Express London

The first week of January was boring apart from an infuriating incident involving the power going out mid-laundry and not getting fixed until the next day while all my clothing was sopping wet and I worried about whether or not I was going to have to work the next day. In the end I wasn’t called in. This week was much more interesting as it involved meeting up with Dominique and Sydnee in London. I woke up even earlier than usual on Monday, if you can believe that, and took a cab to Dublin airport. I had a windy hour and a half flight, then an hour and a half bus, a tube trip, and a short walk to my dad’s cousin Kathy’s home in Nottinghill. She was amusingly located right beside Mr. Christian’s Deli, so it wasn’t difficult to find, and the rain only started pouring down after I arrived.

Sydnee had a more eventful start to her trip the day before because she thought Kathy was leaving the key to her flat at a local shop, so she went door to door trying to find it before connecting to a random wifi spot and finding a message that said Luke was home. This day, however, we were starting on our own. We arranged to meet Dominique, who had a seven hour layover on her way to India, at Paddington Station. Sydnee and I did some catching up, then wandered around Nottinghill looking at shops. We came to the exciting decision that Sydnee would come back to Ireland with me because her semester in Wales didn’t start for another week! With that in mind, Sydnee bought Dale a birthday present from a cramped little junk shop that was overflowing with antiques. I won't say what it was until next week. We planned on surprising Dale with her appearance as well.

Three-headed in London

Sydnee and I split up in Paddington Station to make sure we didn’t miss Dominique, and I quickly spotted her from the top of a flight of stairs. She only had one small bag on wheels with her, so "Express London" was a go. First stop on the short two hours was Buckingham Palace. We took the tube so we only had to walk five minutes before the palace was in sight. One of the guards in grey was marching, but it was too late in the day to be the Changing of the Guard. We took a bunch of pictures, then got back on the tube. We arrived at Westminster Station, which was fun because coming up the stairs to the outside world meant getting a face full of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. We walked closer to the Abbey, and then I made sure we crossed the bridge because I knew it would look fantastic as the night settled in. Sure enough it was all lit up with a blue sky behind and the water of the Thames reflecting the lights below. On the other side of the bridge was the London Eye, so we really managed to pack a lot of sights into the short stop, and got Dom back to the train in time. We said a hasty goodbye as the next train wasn’t for fifteen minutes and the one there was leaving right away, so she hopped on board with her tired ankle and we waved her off and wished her luck in India.

Sydnee at Tower Bridge

The next day Sydnee and I went for a stroll in Hyde Park but didn’t find much to interest us in the sprawling fields. We headed over to Trafalgar Square, first taking a roundabout walk through St. James Park, which had flowers blooming on the ground and blossoms on some of the trees. We ate lunch in Trafalgar Sqaure, where Sydnee banged her knee failing to jump up onto the black lion, then wandered in the National Art Gallery. Syd picked her favourite paintings like Dale and I had, but she chose a few instead of just one, including “Coastal Scene” by Theo van Rhssellberghe, “Lake Keitele” by Akseli Ghllen-kallela, and “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh. When we first arrived she took a picture of one of the paintings and a security person came over to tell her, “No photos, please!”

Off to Hogwarts at Platform 9 and 3/4

It was getting dark when we arrived at the Tower of London, but the walk around its walls was nice, and Tower Bridge looked great in lights with the black sky around it. We ended the day with a photo-op at Platform 9 and ¾ in King’s Cross Station, which created a problem with our Oyster Cards. We had to stop in at a tube station and get our money back the next day, and Sydnee had to call in to get rid of an additional charge. Apparently it is vital to scan your card every time you leave a station, even if the gates are open. Sydnee and I were pretty wiped after that, so we went back to Kathy’s for a pit stop, then crossed the road to the Duke of Wellington to share some fish ‘n’ chips ‘n’ mushy peas and then do a little grocery shopping. This trip was the first time I had seen Kathy in a few years, so we had a night in just sipping wine with her and Luke.

Waiting for the house elves to send up dinner

Chilling in the Gryffindor dormitory

We were up bright and early for the Warner Brothers’ Making of Harry Potter Tour the following morning! We had bought expensive tickets because they included a bus ride, and the tickets that came without a bus were sold out in advance. But the bus was decked out in Harry Potter designs and Sydnee had never been on a double decker yet, so we imagined it was the Knight Bus. The tour was incredibly cool. Sydnee took photos of pretty much everything. When we first went in they had us sit for a short movie, ending in Emma Watson, Dan Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint inviting us through the large doors into the Great Hall. Then the screen lifted up and the doors were there waiting for us! It was absolutely bizarre to walk into the Great Hall like we were about to be Sorted. In the next room there was everything else to peer into: the boys’ dormitory, the common room, Dumbledore’s office, the potions classroom, the Burrow, Umbridge’s office, Hagrid’s hut…Outside Sydnee and I enjoyed the Knight Bus, Hagrid’s motorcycle, Hogwarts Bridge, #4 Privet Drive, and Godric's Hollow in the cold sun (and fake snow) with delicious butterbeers.

