination - Stonehenge!

"Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds." (taken from here)

Yeah, babyyyyyy!!!

Instagrammed Stonehenge

        

It was a pity though, that we could only view the monument from about 200m away. :( Our tour guide told us that a few years ago, visitors were allowed to go right up to the monument and touch it, and some of them actually went armed with tools to chip off part of the monument to bring home. Hence, the government decided to create a boundary in order to preserve what was left. :(( I would really have loved to be able to touch the stones and have a picture with it!

But anyhoos, we were still considered a lucky bunch, cos we were told that starting from later this year, visitors would be allowed to view the attraction only from a further distance!

So, on our last day in London, we visited the Warner Bro. Harry Potter Studio!

I wouldn't really consider myself a diehard fan of the HP films, but I HAVE read all the HP books and watched all the HP films and loved both print and on-screen versions, so this was a must-go for me.

There are directions to the studio on the Warner Bro. website, where you can pre-purchase your tickets (highly recommended). We took the tube to Euston and transferred to the Overground to Watford Junction - the entire journey taking us almost 2 hours. From Watford Junction, go to bus stop 1 in the adjacent bus station and board the HP bus. (Return Ticket: GBP2)

"Woohoooooo!!"



The cupboard under the staircase - Harry Potter's room!



When we stepped into the studios proper, the first thing we saw was HP's old room - the cupboard under the stairs. I was very excited to see that there was really a bed, shelves, luggages etc. in it, like someone really did live in it!

 

The Grand Hall

 

Crests of Hogwarts and the 4 houses

Costumes: McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape



The next room we were ushered into was the Grand Hall, where all the opening scenes of the films were shot. And there were people who screamed/squealed/cooed in excitement and everyone was rushing to take pictures of everything.

 

Gryffindor common room



Potions class with Snape

Hagrid's hut

Dumbledore's office

Mrs Weasley's kitchen

Death Eaters' costumes

We're in Diagon Alley, yo!!

Weasley's Wizard Whitzies - that guy holding the tub was really puking!

Hogwart's Bridge

We were told that the props and sets in the studio were all actually used during the filming for the HP series. All the flying scenes were filmed in front of a green screen and then superimposed onto the relevant backgrounds. This was shown to use in a short video and it was amazing to see the effects!

There was also a room full of scale models made from cardboard. All the scale models were that of every single set in the movie. The crew was super committed to making everything as perfect and accurate as possible, hence such dedication! It was really awe-inspiring to see the intricate models on display - I can't imagine what kind of talented people worked on the movies.

Scale model of one of the sets

At the end of the tour, there was a larger scale model of the entire Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade. It was taller than everyone in the room and once-again, very very awe-inspiring. KU and I spent a good 15 minutes just taking pictures of every part of the model. It's like every time we look at the model there's something new to photograph. Too amazing.

A scale model of the entire Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade - it was impossible to capture everything in a picture!

The last room was dedicated to the 4000 cast and crew who worked tirelessly on the HP films. Their names were written on boxes covered in coloured paper and stacked on what looked like book shelves.

The cast and crew who worked on the HP films

And sitting in the corner was a guy who knew where the names of the cast were. I went up to him and asked for Emma Watson and he immediately knew where to point with his laser pointer! (I probably should have asked him for a fake person to test him. Hehe..)

The HP bus which whisked us away

With that, it signalled the end of our wonderful tour at the Warner Bro. Harry Potter studios. To me, it was totally worth the GBP29 we paid per pax because of the sheer amount of stuff we were shown (I didn't even cover half of what we saw in this entry!). Next on my bucket list is definitely Orlando's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!