Wicked London

Our last full day was spent in London.  There is no way to see it all in one day, but we did our best.  I have also included our Wicked pictures in this blog even though we did this on our first day.

Before we went to Wicked we found a Pub across the street from the Apollo Victoria Theater.  It was perfect, we ate traditional food and because we had a window seat we could watch all the Londoners going about their business.  I must say, Bailey and I commented a couple of times on the blasts of color that scream from some of the clothing styles there.  They are bold and secure in their boldness!  Our traditional meal consisted of "bangers and mash" which is sausages and mashed potatoes.  I read that the sausages got their name bangers from war time.  They were filled with water to make the meat go longer and therefore would explode when they were fried.

I went for the fish and chips.  I'm glad I did, I have always wanted to try British fish and chips.  My stomach loved it, then reminded me how much it loved it all night long.  Felt like a brick but totally worth it.

Wicked was even better than we imagined.  Such a great twist on the Wizard of Oz and I love how they took the "underdog/bad witch" and gave perspective of why they act (or pretend to act) the way they do.  For the rest of their lives, whenever Bailey and McKenna think of Wicked, they will think "toss, toss" and sing the song Popular. 

Before the show we bought the kids show treats.  Um, you can buy a bucket of candy . . . literally.  The Frandsen's now have included in their tight circle of favorite treats: fizzy cherries.  Mark is going back to the UK in July and these are on his list.  We scrambled the night before we flew out to find some, but by the time we got to our hotel the groceries were closed.  The gas station let us down, no fizzy cherries to be had.

Bailey, eating out of her candy bucket.  Don't think for a minute that my wardrobe choice was by chance.  It was totally on purpose!!

Whispering to Elphaba, probably telling her that she really likes her monkeys and that she would be her friend even if no one else would.  Also, pretty pretty please sing Defying Gravity until the day you die, it is that good, even if Glee did cheapen it.

So onto our day in London.  We decided the best way to see London is from the traditional red open top bus.  Good in theory, but big red buses do not get the right of way, they have to wait in line with everyone else.  It worked for us, McKenna took a big long nap, we were rewarded with a happy 7 year old for the rest of the day.

Look kids, It's Big Ben.  Look kids, "It's Big Ben again".  We drove that traffic circle from Chevy Chase's scene in "European Vacation" but our bus driver knew how to get out.  On the first try!

Here is the back of Westminister Abby.  One thing that surprised me about London is that they charge admission for EVERYTHING.  And not a respectful 2-3 euro for cathedral update and such.  Try a whopping 12-16 POUNDS per site.  Dear London, I'm not impressed by that or by your obscene dollar to pound exchange rate.  I will forgive you because Westminister is lovely and I'm enamored with your royalty.

The girls and I in front of the statue dedicated to Queen Victoria.  This is right outside of Buckingham Palace where the changing of the guard takes place.  No, we didn't see that.  Frandsens are no longer fond of European crowds.

Buckingham Palace, waiting for our names to be called to visit the Queen.  Someone didn't get that memo.

We took a side tour into Harrod's.  That place is a whole different shopping experience on a whole different level.  The bottom level is groceries, but like famous groceries.  You are lucky to be buying their famous groceries and you better honor that luck.  Beautiful displays though.  Bailey and I got a kick out of the Barbie section (the whole toy section is just like going to kid heaven, only the largest kid heaven that you can think of).  Here is Prince Edward and his new bride and luckily they were put on a higher shelf than Bride Bella and Groom Edward.  At least they have their priorities right in the Barbie section.  And a shout out to Harrod's for putting the Hannah Montana barbie on the lowest shelf, right'o!

 

I loved the reminder all over the city of where traffic was coming from.  Look left, look left, look right. Or was it that I just loved that the reminder was in English . . . 

Cambridge is lovely!

After our over the top day with Harry Potter and Wicked, where I found out for the first time in my life that driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side of the car, and staying awake from 6:00 am to 2:00 am makes me very ill,  we decided we needed a later morning and a relaxing itinerary . . . Cambridge!

Cambridge = Lovely!  That is the best word to describe it. The very first thing we walked into was a flea market.  Of course we perused it, you cannot pull Bailey and I away from an outdoor market.

Coming out of the market we happened upon King's College.  It really is an immaculate and beautiful landscape around the college and the chapel.

 This is a shot of King's College Chapel from the "backs", the dirt walkway that runs across the back of the colleges.

Luck was shining down on us this day.  We popped into the tourist office (which I do on a regular basis when we travel and I am always rewarded) to find out there was a free choral concert in King's College Chapel that afternoon at 5:30.  Sold!!  It really was amazing.  Mark said that may have been one of the top highlights of our entire experience in Europe, but he has a trained ear and knows what to listen for.  All I know is that it was different, I couldn't understand what they were singing but it was in English, the music lulled McKenna to sleep in 3 seconds flat, and it was really very beautiful. This was the line for the concert.

