Day 9 - You’ll find what you want in the Portobello Road

Message from Chris 

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day, so today we wanted to visit Portobello Market and perhaps keep it easy.  Portobello Market on a Saturday is a pretty unique experience that everyone should try.  Pick the smallest street in London, cram in 100,000 people, plus cars, trucks, baby carriages, all speaking different languages, and that's Portobello! 

Portobello Road

We got to the Market around 10:30 AM and already the crowds were building.  Our first stop was a great shop with pretty, silk scarves, and then onto the antique jewelery shops along the way.  We saw some lovely hat pins that would look great with out costumes that were made with semi precious stones.  We were getting hungry by now, so we stopped at one of our favourite pubs, the Duke of Wellington Pub.  Last year when we were here, it was a traditional pub with colours of red and black and decorated in fairly standard British pub style. When we walked in this time, we just about didn't recognize it as it had undergone a complete restoration and was now painted in California colours of soft cream and teal.  The food was still great (pea soup with cheese toasts, bubble and squeak croquettes, and pork belly lollipops), but the atmosphere wasn't the same.  

Delicious pea soup with cheese toasties

We found our silversmith again in one of the stalls just outside and I bought a small salt cellar with a wee spoon, and a matching cream and sugar set with sugar tongs.  Chelsea bought two lovely candlesticks from him as well.  Getting around was now getting more difficult, so we popped into a few shops for a while.  Chelsea found an adorable vest made from a light tweed wool material, soft brown with accents of baby pink and blue, with fox buttons.  

By this time we'd had enough of the crowds and decided to go back to the Hotel to drop off our bags and figure out what we were going to do for our last afternoon in London.  I think we had enough of crowds, and so we opted out of going to the Churchill War Rooms, but rather to enjoy Hyde Park by going boating.  

We walked through Hyde Park by the Italian Gardens one last time.  It's looking like fall today - the air temperature is crisper and leaves are starting to turn yellow and fall.  I love walking through this park as all age groups are out enjoying it - young familes, old people strolling hand in hand, or all the tourists like Chels and I.  We found the Serpentine Boat Launch and rented a paddle boat for half an hour.  What a work out!  Next time we'll rent the row boat as I'm sure it would have been easier than paddling around.  

Serpentine in Hyde Park

Too cute bird in Hyde Park

As it was our last night in London we didn't want to go far from the Hotel, so we ended up just going over to the Mitre Pub's Lord Craven Grill for a steak dinner.  It was a lovely dining room that they made on the second floor of the Pub for a more elegant dining experience.  Looking like a Georgian dining room, there were maybe eight tables total.  We were the only ones in there at first, Chelsea was snapping pictures like crazy because she liked it so much.  The food was delicious - we shared a salad and then I had a sirloin steak and Chelsea the rib eye.  It wasn't Alberta beef but pretty darn tasty.  We split a crème brulee and then headed home to pack.  Tomorrow we're leaving London and travelling by train to the seaside town of Brighton.  

Lord Craven Dining Room

Day 8 - I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good

Written by Chelsea

The day of movie wizardry had finally arrived! This morning we were off to do the Harry Potter Studio Tour. The trip took us out of London, so we took an above ground Express train direct to Watford. The Studio had brilliant double decker purple buses, reminiscent of the Knight Bus, to take us over from the station. I made my Mum listen to Harry and the Potters, Harry Potter tribute band, on the way over. She didn’t enjoy the music, but I love them!

Upon arrival we visited the gift shop as our tour had yet to start. It was pure madness with kids running all over the place since a school had brought all their students on a “back to school” field trip. They were rather adorable as their excitement and wonderment were infectious. I must’ve looked just like them as I was grinning ear to ear the minute I walked in the door. The things they have for sale are simply amazing. I must give them credit for creating excellent replicas keeping in mind budgets for different people. Everything was available from original prints of concept drawings, school textbooks, jewellery, costumes, props, brooms, candy, and so much more. I spoke with one of the sales ladies and she said the studio tried to create two versions of the most iconic pieces from the film. One that kids could easily buy and parents wouldn’t worry about them breaking, and high quality replica pieces adults and collectors could enjoy.

