HARRY FREAKING POTTER

On Thursday afternoon, Sam and I were hanging out trying to find something to do the next day.  Then we hatched the perfect plan: Harry Potter Studio Tour London. Brilliant, yeah? So we started doing the research on the tickets and trains so we could figure out how we could get there the following day.  As we were researching, a few other girls on my floor came in and we asked if they wanted to go.  They did, so we then had a group of five going.  Then later that night, we were at the local pub with a bunch of the international students, and there were four more people interested in going!  So there ended up being a group of 9 of us who went, and it was a blast.  We had a 1.5 hour train ride up there with three connections.  We managed to catch all of our trains there and arrived in time to catch the shuttle that takes you to the studio (which was a HP double decker, no big).  When we arrived, it was magical (pun intended).  We picked up our tickets and headed inside, where we were greeted with the Weasley's flying blue car and giant pictures of all of the big characters.  We saw the cupboard under the stairs while we waited to go into our tour.  We watched a short  film about how the books became movies (our guide was an extra in the last movie!) and then watched a slightly longer film about the studio itself.  The screen then lifted up and the doors to the Great Hall were revealed! We walked into the great hall and were pointed to a lot of small details around us that we may not have noticed in the movies.  It was really cool.  From there, we were sent into the main exhibits by ourselves to stroll about.  They literally had every little item from the movies.  They put so much effort into even the smallest of props! I won't go on about all the cool items we saw (but there are pictures!), but I will tell you some of my favorite parts.  First of all, we got a little passport that you had to get stamped at different check points (a fun souvenir!).  There was an outside display of Privet Dr and the Potter's house, along with a piece of the Hogwarts bridge.  They also had the Knight bus and butterbeer (delish)!  But by far the best part was at the end... I turned the corner and my breath was taken away by the scale model of the Hogwarts castle. It was incredible.  Easily the best part of the whole tour.  Then we made our way into the gift shop (which was ridic).  There was everything and anything HP. I got a time-turner key chain, a studio tour key chain, and a post card with Dumbledore on it. :)
We caught the bus back to the train station and headed back to Twickenham (where school is).  There was construction going on, and we accidentally got on the train going the wrong direction and ended up at London Waterloo.  We saw a big, glowing blue circle in the sky and thought it was the London Eye, but we decided we weren't that far into the city (funny story, we were!).  So we stayed on the train and rode it back the other direction home.  We ordered a pizza when we got back late and went to bed.  It was a great day.  I think I can die happy now. ;)