Kind of scared in Potions class

Privet Drive, the Knight Bus, and Hagrid's motorcycle

Diagon Alley!

At Hogwarts

The next room was filled with animatronics like Buckbeak, who I bowed to and received a nod in return, and a disgusting Aragog. This was followed by a walk down Diagon Alley. After Diagon Alley was a room of incredible sketches, then models, and lastly, a model of Hogwarts. I walked into that room ahead of Sydnee and despite being only five seconds apart, I wanted to turn back and say, “Wait until you see this.” It was stunning. The model was at least four times my height. The lighting kept slowly changing so that it looked like days and nights were passing in the snow, and gentle music from the movies was playing while the room smelled slightly like cinnamon. I hadn’t expected to find a model so awe-striking, but I couldn’t look away, and didn’t want to. I particularly loved standing over the greenhouses. Incredibly, it felt like we were right there and could just walk inside. For the next few nights I had very realistic and enjoyable dreams about Hogwarts.

Hogwarts at night

The gift shop was fun as well. Again, I won't say what I bought for Dale until next week, but for myself I picked up the Maurader’s Map and a jar of Honeyduke’s sherbert lemons, which I had enjoyed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, along with Dumbledore, I’m sure!

We had trouble figuring out our leaving plans that evening. It turned out there was flooding in Wales, which we think made things more difficult than they should have been, and quite expensive. In the end we decided to stay in London a few extra days and take the train and ferry straight to Ireland. So on Friday we journeyed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for an 11 pound tour. It was pretty interesting! We were taken around the thatch-roofed theatre and taught about the acoustics and history. Then we went to the British Museum, which didn’t actually have many exhibits available. Afterwards we stopped at Primark, which is the same as Penneys in Ireland, and Syd bought her duvet. She had to vacuum seal it later in order to fit it in her bag. We also stopped to buy our train and ferry tickets for Sunday.

On our final full day, the market along Nottinghill was in full force so Sydnee and I went for a wander. Kathy and Luke live right down the road from where the movie was filmed. There was everything from teacups to necklaces, antiques, and food. We ended up buying two massive doughnuts full of whip cream and topped with chocolate that we couldn’t even finish. We also bought tulips and white wine as a thank you. Kathy and Luke took us out for dim sum near Oxford Street, then Luke acted as our tour guide as he read from a book of London walks. The coolest part was when we found an old black lamppost with a trapdoor at the bottom where Soviet spies used to leave notes and mark the post with a chalk 8. We stopped at the Dorchester Hotel for expensive drinks in a really ritzy setting of curved purple couches and spiky red decorations. As we left we saw people lined up outside with photos of Sylvester Stallone. I’m surprised they let us in at all!

Kathy, me, and Sydnee at the Dorchester

We had a lamb dinner and chocolate lava cake with icecream for dessert at home, then went out with their friends just down the street to Happy Trails, a downstairs club for drinks which despite being Jamaica-intentioned, had a distinct 70s feel. The best part was when they threw brandy on the ceiling and then lit it on fire! We even got free champagne because one of the bartenders broke a bottle all over Luke. We ended the night at Luke and Kathy’s playing Pass the Pig with large inflatable pigs, and then teaching them all Horse Racing, which was a big hit, all while laughing at Kathy’s huge cut-out of Matt Damon (which we also named one of the horses).

We said goodbye to our hosts in the morning and then began our big trek back to Ireland with all of Syd’s stuff. Our first train was annoying because a lady was letting her little kids run around screaming, plus I was sitting facing the opposite direction of travel, and it was really hot. I downed some gravel but still ended up having a vomiting session in the closed section between carriages. It could have been worse; at least it wasn’t in the middle of the hallway. I didn’t tell anyone what happened. Our stop was minutes away, so we just booked it. It was not my lucky day, however. I have never had such a rough ride on a ferry before! The ship was rolling with the waves and dropping like a rollercoaster. Every passenger was just down, and the crashing sound of the waves against the ship was alarming. But long hours later we made it through, took a cab home, and laughed when Dale reacted to Sydnee's surprise visit the exact way I predicted: pointing at her and saying, “Hey, you're here!”