Our tour started outside the actual cupboard under the stairs used in the film. It thought it was amazing to see just that one piece. Little did I know how much more excited my Mum and I would be in only a few more minutes! A tour guide gave us the riot act on what we could and couldn’t do before we were sat down to watch a short film on the making of the Harry Potter films. At the end of the film the screen rose up to reveal the doors to the Great Hall set.

Anyone who had a birthday was asked to come up and open the huge doors together lucky them. I literally got chills up and down my spine as they opened the doors revealing the great hall beyond. It was a definite piece of magic as the Hall was lit up and they had the theme music from the movies playing as you walked in. The Hall is set up with costumes displays of each Hogwarts house along with the long house tables seen in the movies. Actors and crew were encouraged to graffiti the tables to make them look more authentic.  At the Gryffindor table you can see pieces carved in by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. The front of the Hall had more costumes set up representing the teachers and staff at Hogwarts. I think I took over 50 pictures just in the Great Hall along there was so much to look at.

Drinks table set up for the Triwizard Ball in the Goblet of Fire

Table set up for the Triwizard Ball in the Goblet of Fire. 

Due to filing constraints the beds didn't get any larger as the boys grew older. In the later movies their legs stuck out over the edges by a good foot or so. This was covered up with clever shooting.

In scenes with the Fat Lady you can actually see someone's feet at the bottom swinging the portrait open and close

The common room has a real staircase which connects the boys and girls dormitories

The revolving staircase actually went 12 feet down into the ground so they could have it move up and down

This door actually works! No CGI was used to show it opening in the Chamber of Secrets

After the Great Hall we moved on to the other sets saved along with props, more costumes, and other bits saved from the movie. I won’t go into detail about all of that as it’d take far too long. Needless to say it was incredible. Every step brought with it amazing new sights and bits of knowledge about the movies. My Mum and I were walking around in a bit of a daze as there was just so much to say. Our initial tour lady said the record for spending time at the studio tour is 13 hours! I can see why as our 4 hours spent there seemed very short. One of my favourite bits of information was that all of the portraits used in the movies are based on crew members. Each crew and cast member also has their own wand box with their name on it in the replica of Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Leaving the sets and props area we got to pretend we were flying a broomstick with the magic of green screen. Each person got a set of robes and spent a few minutes pretending to fly through London and Hogwarts. My Mum and I bought pictures of us flying since they turned out really good. It was tons of fun pretending to fly. I was impressed that they even had a fan to make it look like your hair was blowing in the wind. There must've been 50 people in line at a time, but it took us less than ten minutes to get through.

Our next stop was the back lot to see some more sets and for a sweet drinkable treat, Butter Beer! Butter Beer was a delicious foamy concoction that tasted a bit like root beer, buttery shortbread, and caramel. Even my Mum who doesn’t have a sweet tooth enjoyed the taste. I thought the foam was particularly good as it has the texture of whipped cream. Warner Brothers had marketing geniuses when they thought up the idea to serve Butter Beer. It was simply delicious. Outside in the back lot they have the Knight Bus, Harry’s parents’ house, the Riddle grave marker, 4 Privet Drive, and chess pieces from the giant set at the end of the first movie. We found out that the chess pieces were rigged to move and explode if required for their scenes.

Hmm Butter Beer

Riddle Grave Marker

Knight Bus Interior

Next we moved into the makeup and creature department. On display were foam and latex pieces to morph people into monsters, dwarves, trolls, and other fantastical creatures. The two most impressive creatures in my mind were Fawkes the Phoenix and Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Each of Fawkes’s feathers was hand painted to create the perfect silhouette and it was stunning. Buckbeak on the other hand was a marvel of animatronics. Following a short video with Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick) and one of the creature creators they had Buckbeak move, blink, and flap his wings. If I hadn’t known any better I would’ve said it was a real animal as the details were so incredible.

Actual character pieces used on actors

Animatronic Buckbeak

Moving on we came to Diagon Alley exactly as it was in the film. Somehow my Mum and I had reached a lull in people so I was able to take pictures without too many people around. Walking down Diagon Alley made me feel the way I did when I first saw it on film. I had the same wondrous expression on my Harry does when Hagrid takes him there for the first time. The only thing that could've made it cooler was if they had a replica cart ride in Gringots bank.

