HRH Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take advantage of one of the many museums that are free to the public in London. My friend AS and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (just 2 of the annual 25 million visitors) and got to look at statues, stain glass windows, and other artifacts ranging from 100 years BC to present day. The Victoria and Albert Museum was funded and built in 1852 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (hence the name of the museum). And currently the museum is home to over 2 million objects, which come from all over the world.

We had a fun time exploring the ancient relics from Europe and Asia (we didn't get around to see much else, with 2.1 million objects there was no way we could see everything). I'm always amazed at the stain glass windows (having taken a class myself, I'm always so interested on how the heck these people were able to do such fine work) and how I wish that it wasn't becoming such a lost art. 

In exploring the Europe wing of the museum we found some fun costumes to try on!

I'm not exactly sure what AS robe was used for, but I know that I'm dressed up as some sort of peasant. (I think she was a priest or religious leader of some sort)

They had a room full of statues that I really enjoyed examining. (It reminded me of the room full of statues at Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice) However, I was unable to find the bust of Mr. Darcy, but there were quite a few Roman Gods and Goddesses and an entire entryway from somewhere.

The Victoria and Albert Museum was also the very first museum that had a cafe attached to it.

This was the courtyard area that separated the main museum from the cafe building. I'm sure its very lovely during the summer months, but we rushed inside because it was quite chilly. Inside the building was this cute cafe that I think is the original from 1852. 

They sold various pastries and goodies to snack on (I got a raspberry and white chocolate muffin) and pots of tea (jasmine blossom tea). We even found a poster that mentioned that you could have an official afternoon tea at the cafe. (which we are determined to come back and do!) In the main room (see above) they also had a man playing the piano in the middle of the pillars. It was so very relaxing. I loved it!

After we had had our snack, we went to the exhibit that we visited the museum for! Currently, until May, the museum is housing a wedding dress exhibit that displays wedding dresses from the 1700's till today. Unfortunately, they did not have Kate Middleton's dress and I wasn't allowed to take any pictures in the exhibit. But I was able to find a couple online so you can see a glimpse of what we saw. 

It's so interesting to see how much women's fashion has changed throughout years whereas men's have only made a few adjustments here and there. I don't remember what year this dress was made or worn in, but it's one of the many that are displayed at the exhibit.

This is the second level of the exhibit, and most, if not all, the gowns on this floor have been made and worn sometime within the past 100 years. Some of the gowns were quite lovely, while others I just shook my head at. (I love the purple dress btw, but it's not something I would want to wear on my wedding day.) They had Gwen Stefani's wedding dress displayed. 

Today was a lazy day. MC is in Ireland with her mom so TP and I went browsing. First, we went to this lovely, overpriced store.

It's a very small store and they don't have much, but it was nice to know if I ever needed anything I could stop by here. They have items such as Goldfish, entire packages of Oreos, cake mixes, Pop tarts, Jiff peanut butter etc. I bought a Devil's Food Cake mix because I plan on making cookies with Rolos in them. (I just need to find some Rolos first) They didn't have any ranch dressing which we were very disappointed about, but TP found some Top Ramen for pretty cheap.

We then travelled on the tube towards the center of London and found nerd heaven at Forbidden Planet. They had a HUGE Doctor Who selection of items along with Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, video games, Marvel and DC and Lord of the Rings, etc. Thankfully, I didn't spend that much money, but I was able to purchase a lovely DW Oyster travel card holder and a HP passport holder.

We were hungry after all that shopping and went to a local pub to get dinner. TP got a HUGE burger (don't worry, she didn't eat it all) and I got a fish basket with a combination of different types of sea food. One thing that I have yet to try in England are the different types of Pie. They have a chicken and mushroom one that sounds good which I think I'll try next time we go to a pub!

Right as we were leaving the pub it started to snow/hail, but thankfully it didn't last long and we were able to head off to our next destination. We had decided it was dessert time and even though it was only about 38 degrees outside we went to get Gelato at a place we had passed in previous travels. 

I was pretty excited...and cold. 

This weekend should be pretty fun. I'm not sure what exactly we are doing tomorrow (probably a trip to Borough market) (sorry if you're tired of hearing about it), but TP's birthday is on Saturday so we'll be going out to dinner. 

Czech me out!

This week has been an adventure! Last night we got back from Prague and let me just say that I am utterly exhausted! I will probably be passing out as soon as I post this and it's only 6:30.

