Last Weekend in London: Not With a Fizzle but With a Bang

Well the time has finally come. It is my final week in London. I have had such an amazing time abroad and I am so thankful for all of the amazing experiences I was able to have. Since I am leaving on Friday, this past weekend was actually my last weekend. So as the title of this blog says and to quote one of my favorite movies (comment if you know what it is) I went out "not with a fizzle but with a bang" And of course my idea of a bang is the trip I had been waiting months for, the Harry Potter Studio Tour. My friends and I bought our tickets months ago for this and I had been anxiously awaiting for this visit since I decided to study abroad in London. Since my tour was later in the day, and I was about an hour away I was able to have the morning and most of the afternoon to myself. For some reason I woke up around 7 am that morning (probably from excitement) and went to the gym earlier than I ever had my entire time abroad. Since my finals do not stop for Harry Potter I also spent a good chunk of the day preparing for them. Also recently I have been going to Camden Market almost everyday to get some last minute souvenirs and shopping done, as well as to try all of the food I said I would at the beginning of my trip. Today was no exception as I finally had a vegan hotdog from a stand I would pass just about everyday. It did not disappoint, but its also hard to go wrong with anything covered in Sriracha sauce!
After my hotdog I finally left for the studio. I had to take a train out of the city but it was pretty simple then once I arrived there was a shuttle bus that took me directly there where I met up with my friends who had also signed up. We were all super excited and started taking pictures of absolutely everything the moment we entered. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say once we entered the great hall you could really feel the magic, I'm not ashamed to say I almost teared up.


Going through all the sets costumes, and props was amazing. Not only because it was all Harry Potter but it was also cool to learn all about the behind the scenes stuff and the special effects. It was so much fun also just to take a million pictures and to be surrounded by other Harry Potter Nerds
I of course had to take photos on the broomstick simulator. It was so much fun to see myself on it and have the wind machine blowing my hair. I also loved getting photos on the back lot in front of 4 Privet Drive and on the knight bus.
Of course at the cafe they were selling butterbeer, but since I had actually already tasted butterbeer at Universal Studios in Orlando I wanted to try something different and instead opted for the butterbeer ice cream, which was perfect for a nice hot day (finally the weather is nice in London!) It took us about four hours to walk through the studio but it did not feel that long, I was shocked to walk outside and realize the sun was setting.

 This visit was a perfect thing to do on my last weekend and it really made me realize how quickly my time abroad had gone by. I'm excited to see my family and friends in the states but I think a part of my heart has been left in London (at the Hogwarts castle model to be precise!)