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  • Day 4

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!

    December 17, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!!
    It was a relatively early start to the birthday celebrations. We had big plans which meant we needed to be on the Underground by 8am. We filled a big paper bag with delicious pastries and coffee from Paul’s patisserie (our local) before jumping on the train, destination, you guessed it, Harry Potter World at Warners Bros studios to celebrate the big 24th birthday!
    It was about an hour on a few trains before we made it to the Night Bus bus stop at Watford Junction. It was cold and rainy, the perfect day for exploring the world of Harry Potter.

    We rolled in on the bus, grabbed our audio guided tour kits and got in line for the entrance. We entered the entire studio through the great doors of the Hogwarts Great Hall. As it was her birthday, Jo had the honours of actually opening the doors for everyone! It’s true, I may have been more excited for her than she was.
    And then we were off into the world of witchcraft and wizardry!

    There was soooooo much to see in this place! From interesting facts about the making of, to thousands and thousands of genuine props used throughout the 8 Harry Potter Films. We couldn’t believe the amount of effort and detail that actually went into making these movies. The amazing special effects and the tiniest of detailed props that went into the sets was remarkable. It was pretty surreal for Jo to be able to look at the making of one of her favourite stories from childhood.
    As we wandered through this amazing world, we hit lunchtime and hadn’t even scratched the surface. We stopped for delicious butter beers and questionable hot dogs before continuing on.
    It was so so impressive to see how they put these films together and interesting how it was literally hundreds of people's entire lives for the 10 years of production. Once you enter the studio it was just another world.
    Highlights would have to have been the sheer scale of some of the sets like Gringott’s bank, the detail in the huge Hogwarts model castle they used for long shots, and of course the Hogwarts Express steam train. All in all it was an incredible experience!
    To be able to see behind the scenes of some of the greatest movies made was amazing.

    From there we headed back home before Jo and I headed out to dinner and a show to keep the birthday celebrations going. Dinner was an amazing rooftop Italian restaurant for pizza, pasta and delicious desserts before we heading off to the world's longest playing play, The Mousetrap, an Agatha Christie classic.
    The play was excellent, however both of us were so tired we did struggle through it. Jo actually fell asleep right before the killer was revealed and missed the most critical moment in the whole play. A brief overview was of course given on the train home.
    The lead actor swore us to secrecy in the tradition of Mousetrap and we made our way back home. Exhausted from a big day of celebrating we snuck back into the house trying not to wake the little Lynch family and crashed out.
    A pretty unique birthday well spent! 🎉

    Asher ☺️
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