We left for Prague Wednesday night and got to our hostel at about 2 o'clock in the morning. I love driving through the city at night because it becomes something entirely different. Our driver dropped us off at our hostel, gets out of the car to help us with our bags and says "this area of town isn't very safe, don't walk around in that direction" and points down the road away from Old Town Prague. I, of course, did not feel comfortable for the rest of night and had trouble sleeping (the bed was hard and the window in our room faced the main road so I heard cars driving by all night). Our room was really weird looking too, this was the first time any of us had stayed in a hostel, so we didn't really know what to expect.

So in case you can't see very well...on the lefthand side is s picture of the Godfather holding Snoopy and beside it is written "Hollyweird" and then in the middle is Winnie the Pooh roughed up, smoking a cigar thinking ACDC. And on the right is a picture we couldn't agree on who it was.

The next morning we headed off in search of our tour meeting point. We left early (because I was super afraid of being late) and met up with our group which consisted of a group of people from Portugal and and couple from somewhere in Europe. This was a free walking tour given by New Europe Tours and they have tours over a bunch of different cities in Europe. The tour lasted about 3 hours and the lady leading the tour really knew a lot about the city (duh) and told us a lot of history of Prague, which I loved of course. We walked passed the Opera house that Mozart preformed in and got a 30 minute standing ovation.

We walked past the astronomical clock that was built in the 1400's.

The small figurings next to the bottom ring move on the hour (just small things like moving an arm or turning a head). This clock tells the time, the position of the sun, the phase of the moon, the sign (horoscope thingy) and even the day. (Crazy that they could do that back 600 years ago!)

One of the oldest functioning Jewish synagogues in Europe.

The second tour we went on was given by the same tour group, but this time we went up the hill to visit the Prague castle. Which we found out was was not just one building, but many different buildings which were eventually added at different times.

This was just one of the the many entrances to the castle, and each of them were guarded by a set of guards standing outside the gates.

This was my favorite part of the castle, the chapel that was built during two or three different centuries (don't quote me on that). It was gorgeous and big inside and still used for mass and worship.  One thing that I always love about older castles is the stain glass, it amazes me how people made them and I love the detail that is placed in these magnificent pieces of work.

After walking outside the castle, we were able to stop and take a picture of the amazing view from the top of the hill. As you can see it was pretty foggy (and cold) and hard to see the entire city, but it was still pretty lovely.

We then headed down to the river that splits Prague in two (Vltava) and headed over to a famous graffiti spot.

Yes! The John Lennon wall. Now Lennon wasn't killed in Prague, but he was a great inspiration to many people in this city. So in tribute to him, they started to graffiti this wall with all sorts of sayings and pictures. And last year a group of individuals on Nov 20th or 21st whited out the entire wall and just wrote "Wall is Over" claiming that people no longer had to pay tribute to Lennon because the Czech Republic was a free country and whatnot. (I'm not exactly sure about the political side of it because I hate politics) These ruffians were actually arrested for vandalism and now people are back to writing on the wall as usual. 

Our tour guide brought along two cans of spray paint so that we could leave our mark among others on this wall. Yes, I did paint the Deathly Hallows sign on the John Lennon wall. You're welcome. The tour finally ended at the Charles Bridge, but it was too dark to take pictures so MC, TP and I went back Saturday morning. 

The Charles Bridge was started in 1357 under King Charles and was finally finished in the 15th century. This tower behind me is often referred to as one of the most impressive gothic towers in all of Europe (while I haven't seen very many gothic towers, I had to agree that it was impressive, but maybe not in all of Europe). There are a total of 30 statues along the bridge and all of them are replicas. Yes, unfortunately all of the real statues are in museums and collections around the world. Which I thought was pretty dumb, but I'm not in charge.

Friday was a relaxing day somewhat. It snowed the ENTIRE day. Thankfully, it wasn't falling very hard, so none of it stayed on the ground where we were. We decided to use the day to explore and search for a couple of places we had seen while on the tour. One of which was probably my favorite place we visited.

It was a giant chocolate museum/store that sold all different kinds of chocolate and candy. They created some pretty cool things in chocolate that you could take home and enjoy, such as the horseshoes and paintbrushes above (they also had some inappropriate things which I'm not going to talk about). I ended up getting some Caramel Fudge to take home and some chocolate covered pineapple and strawberries that I ate there in the store. After that we decided to take the tram to go to the highest point in Prague.

At the top of the hill we could climb a tall tower (that looks suspiciously like the Eiffel Tower, except smaller) and see the city. There is also a lovely garden area that surrounds the tower along with some buildings and the begging of the last standing ancient wall in Prague (it used to signify the end of the city). I'm sure in the summer it's a beautiful sight when everything is in bloom, but we got to see the other side of the spectrum with snow still sticking to the ground at the higher altitude. In the middle picture you can see a bit more of the castle of Prague and how big of an area it is. I also love all the red roofs that are found in Prague.

