London is so magnificent, you can’t go just once.  So last weekend (Jan 31-Feb 2) a few of us ventured down to London once more with the plan of seeing the Harry Potter Studio Tour, going on the London Eye and seeing Shakespeare’s Globe in mind.  Thursday we headed off into London and hung out a bit, got settled into our hostel and wandered around, seeing the wonderful nightlife sights.  Friday was our day in Hogwarts.  Now, writing about that day alone would be like a five page essay.  It was so unbelievably amazing that anyone who is a Harry Potter fan should make their way to London and to the tour one day in their life.

The moment you enter in, you are walking into the Great Hall at Hogwarts.  The tables, chairs, outfits, as well as the head table are all there for you to see.  From there on, you walk through the two huge stage buildings that hold all of the sets, props and outfits from all of the different movies.  Dumbledore’s office, the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron’s room, and even Hagrid’s Hut.  You can even learn all about how quidditch was filmed and the magic behind may of the props.  Surprisingly enough, some of the props really are magical, such as the sewing needles at the Wesley’s and their iron.  From the main stage, you walk outside where you can try some delicious butterbeer, something I would highly recommend, see the famous purple night bus from the third movie, see Privet Drive and the Hogwarts bridge that is featured in many of the movies but never actually mentioned in the books.

Forging on to the second stage is where the magic of the creatures is unveiled.  Masks of the goblins fill the shelves and, of course, Aragog from Chamber of Secrets is featured high above.  Seeing all of the different characters and how they come to life is such an amazing experience.  Diagon Alley is also in the second stage and walking down it really makes you feel as if you truly are in a magical world.  After going on the Harry Potter tour in London that shows you where different scenes had taken place and seeing Diagon Alley there, it was truly miraculous to see the real deal.  From Ollivander’s Wand shop to the Wesley’s Wizard Wheezes shop, they are all there.

My favorite room, by far, one that in itself makes going on the tour worth it, is the very last room.  In this room is where the real Hogwarts Castle is unveiled.  Hand created with every brick hand painted and even with lights wired through, is the actual castle used when filming the panning opening shots of the Hogwarts Castle.  It is real and it is there and it is an absolutely breathtaking event to see it.

The Harry Potter Studio Tour is definitely one of the highlights of London, but that was not the only place we visited on our journey.  Luckily, London is one of the easiest places you will be able to learn to get around in your life and there is always something to do!  My personal favorite place in London is Piccadilly Circus.  There is always something to do or see in Piccadilly Circus.  Need something to do on a Friday night?  We did, so where did we go, where else but Piccadilly Circus.  Here we were able to watch street performers of all kinds and pick up a comedy show for only £8.

Another place I would highly recommend going though on a Saturday morning would be Portobello Market.  Here are miles of stalls (as well as an all antique underground market with more than 40 stalls) where you can buy all different kinds of amazing antiques, fresh fruits and vegetables, clothes, fun little nick-nacks, signs, paintings, portraits and second use clothing, vintage style.  For us, the market was much too long to walk while we were there, but it was such an awesome place to experience.  There were so many people there from so many different places around the world as well.  I would love to go back one day and venture a bit farther through it now that I know what all there is.

From Portobello Market, we made our way to witness the amazing sights of The London Eye.  It may be a bit pricy at about £19 but it is worth every second of it.  You are able to go around for a half an hour and see everything from up in The Eye.  Big Ben and Parliament are so breathtaking from up high, when the entirety of it can be seen.  When we were there, we were lucky enough to have a sunny, mostly clear day.

After The Eye, we walked along the river, something else I highly promote doing due to all of the street performers.   Walking along you will come across tens of twenties of street performers from a guy playing a tuba that spit out fire, a man sitting on thin air, and Darth Vader talking to Captain Jack Sparrow.  Once you hit Millennium Bridge, The Globe is right there.  Going through The Globe you learn a lot about Shakespeare’s history and the history of The Globe itself and why it was constructed the way it was.  For those Shakespearian lovers, it would be worth your time to tour The Globe and the museum.

The Millennium Bridge, created for obvious reasons for its name, was first built very unstable and would sway with the wind.  Several people were actually killed when thrown into the water from the bridge, so the bridge was reconstructed and reopened and is now safe to walk across.  From the middle of the bridge, Tower Bridge can be seen, and straight ahead is St. Paul’s Cathedral.

