Hej, friends!
So, here we are with less than a month left of the semester and Travel Week 2 is officially complete. I can’t say enough how much time flies. Because I already traveled to Vienna with my European Clinical Psych core course during Travel Week 1, I was able to spend this past week traveling independently with one of my best friends in the whole world, Brian.
Brian and I attend Dickinson together and have been close friends since freshman year. While I’ve been in Copenhagen just for this semester, he’s been spending the academic year in Norwich, England, so we decided that a reunion in London during my second travel break was long overdue.
We did a lot in the three days I was in London. We saw The Book of Mormon in the West End, visited all of the tourist attractions like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye and Abbey Road Studios, just to name a few. They were all great, but the real magic of the trip happened at the Harry Potter Studio Tour at WB Studios – Leavesden. Literally.
Fun fact: I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan (I think I picked up the first book when I was 7), so touring the studios was a must-see while I was so nearby. It was SO COOL. Maybe it was naïve, but I had no idea how many real Harry Potter props and sets would still be there; I just assumed that there would be a lot more recreations of sets like at Universal Studios or something similar. NOPE. I saw the Cupboard Under the Stairs set, Privet Drive, The Hogwarts Express and Platform 9¾, Gryffindor common room and boys’ dormitory, and Hagrid’s Hut. I also saw original costumes, the pair of Harry’s glasses that Hermione Oculus reparo’s on the Hogwarts Express, and the Gringott’s vault door to the Sorcerer’s Stone (that still works!) along with the door to the Chamber of Secrets.
Another highlight was learning how they used the green screens for special effects. I got to fly in the Weasley’s car and learn how to maneuver a broomstick as you can see below. 🙂
Overall, I think all of the pictures I took speak volumes – I clearly had a great time and it was even better that I got to share it with Brian. London was definitely magical.
Diaries from Denmark 
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