We then worked our way back to our hostel because MC and TP had a pub crawl later that night. On the way back we found another delicious treat to try

These tasty things are called Trdelnik and what it is is a type of sweet dough rapped around a metal rod and baked over hot coals and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. They are SOOO good. I would suggest to get one if you are ever in Prague and are looking for a dessert. (just be warned that the also have almond slices on them, YUCK)

Saturday was a short day out, we went back to Charles Bridge and the John Lennon wall to get better pictures in the day and then headed back to Old Town Square (where the clock is) and then back to our flat. On the way back we stopped in a Tesco and got some snacks for the plane ride home. This is what I purchased for my snack 

OH yes! More chocolate! I'm a sucker for it, but I didn't feel bad because: 1. they didn't have any Milka bars in London or in the US and I wanted to indulge while I could and 2. we had done a lot of walking those three days and beyond that I feel like I deserved it! (Don't worry I didn't eat all of it on the plane, I would have made myself sick)

It took forever to get home. The shuttle picked us back up at 4 o'clock and we got to the airport at 4:30 and our flight wasn't until 7:40 so we spent a lot of time sitting around and reading a book (I finished 4 books this weekend alone from all the downtime we had). I was soooo happy to arrive back in London. While I enjoyed my time in Prague, I was happy to be back in London. I love it here so much. We were able to see someone detained at the airport while we waited in line to get through customs, so we were somewhat entertained during the long line. 

Today was a hard day emotionally for me. I'm pretty sleep deprived and malnourished (food here goes bad quick so whatever I had in the fridge when we got back last night I had to throw away, so I've had grilled cheese/quesadillas for dinner/lunch both yesterday and today) and a bit *cough* hormonal. While I enjoyed church and the messages that were shared, I felt on the verge of tears the entire time and I was really missing my moms hugs. Ugh, sorry that I ended with a downer, but it's just how my day went today. The good news is my dad is coming for a visit in two weeks and I cannot wait to see him!

I don't have any big plans this week, but I plan on finding some fun things to do after school gets out on Wednesday. We shall see what happens!

Day to day life

The past couple of days have been a balance between lovely and terrible. Sometime last week I woke up with a terrible headache and it refuses to go away. Sunday my nose was alternating between runny and stuffy and I left church early because I was not feeling well at all.

Other than that. I had the opportunity to go to the London temple with my ward and I really enjoyed the experience. It took about an hour or travel by train and taxi to reach the temple and I think it will teach me that I should go to our own temple more because it's so close to home. 

On Saturday, while the roomies went to Winsdor Castle, I went to see Swan Lake for the first time at the London Coliseum. I LOVED it! I hadn't heard the music before, but it was very lovely and I plan on adding it to my list of soundtracks to listen to! Sometimes I wish that I had gotten the chance to play more sports than soccer, but I wouldn't trade my soccer experiences for the world!

The London Coliseum was a beautifully decorated building that had 3 different levels and you could see the stage quite well from all levels. There was statues in the far corners and the detail was amazing. 

While I was there I sat next to an older couple who spent most of their time traveling for his work and when they weren't traveling they were enjoying theater. The man had been pretty much everywhere: the US (where he studied abroad at Berkley), South America, Australia, Europe and Asia. I think that whatever he did for a living I should sign up for!

School has been getting better. I'm still struggling to remember my classes and where they are, but I like them (when people aren't talking during lecture). I'm a bit worried about the papers that we're going to have to write for our finals and midterms (being a Kines major you don't have to write that much!), but we are also learning how to write them in our seminars, thankfully.

Anyway, that's it for now! (Plus I'm getting carsick) we are on our way to the airport to go to Prague! 

"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home" -JK Rowling

YES TODAY WE WENT TO THE HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!!!
Don't worry I won't post them all on my blog I took over 200 of them, I'll just add some of my favorites and explain as I go along! The three of us, myself, MC and TP, spent over 3 hours in this huge building and I want to go back again and again! Few things I must point out, everything in this studio is the real deal. This is where they filmed parts of the movies, the props and costumes and decorations and sets are what can be found in the movie at some point. There was only 1 thing that I read that was a copy, but I'll get to that later! The two studio lots that was used for filming were ironically named J and K, in the middle of the two was a large backlot cafe (which had butterbeer) and outside sets.

 This, of course, is the entrance:D

While waiting in line to get into the cinema at the entrance to the studio, they have Harry's cupboard under the stairs! It's super tiny and cute. They even have the glasses Daniel Radcliffe wore in the first movie sitting on the shelf in that cupboard.

