Last Day in London - May 10, 2013

Our last day in London was interesting.  We woke up after only a few hours of sleep as our new roommates (in our 8-bed dorm) came in drunk at 2 am and proceeded to remain up and party for the next 3 hours - I guess this is all part of our Great Adventure.

We stopped at Borough Market for some fresh bread, cheese and sausage for our lunch.  We took the Tube to Westminster Abbey.  What an amazing and historic place which is 1000 years old!  The self-guided tour moves you through the Abbey with ease and although there were a lot of people it was never super congested - it did feel a little bit like a museum than a church (more so than St. Paul's Cathedral which still had a church feel to it.  Nonetheless, the place oozes history with Kings and Queens and many other notables buried here.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

In was a bit cold out so we settled in at a tour office and ate our bread, cheese and sausage for lunch.  One of the best lunches we have had.  We had decided to take a tour to Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden.  I actually had a nap on the bench waiting for our tour to start (remember we had very little sleep).  Harry Potter studios was great - we are big Harry Potter fans and it did not disappoint.  This is where the movies were actually filmed.

Hagrid and Dobby (you decide who is who)

Great Hall

We saw the Great Hall, numerous props, Diagon Alley, Gryffindor common room and bedroom and many other very cool places and things.  We also learned some interesting facts - one example, is that many of the scenes with Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) actually had a double in them where the double wore an animatronic head which looked exactly the same. They also had a complete model of Hogwarts built with amazing detail.  This was used for numerous outside sweeping shots of Hogwarts in the movies.

Model of Set

 We arrived back in London about 9 pm.  We had dinner at the Slug and Lettuce (they have the best names for things) and then went back to the hostel to pack.  We had a pint at the pub and then went to bed.  Tomorrow we are off to the Cotswolds ...