Here is a shot of Bailey with the college entrance right behind her, and Kings College Chapel to the right.  What we said to her was, "Bailey, see how cool college is?!?"  Especially when you see the students lazily sitting in the grass, eating treats, visiting with friends . . . I'm sure finals are just finishing up.

Speaking of treats, here is the best kept secret (don't really know if it is secret or not) in all of England.  HARDY'S ORIGINAL SWEET SHOP.  First, the Frandsen's cannot in good faith pass by a sweet shop in Europe without checkin' it out.  This one is by far my favorite.  Yes, it had every candy you could think of, but even better was the decor and the feeling you got when you went in.  You just knew every imaginable treat could be found within the walls of this shop. Truly a "purveyor of finest confectionery".  I'd like to be called a "purveyor of finest confectionery".

My favorite wall in all the world.  I don't know why this "keep calm" theme calls to me. I love it, I love the history behind it, the way it looks and how simple the message is.  Unfortunately, when I got home and looked at these pictures, I realized I didn't purchase one canister. What?! Was?! I thinking?!  In my mind I purchased several.  Luckily Mark goes back before we move, he will have a list, it will be long.  He must find a Hardys.

Good to remind people, because they sure aren't paying attention with all the confectionery distracting them!

As we were checking out and waiting for the girls to make their choices, I started looking at the fine details of Hardys.  Check it out: Twinkies at 1 pound and 49 pence, which is $2.33 with the painful exchange rate.  You can't buy Twinkies in the UK, they have to be imported.

Guess what else, you can't buy Froot Loops or Apple Jacks in the UK, they too must be imported at 8 pounds and 99 pence, which is $14.00 a box!!!!  I wish I could "all caps" numbers.  That is crazy talk!  My conclusion is this: it is no wonder America is the fattest country in the US, it looks like we corner the market on sugary refined breakfast cereals and trans fat.  It is that simple folks, we need to give it up, share the wealth. Or better yet, charge $14 for a box and $3 for a healthy alternative.

Ah, finally got my iconic London photo op!

McKenna walking along the "backs" demonstrating her "duck whisperer" talent.  They followed her for awhile, even after they realized she had no bread.  She would motion "come on" and they would "come on".

Yep, Bailey picked a Slytherin T-shirt for her souvenir.  Don't ask me to explain, I cannot.  She merely stated that no one ever picks Slytherin and she felt sorry for their T-shirts.  I proceeded to tell her, "There is a reason no one picks Slytherin, it is because they are the Bad Guys".  She didn't care.

Favorite past time in Cambridge, punting!  All the cool people are doing it.  The Frandsens did not, we spent too much time in Hardy's.  The bridge is called the "Mathmatics Bridge" (I think).  Plus it was right near this spot that we spooked 2 elder missionary's when Mark went out of his way to introduce himself to them.  For missionarys it is usually the other way around.  One was from Delta Utah!!

Found this cute quaint little bookstore in one of Cambridge's back alleys.  Bailey found an old leather bound book of Shakespeare stories.  The store owner was FAB!  Just as you would expect a little back alley book store owner would be, accent and all!  Mind your step dears!

Harry Potter Studio Tours

Now that the Harry Potter movie series is complete, the studio where all 7 movies were filmed over a 10 year period, has opened it's door to let you really have a true HP experience.  The studio, located northwest of London, barely opened its doors in March.  So as soon as I found out about it, I knew we had to add it to our London itinerary. So glad I did, it was so SO much fun!

Here is where it all started, #4 Privet Drive.  This was on the back lot along with the Knight's Bus, Hogwart's bridge to the school, Tom Riddles's headstone, Haggrid's motorcycle, the chess figures, and the Weasley's car.

We also tried Butter Beer on the back lot.  It tastes a lot like cream soda would if you added butterscotch, then they add this thick creamy foam to the top.  It was a flavor bomb in your mouth!

 We started the tour watching a video interviewing the actors that played Harry, Ron and Hermiony.  They talked about their experience on the set and made us aware of all the different shops such as costume, make-up, creature creation, architecture etc.  After the movie, we entered Hogwarts through the main doors straight into the Great Hall.  Here are the girls in front of Dumbledore's costume.

 After the Great Hall we were released to explore on our own, so we used our eyes and listened with our ears to experience the Harry Potter story on a whole new level.

The Mirror of Erised:

 

Snape's Potions Classroom:

 

The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets:

 Dumbeldore's Army Wand Collection:

 Chocolate Creation from a banquet in the Great Hall:

 Dumbledore's Office:

 Collection of wand props:

 All three of Harry's brooms:

  Shopping on Diagon Alley!

 The replica of Hogwart's took 3 months to build inside it's own sound stage.  All the outside shots of Hogwarts were taken using this replica, then the flying owls and the wizards and witches on broomsticks were digitally added.  It was super impressive and pictures alone cannot describe how detailed it is.

 McKenna in the wand room. A wand box (not sure if an actual wand was inside each one) was made for every person that worked on the movie series.  It. was. a. large. room!

 

 The next day while touring London, we made sure one of our stops on the tube was at King's Cross station.  There we were able to "try" to go to Hogwart's!