Last but not least was the scale model of Hogwarts Castle. It filled a room that was probably the same size as the first floor of my house. The Castle is enormous and incredibly with over 2,500 lights placed inside and out to recreate lighting conditions for an entire day. A light cycle occurring every 4 minutes showed how the light changed over the course of a day. It was beautiful to see it lit up as if it was night. If the man hours of each worker were added up it would take over 74 years for one person to make it. The Castle was used to film long shots of the castle as was also scanned in for scenes were CGI was required.

The tour conveniently ended in the gift shop, of course, where I'm afraid I purchased quite
 a few things. I did buy a few things for others including the replica Time Turner for one of my best friends Amanda, just as she asked. My Halloween costume this year will most definitely be Harry Potter themed thanks to my purchases.

After a glorious day filled with movie magic we headed back to London to see The Lion King musical at the Lyceum Theatre. The theatre was gorgeous with beautifully painted ceilings and carved balcony boxes. The musical was also visually gorgeous with fantastically imagined costumes and sets. I think I paid more attention to the costumes then I did the show as they were that unique and beautiful. My favourite part had to be Zazu played using a puppet. The puppet was beautiful and used expertly to create hilarious expressions.

We also had a lovely dinner in an Italian restaurant after the show up in Leicester Square. The food was excellent and exactly what we needed after a long day wandering through the Harry Potter studio.

Day 7 - Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Today was our visit to the Globe Theatre, but we started off the day by taking the tube to Bond Street and stopping in the H & M store for Chelsea.  In this heat it's hard to imagine, but they're selling all their fall line with full coats, wool sweaters, and jackets.  Chelsea bought a few things, and then we carried on by tube to Trafalgar Square.  

We stopped for breakfast at the National Cafe which is part of the National Gallery.  I had the typical British breakfast of eggs, toast, beans, bacon and hash browns, plus blood sausage.  The texture was a little strange, plus it's almost black, so not the most appealing looking food, but it was tasty.  I probably wouldn't have ordered it, but it was OK to try. Chelsea had an order of Cafe Benedict, which turned out to be eggs with Béarnaise Sauce (tons of it), so that was kind of weird as well.  Good thing we were hungry! 

We finished up breakfast and popped into the National Gallery for an hour before going over to the Globe Theatre.  This is one of my favourite galleries in London as it's not as big as the National Gallery, but I think the portraits displayed, along with the historic notes on the subjects give more depth and personality to the portraits.  My favourite exhibit was by Laura Knight- 

a British artist during the early 1900's who helped other female artists by becoming the first woman admitted in the British Artists Academy.  At first they wouldn't let her view the nude models because she was a female, so she would have to paint only from statues, or other paintings, but eventually they relented because of her great talent.  Some of the portraits on display were the gypsies of Nottingham, Ballet dancers of the London Ballet, and every the women in service during World War II.  Her works mostly feature women of all ages with large brown eyes and expressive features.  So wonderful to view the originals. 

 

Trafalgar Square

We made our way to the Globe Theatre by tube, but it was so hot it was brutal.  There was no air whatsoever and there were so many people in the tube that it was difficult to breath.  We got to the Globe and picked up our tickets and cushions and headed into the Theatre.  The Globe is a replica of the original Shakespearean theatre built by the American Actor and Director, Sam Wanamaker.  It's an open aired theatre with standing room in front of the stage and stalls (or seats) at the back.  Our seats were in the stalls and at first I thought this would be a good thing, but unfortunately we were right in the blazing sun.  Luckily Chels and I brought our fans, otherwise I think we may have passed out.  The woman next to me had to be helped out by the staff at the Theatre, one woman in the standing area was taken out by a wheelchair, and another in the balcony was also assisted out.  It was so hot that Chelsea and I only lasted till intermission and then had to leave.  I think if we had stayed we could have been in serious trouble.  We went into the Gift Shop to cool down because it was air conditioned, and then we left the Theatre to get a cool drink.  