The first set you get to walk into is the Great Hall (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the front doors or me going into the hall, there were quite a few people in our tour group).

They had two of the tables in the GH and everything was decorated for Christmas! They had costumes of actors between some of the trees and fireplaces. The thing I was amazed about was the size of the Hall, it looks much larger on screen. 

At the front of the GH they had the professor's robes and the hourglasses that held the house points in them and the table that the professors sat in! One interesting fact, the floor is made of actual stone instead of plaster because this was used throughout all 8 movies. 

Outside of the GH, they have an entire row filled with wigs for all the actors. Of course, one of my favorites was Bellatrix Lastrange's wig that Helena Bonham Carter wears. I cannot image that huge thing sitting on my head for hours at a time.

More costumes, these were from the Yule ball (I still love Hermione's dress in this movie)

Next to the wigs and costumes were the gates into Hogwarts that we see in the 6th HP movie (Luna and Harry walk through them together). 

Bigger props such as the Mirror of Erised and the Fat Ladies Potrait were displayed next to the Griffindor Common Room and the boy's dormitory (The mirror didn't seem to be working for me, must have meant that I was the happiest girl on earth at the moment)

The entrance to Dumbledore's office that we see in the 2nd movie (Sherbet Lemon!)

And Dumbledore's office! All of the books that line his bookshelf are just phonebooks wrapped in old book covers.

Potions class and Alan Rickman's costume. There were certain cauldrons that were stirring themselves to add to the magic of class. Apparently many of the jars were filled with bits of odds and ends. It was said that the prop team filled them with toy animals and chopped bits off to make them seem strange. A couple of the jars even have cooked bones or discarded meat from a nearby butchers office.

Magic is Might! As seen in the 7th movie! a bit behind it you can see the windows of the offices seen in the Ministry of Magic. I read that the green tile you seen in the movie throughout the Ministry is actually some sort of wood and then painted with 5 or 6 different colors to give it the shine it has in the movie. 

Transportation! This one flew!

The Knight Bus! I wish I could have taken it to the Leaky Cauldron, but unfortunately it was out of gas.

This was one of the few outside sets. They actually went to Berkshire to film scenes in the first movie, but when they found out they would be using the set for later movies, they built number 4 Privet Drive on the lot. On this house is the only replica found in the studio! Rupert Grint took the number 4 as a memento, so they had to remake the one seen on the house above.

This here is the Hogwarts Bridge seen in multiple movies. Yes, it is crooked, it gives the bridge character and makes it seem old. This is also the bridge that Neville Longbottom blows up in the last movie. 

Of course we HAD to get butterbeer which was tasted wonderful! Although I didn't know that it was a carbonated drink (which I haven't had for 10 years, so it made me a bit sick). 

The next lot was K and it held the larger set (Diagon Alley) and the creature workshops!

Fawkes the Phoenix. Apparently, Fawkes was so lifelike on set that Richard Harris (Dumbledore in HP 1&2) thought that it was a real bird.

I know what you must be thinking and yes, Hagrid's head is in fact a creature. Robby Coltrane, who plans Hagrid is only 6 foot 3 (or thereabouts), so the scenes where you see a giant Hagrid, but not much of a face is where this comes in. A rugby player who was 6'7" or so was placed in a Hagrid suit and had this head fixed onto the top of this suit. The facial expressions could be controlled by a remote off screen.

Buckbeak was SOO lifelike. I don't remember how long they said it took to make him, but each feather had to be put on individually and I'm sure that took forever. There were also 200+ computer programs that had to be run to control his every move (nostril movement, blinking, etc). 

Around the corner was Diagon Alley! And once again I couldn't believe how small the set was! This whole set piece was probably only 50 yards long (maybe less) and it looks huge in the movie!

Through another door was the Hogwarts model used on wide scale shots found in the films (You know the ones that pan the entire school or show the seasons changing). Now this model took up an entire room and 40 days to build. Normally, it's not covered in snow, but we came while everything was still dressed up for Christmas, so there was snow on the castle grounds. 

The final room we walked through was not really Ollivanders, but it was just a room full of all of the wands that were made. I think it was said that each box was pass produced, but the decorations and the stickers were handwritten and there were 17,000 different wand boxes. I don't think they are all in this room (maybe they are) but these all have the names of the people who made every single movie possible. 

After the wand room they had a HUGE shop where you could buy all sorts of merchandise (I had a really hard time choosing what I wanted to take home with me). I really want to go again and I think I'll get the opportunity to go once my mom comes for a visit! If you have the opportunity to come to London, this is a MUST see! It's a bit of a ways outside of Central London, but definitely worth the trip out!