My final suggestion, one that I am so happy I accidentally came across, was walking along the river at night.  From the opposite side of the river from The London Eye you can see it light up beautifully blue as well as see Big Ben and Parliament lit.  Pictures here are priceless.  Seeing London at night gives a totally different effect than during the day.  London is an amazing city with so many things to offer and so many sights to see.

While in Edinburgh, Scotland a couple of weekends ago, we learned about The Greyfriars Cemetery on a three hour tour.  Inside Greyfriars Cemetery is a prison now referred to as Covenanters Prison where about 1200 prisoners were kept and 1000 were killed within five months in 1679 by a man called Sir George Mackenzie.  At this time, anyone who was Presbyterian and refused to change their religion by the wish of the king was sentenced to the prison that was run my Mackenzie.

This was not your typical prison you may think of today.  It is outside, and each cell is made of brick and without a ceiling, leaving inmates completely open and unprotected from the outside elements.  Mackenzie was especially brutal to inmates.  There was a rule that after a certain time at night, no one was allowed to move, and if they did not follow this rule, the inmate next to them would be killed, leaving their cell mates blood on their hands.  Mackenzie was known for his pure brutality and has since been nicknamed “Bloody Mackenzie”.  When he finally died, he was buried in Greyfriars Cemetery after having so many deaths on his hands, it has been thought that his soul could not rest.

There have been many mysterious acts that have been recorded surrounding Covenanters Prison.  Many people have found bruises and cuts, been put into a coma, and even completely lost their mind, after visiting the prison in more recently years.  It has been thought that Mackenzie is still haunting his mausoleum and causing all of these mysterious injuries making Greyfriars Cemetery one of the most haunted places on the earth.

I am one of those people who are greatly interested in supposed hauntings and finding out if they are real or not.  For obvious reasons, the cemetery is under lock and chain, not allowing people to wander in and out as they please.   There are, however, tours that run and bring groups into the cemetery.  Those going on the tour do have to note and I believe sign a waiver saying they will not hold the company responsible if anything may happen to their physical or mental health during or after the tour.

I really wish that I had known about the tour before I left Edinburgh because I most definitely would have gone.  Because of this new found information, I am determined to return to Edinburgh one day (hopefully soon) and go on the tour to find out for myself if it really is haunted.

Right in the City Centre of Cambridge is a market that is put on every day, though some vendors do not come if it’s too cold or rainy outside.  You can find anything you might possibly need in the market.  There are stands filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, stands with candy and stands with t-shirts and sweatshirts, even onesies for babies.  One of my personal favorite stands is the stand with all of the fresh bread.  Here they sell homemade fresh focaccia bread, cinnamon rolls, croissants, crescent rolls, and many different types of large loaves.  Right next door is a stand filled with more types of fresh olives than I ever thought existed.  My father would be in heaven there.

Another great stand as you weave through the aisles is where juice is freshly squeezed.  Here you can buy freshly squeezed orange or apple juice by the glass.  You can even pick up a smoothie.  Though the prices are a bit more here, it is for obvious reasons and every now and then you have to splurge to try something amazing and fresh.

If, while shopping away, you find yourself hungry, there is a trailer in the market to clench that hunger.  Or, if you want to walk about a block down the road, there is an amazing crepes cart that is my personal favorite place in all of Cambridge.  Our group may or may not already be loyalty members.  (We might have gone 5 times within two weeks, but who’s counting) With hundreds of options for what kind of crepe you want, at the low cost of between £2.70-4, you can have yourself a great lunch with some great company.  The crepes guy may be the nicest and friendliest person in all of Cambridge (who also may already know us by name).

There are so many different opportunities in Cambridge right outside our door that we never would be able to experience back in Valpo.  Though we do all love Valpo, this experience is one of the most amazing in our lives.  And the crepes and market just make it that much better!

This weekend was the first time that our group really split up and did their own thing.  Caiti and I decided that we were going to Dublin with her sister, Erin, since she was flying to visit.  We should have known the second that Caiti’s mom called saying Erin’s flight had been delayed that this trip was not going to go according to plan.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:05 a.m.  We were not on it.  By 10:45 a.m. when the gates were closing, Erin was still no where in sight.  Caiti and I had already gone through security and customs and were waiting by gate 82.  When we talked to the flight attendant, she said Erin hadn’t even checked in yet.  She had no phone and they couldn’t page her over the intercom.  We had no way of getting a hold of her.  They tried to tell us to just go on the flight anyway and that they would tell her to take the next one out, but we weren’t about to do that.