 

The Globe Theatre

We went to the Anchor Pub which as built in the 1600's in Bankside.  It was a super cute Pub with a great atmosphere and good food.  After a bite to eat and a couple of Ciders, I convinced Chelsea (with great reluctance) to walk across the Millennium Bridge (known as the Wibbly, Wobbly Bridge) as it was cooler by the river rather than jumping on the hot tube ride.  We walked across the river and made our way up to St. Paul's and eventually the tube station.  As it was now around 5:00 PM, we noticed all the office workers making their way home.  I don't think I've seen a work force that dressed up in a long time - just about every man was wearing a suit, tie, and Oxford shoes.  Made our way home on the Central Line and again all we wanted was to get into our air conditioned room and cool off.  Today was 28 degrees, but with the humidity it really registered around 35 degrees.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler - around 18 degrees with rain - thank goodness! We'll be going to Warner Brothers Studios to see Harry Potter.

The Anchor Bankside Pub

Day 6 - Hail Britannia

Wednesday, Sept 4th, 2013 

Hot, Hot HOT!  It got up to 27 degrees today, but felt more like 30. We walked to Paddington Train Station to catch the Train to Slough where we then had to transfer to the Windsor/Eton train for the final leg. 

The view of the Tower at Windsor Castle from the road

Castle Gates

St. George Slaying the Dragon above the inner castle gates

Pulling into the station you catch a glimpse just a glimpse of Windsor Castle.  The actual town of Windsor is very quaint with tiny shops along cobblestone streets with the usual coffee shops and cafes.  We started off walking up to the Castle following the path along to the courtyard where our tour of the castle's kitchen.  Along the way we passed the moat which is now a beautiful rose garden. It reminded Chelsea of something from Beauty and the Beast as it's a very romantic garden.

Moat Garden

Lilly Pond in the Moat

Governor of the Castle's private garden

Our Great Kitchen Tour started at 12:15 PM and they assembled our group in the State Entranceway which was decorated with coat of arms, lances, sabres, and swords.  There were so many that I couldn't begin to count them.  There was even Persian chain mail from the Crusades on display!From there we made our way down the corridor of the hall to the Under Croft   This is a Stone arched room that has been stripped down to it's original stonework since the Great Windsor Fire in 1982. A fire broke out in Windsor Castle due to a spotlight catching a curtain on fire and in the end it caused over 36 million pounds worth of damage.  As a result, many of the wooden panels and fabrics were destroyed, and because of all the water damage, many parts were gutted down to stone in order to dry and restore the rooms.  While this was catastrophic in nature, it actually benefited citizens of the UK and visitors in two ways; one) Archaeological finds were discovered during the renovation and restoration process that had never been discovered before, and two) Buckingham Place was placed on view to the general public in order to generate revenue to cover the costs of the renovation project at Windsor. 

We made our way to the Kitchen and what a kitchen it was.  It was a large room with large windows that allowed the light to stream in and the ceiling was lined with wooden oak beams like the hull of a ship.  The decorative paneling was new due to the original one being destroyed in the fire, but it followed the pattern that was there before and was made from oak as well.  There were multiple gas ranges, both new and old.  The oldest gas cooker was installed by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, as he was an advocate of the newest technology and back in the late 1800's, gas was a new invention.  That this cooker is still being used is pretty neat - the cooks were offered a new one, but they said that they actually preferred the one that was over a hundred and fifty years old! Chelsea and I drooled over the copper cookware assembled as decoration. 

Along the ceiling was a railing that held a multitude of copper pots, jelly moulds  measuring cups, sauce pans, and kettles.  These are not used any more  but the sight of all that gleaming copper was something to see.  It would have been great to have seen the chefs in action, but as the Queen is in Scotland it's the only way that we were allowed in.  Once she comes back from summer holidays the Castle is off limits for tourists. 

