Things I Like in London: Harry Potter Studio Tour

I visited Hogwarts.

I still cannot believe it but yesterday I actually visited Hogwarts.

And it was magical.

Harry Potter and all the hype around it will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up with the books. I've read them at least a million times. I used to spend hours in the library checking what names and symbols and places meant. I wrote letters to whoever was involved with this magical experience. I made all props I could think of using whatever I had at hand. And yes, I had a hand-knitted Gryffindor scarf. I was that crazy kid. At least I didn't wear round glasses. But hey - now I do.

But seriously - I was a huge Harry Potter geek. I knew every single name, every single spell, every single potion. I dreamt of buying a book from Flourish & Blotts, I dreamt of trying pumpkin juice and Butterbeer. I dreamt of chocolate frogs and magic wands and invisibility cloaks and flying broomsticks - and it all came true yesterday.

I guess Harry Potter Studio Tour would be exciting for everybody - just because it is truly fascinating how a magical story is turned into reality, to touch all the costumes and see all the sets and have a look at all bits and bobs crafted in such detail.
It was a lot more than that for me, though - you could imagine. I was more excited than all the kiddos there combined and I honestly cried of joy during the whole experience. I wore the Sorting Hat, drank butter beer, ate chocolate frogs and fizzing whizz bees, tried magic wands... I visited Hagrid's Hut, The Burrow, professor Dumbledore's office, the Dungeons, and my most favourite Diagon-Ally. I met Dobby and Fawkes and Buckbeak and Aragog. I knocked on the door of Privet Drive Number 4, I rode the Knight bus, read the Daily Prophet and almost rode a broom. It was amazing.

This was probably my biggest childhood dream - to enter this magical world and be a part of it.
It might sound cheesy in a blogpost about Harry Potter... but let me tell it to you either way: dreams do come true - and you get a warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach. Or it might just be the butterbeer.

I am definitely doing a Harry Potter movie marathon this week - I'm sure I'll see all things differently now that I've taken a closer look at how everything has been made. I'm packed with sherbet lemons and every flavour beans, so it's going to be great.
Unless I get an earwax flavoured bean, that is.