Finally deciding we were going to miss our flight, we headed back out and to the main waiting area.  However, we would have to go back through security again, and once we did that, we knew there was no chance in making it to Dublin.  We started to pace a bit and figure out what we were going to do.  If we walked through those gates all the money we spent on the flight would be gone as well as the money for the hostel and bus tickets, which was quite a bit of money.  Walking up to the custom service desk for Aer Lingus, we asked him to help us, hoping he could do more than the people from gate 82.  Thankfully, he did.  Somehow, he managed to get a hold of a woman who happened to be talking to Erin at that time.  Caiti was able to talk to Erin on the phone and figure out what we were to do next.  From what we were told on our side of security, Caiti and I would be able to get our tickets and just pay an additional £63 but Erin would have to buy an entirely new ticket for upwards of £213.  With those amounts in mind, we killed our dream of going to Dublin and headed back through security.

After we finally reaching Erin, we found out she was told something much differently, that she, too, would be able to just pay the £63 and we could all make the 12:35 p.m. flight. Jumping on this opportunity, we bought our tickets and rushed back through security, only to be stopped and have our bags searched (something we didn’t have to go through an hour previous when we went though).  Once we made it through security for the second time, we rushed back through the terminal and found our way to gate 84 and made our flight.  It was quite a relief to be sitting on the plane and knowing we would actually make it there this time.

Once we reached Dublin, things began to go a little more smoothly, until we reached the hostel that is.  Our room was on the third floor, which was fine by us.  There were 15 beds, all full and of both men and women.  We walked in to a shirtless man from Istanbul introducing himself to us.  We soon had people from France, London, Bologna, Italy and a few other places sharing a room with us.  This was a very new experience because we had never shared a room with anyone besides our group before and they have always been all girl rooms.  At this moment, I felt at such a disadvantage.  Not only was I a girl, but I was an American girl who only knew how to speak English.  It felt like everyone else in the room could at least speak two, if not five, different languages.

Once we slightly settled in, we needed to head downstairs to get a locker for our belongings, though it was quite interesting to me how many people decided to leave their purses or bags scattered around their bed area free for anyone to take.  As I headed down the hallway, there was a button you had to hit in order to unlock the door to the stairs.  The button was broken.  I brought Erin back to try to figure out the door to see if maybe I was doing something wrong.  After about 5 minutes of playing around with the door, we both came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, broken.  But there was an emergency exit I had seen signs for, so we decided it would be a good idea to venture out that way to see if that led anywhere.  That turned out to be a terrible idea.  We got stuck.

We soon realized the only exit in that dark, dirty, garbage filled stairwell, was a door that was wired with an alarm.  There were doors to each floor, however, each was locked.  Erin and I began to pound on each of doors on the floors hoping that someone would hear us.  After a few minutes, Erin remembered that I had my computer on me-the one my father had shipped to her since my old computer had broke-and if we could get internet, we would be able to contact someone to help us in someway.  That plan was quite short lived though because my dad put a password on the computer that I didn’t know.  I did have my phone! Which also turned out to be a bust because we didn’t know what the calling out number would be to call Caiti and tell her to come let us out. So once again, we were stuck.  The only option we had would be to get someones attention as they were walking into their room, because setting off that alarm was not an option, unless we wanted to be arrested. Twenty minutes after we got locked in the stairwell, a guy finally walked by and let us out.  He didn’t seem to know much English and was very confused by why we were so frantic and in the stairwell.

Dublin did not seem to be treating us too well.  Saturday ended up being a bit of a bust but Sunday did make up for it.  We did a three hour walking tour and learned about the history of Dublin and saw all of the popular places in the city.  We also were able to go to a few pubs and see firsthand live Irish music performed.  In the end, Dublin did find a way to make a girl not want to leave.  Over all, it was a great trip and  a good learning experience.  We never really thought about something going wrong, so in a way, I guess it was good that we did go through this to know how to handle stressful situations while traveling.  I am excited to see the Eastern coast of Ireland, when we see the Cliffs of Moher, later on in the year.