As we were exiting the kitchen tour, I noticed the desk was advertising a "Conquer the Tower" tour that day.  Again, this only happens in August and September when the Queen is in Scotland. We went up to the original tower rampart which offered a great view of the Quadrangle, Queen's apartments, and Windsor town.  We then went up some more steps to the top of the floor added on later by King George IV. On top of the Round Tower was a flag pole flying the Union Jack.  Our guide explained that it was really a Douglas Fir tree that was given to the Queen by the Canadian Government in 1892. A cool piece of Canada that's still standing tall.

The Douglas Fir Flagpole

View from the top of the tower

View of St. George Chapel from the Tower

We then climbed up to the very top of the Round Tower.  This additional 36 feet was added by King George IV as he felt the Tower didn't make a big enough impact upon arrival to Windsor Castle. From here you could see miles around - to Heathrow Airport and even the city of London (26 miles away).  With brilliant blue skies, it was an incredible site.  We still had a lot to see at the Castle, so we headed down to tour the State Apartments.  These are the banquet rooms and state rooms used by the Queen when she is in residence to greet foreign dignitaries or heads of state.  Like Buckingham Palace, it was room after room all rich decorating with gold, damask fabrics, exotic china, silver, and gold.  Famous paintings lines the rooms - from Hans Holbein, Reubens, and Van Dyck.  It really is mind boggling the wealth displayed.  

We finished up visiting Windsor by going back to the town for lunch.  There we found a sweet cafe tucked in at the end of a cobble stone street called the Clarence Brasserie.  With teapots in all the windows and china plates on the wall, it seemed like a great choice for a couple of ladies.  Being an Italian restaurant, we ordered a parmesan, bacon, and avocado salad to start and then some ravioli with bitter greens for our main course. After a couple of chilled glasses of Pinot Grigio, we finished up by having a plate of macarons which looked much nicer than my attempt to make then a couple months ago.  We tottered off to catch the train, but I would love to go back to Windsor again - there's still so much more we could have seen. 

Mummy with her fan and our delicious dessert!

Cafe where we had lunch. 

Did I mention it was hot?  Chelsea and I melted coming home as their air conditioned trains are a joke. We got back into London and couldn't wait to get into our air conditioned hotel room and have a cold shower.  Of course I packed sweaters, rain coat and plenty of slacks - but not too many shorts and sandals.  Tomorrow is going to be hotter at 28 degrees and we're going to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's Midsummers Night Dream.  

Day 5 - Big Girls Don't Cry

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 

It's a quarter to midnight and we're just getting into bed - it's been a busy day! Woke up this morning and popped over to Sheila's Cafe for a bacon sandwich and omelette for Chelsea and I to share.  The hotel charges 15 pounds per person for breakfast which is outrageous, but at Sheila's I can order a tea, coffee, and food for around 8 pounds total.  Proves you just have to walk down the lane a short ways to save money and get delicious food.

After breakfast we went on the tube down to Westminster to board the City Cruise line for the trip down to Greenwich to visit the Cutty Sark and the Fan Museum.   It was another great day for weather - very warm around 24 degrees and lots of sunshine.  We boarded the Red Rover and were lucky to find seats on the outside of the cabin in which to view the Thames and the City.  There are so many famous landmarks that we pass by our way to Greenwich the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and the Globe Theatre.  The trip to Tower Bridge took half an hour and then another half an hour to Greenwich.  Along the way we passed one building called Olivers Wharf. If you were accused of Piracy you would be given a last drink of rum there and taken to the pier. You would then be attached to the pier at low tide and left for three days. After three days you would hopefully be dead, having drowned, or you would then be shot and left to rot on the pier.

Division between Westminster and London

The Tower of London (most specifically a view of the White Tower)

Tower Bridge

Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London

Oliver's Wharf where pirate were given a lost shot rum before being put to death

The building with the red balconies is where pirates were tied to the pilings and left to drown when the tide came in.

Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings

Cleopatra's Needle

We got to Greenwich and went to see the Cutty Sark, a beautiful merchant sailing ship that they've dry docked in order to preserve it and show to future generations. It was originally built to sail to China to trade for tea in 1896. It's a sleek, full masted sailing ship with a narrow hull sheather in Mentz metal (a combination of 70% copper and 30% zinc) used to detract barnacles from attaching to the hull and create greater speed.  The preservation work was wonderfully done, and the Cutty Sark now rests suspended by beams so that it seems to float in mid air.  

The Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark was built to sail fast around the Cape Horn to pick up tea from China and get back to Britain as soon as possible in order to secure the highest price.  Back in the day the first tea cargo to dock could get up to ten extra shillings on a box of tea.These ships were so beautiful with their full sails, but with the advent of the steam engine and the opening of the Suez Canal, they were no longer useful as the steamers could  go up the Mediterranean's shorter route. Clippers couldn't do the route due to a lack of wind currents for sailing. .   

Stern end of the Cutty Sark

We started our tour in the hold of the ship where they would store the thousands of containers of tea.  It must have smelt wonderful at the time. To this day you get a whiff of tea down in the cargo hold. Up on the deck were the crew quarters with their tiny bunks - I can't image how those large men managed to fit into them. The Captain's Cabin was quite nice with a large dining table and small stove for warmth and light.

We couldn't agree more!

From the Cutty Sark we made our way to the Fan Museum as this was a must for Chelsea as she loves the Victorian and Regency period.  This museum is housed in a small, brick house with two floors of fans on display.  The teach you all the parts of a fan ( who knew there were so many) and even hold workshops to construct them.  They also had displays of fans from all over the world - there were even two from Canada from the West Coast Natives of British Columbia. At the end of the tour we exited through the gift shop where we purchased a few fan inspired souvenirs.

Chelsea on the deck of the Cutty Sark

Wheel of the Cutty Sark

We then went to the Naval Maritime Museum where we saw Lord Horatio Nelson's Dress uniform (he was a very tiny man), plus mast heads from sailing ships, as well as an original Royal barge. Chelsea told me she had goosebumps when seeing Lord Nelson's uniform as the bullet hole from when he was killed is still visible on the front. I wish we would of had more time in Greenwich as it was so interesting, plus we didn't see the Observatory nor the prime meridian, but we had to catch the last boat back to Westminster.  There was also a Greenwich Market which looked interesting, but we'll do it next time! 

Figureheads salvaged from former ships

Bottom of the ship sheathed in Mentz metal.

More figureheads salvaged from former ships

Yet more figureheads!

It was time to return to Westminster on the Cruiser so we boarded but to our delight the upper deck was open so we cruised home under the blue skies with a great panorama view of the city from both sides of the Thames.  We had a great guide - they're not professional Tour Guides but rather just the Thames boatmen that provide commentary as we cruise down the river.  Our guide on the way back was very funny and kept us entertained with great stories of the famous buildings, districts, and living life on the Thames.  

We disembarked at Westminster Pier and we barely had time to get back to the Hotel, change, and make our way to the Prince Edward Theatre in Soho to see Jersey Boys.  When we arrived at the Theatre, however, there was a mix-up with our tickets as they weren't there.  This was sounding bad, but the Box Office Manager helped us with our situation.  He had to phone Ticket Master to see why our tickets were cancelled.  In the end, it all worked out as we were upgraded to better seats than our original tickets for our inconvenience and at a much cheaper price.

Chelsea and I loved Jersey Boys!  It's the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their success from their beginnings in New Jersey to becoming world renown entertainers.  I never realized how many hits they had, not even that they sang these great songs such as Sherry Baby, Big Girls don't Cry, Walk like a Man, Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye), Rag Doll, and Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.  As with all London Theatre that we've seen, the singing and music was electric and the audience went wild.  It was like we were back in the 60's listening to their great sound. Here's a link to our favourite song of the night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFToiLtXro

After the show Chelsea and I wondered around Soho from Leicester Square to Piccadilly. It was like Stampede time in the middle of the week as there were so many people strolling, eating at outdoor restaurants, or drinking pints of beer in front of the pubs.  Chels and I split a small pizza at Cafe Fiori and just soaked up the festivity of the place. Chelsea really enjoyed the night life in Soho and wants to go back before leave on Sunday.  It was now after 10:00pm;  but the night was still warm, so we strolled down to Piccadilly Circus and caught the tube home. It was a long day , but such a great one!  Tomorrow, Windsor Castle and the Great Kitchen Tour.