Bit of a late blog today, apologies! I've been at the theatre. Typed this up while I was waiting for the show to start and am now posting back at Rhi's on the iPad!
So today I got up and caught the overground from Canonbury to Stratford (where I unintentionally caught a glimpse of the Olympic stadium!) and then to Gants Hill. I'm fast educating myself on the whereabouts of various suburbs and which train lines are which (already have the colours of the lines memorised, and my phone number!). Here I had another teaching induction with a different agency. Once again it went really well and I had about 6 people who want to meet with me. Everyone I speak to here tells me about the massive teacher shortage they have here, especially in maths and science. So Daniel (my consultant at this one) told me I'm very popular around here haha. So now I have lots of paperwork and lots to research at Jo's next week when I'm staying in the country. Trying to think about where I might want to live, but still unsure at the moment!
Afterwards I caught the train back into the city and met a Harry Potter walking tour near London Bridge tube station. Those who know me well know that Harry Potter was a significant part of my childhood and is still a significant part of my life. JK Rowling helped me appreciate books and reading growing up and created for me a series of books I have read so many times I've lost count.
So when I read online about a tour that shows you various film locations I was on board! I also want to go to Warner Brothers Studios at some stage but I'm waiting for Rachel (roommate from South America) to be free too so we can go together.
The tour started by walking through the Borough Markets. Mum and Dad, these are right near Stephen's place, the four of us will go there when you're here. I had a delish sausage roll!
Our first stop was Bridget Jones' flat from the movie 'Bridget Jones' Diary' (the guide said we were so close to it he couldn't resist). He linked it to Harry Potter by saying that Hugh Grant was originally cast to play Gilderoy Lockhart. Apologies to anyone who doesn't get the upcoming HP references (Robyn, I know you'll get them!!).
Our next stop was the outside of what was the Leaky Cauldron (a pub), then the Clink Prison which JK Rowling says inspired her to create Azkaban (the supposedly impenetrable wizard prison in HP). We saw the Millennium Bridge which the dementors destroy in the sixth movie (Mum - you took a pic of me on it last time) and St Paul's which apparently the astronomy tower scenes were filmed in. HP is the only movie ever to have been allowed to film inside the church! As our guide pointed out this is rather ironic considering a lot of churches condemned HP, yet one of the most famous in the world let them film the movies in there!
Our next stop was Westminster tube station. The Harry Potter movies (8 all together) earned more money than the 6 Star Wars and 23 Bond movies PUT TOGETHER. Woah! As well, Daniel Radcliffe (who played Harry) is the highest paid actor in the UK. So as you can imagine they had a huuuuuge budget to play with. So that's why when they needed to film a scene of Arthur Weasley taking Harry to the Ministry of Magic (the fifth film I believe) via the tube they were able to pay a whopping 200,000 pounds per hour to close down Westminster station to film. How insane is that!!! There was even a debate in parliament as to whether they were able to film there. We took photos of the turnstile Harry went through, got some very funny looks!
We made our way from there to Leicester Square via various other filing locations including the ministry of magic entrance in the street where Harry, Ron and Hermione use the poly juice potion. At this point we saw a fox run from inside Downing Street (where David Cameron is), cross the road and enter the department of defence. The seven of us (guide and six tourists) had a good laugh when we joked that the fox was an animagus (a person who can transform into an animal and back to a human in HP) spying for someone.
A couple more fun facts. One of the directors had Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) each write an essay on their character before he started filming. Daniel wrote 1 page, Emma wrote 16 and Rupert wrote none. Made me laugh, just like their characters! Also, JK Rowling is and was such a smart woman. She incorporated so many tricks and clever things into the books. One example is the names used in Harry Potter. Take for instance Bellatrix Lestrange. She's a deranged murderous psychopath in HP and translated from Latin her name means 'war woman'. Everything in the series was so thoroughly thought through!
The tour ended by going through two little alleyways, one that inspired JK Rowling to create 'Knockturn Alley', an alley where wizards and witches can purchase dark magic, and another one that inspired 'Diagon Alley', where spell books, wands etc could be purchased.
Again apologies if you're not into HP and I've just bored you, but for me I really loved the tour because I was (and still am) so obsessed with Harry Potter. It's cool being somewhere where it all comes to life! My house won on the tour as well. We had to tell the guide our house (one of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I've done various magazine and online things over the years that say I'm a Ravenclaw. I kept getting answers right to questions he asked so I won on points! Fun fact - the best one, he says "no one not from London will get this, what is Big Ben?" and I proudly replied "a bell!" Most people people Big Ben is the tower or the clock face but it's actually the bell inside!
Then I had a smoothie and sat and waited for it to be 6.30pm so I could pick up my show tickets. Picked them up all ok and had a toastie for dinner. The show started at 7.30pm, it was absolutely brilliant! A musical version of Roald Dahl's book 'Matilda'. I loved it! Go and see it when it comes to Melbourne. Caught the bus back to Rhi's and now I'm off to bed. It feels very safe here, I would never catch the bus home alone at night at home!
Looking forward to skyping you in the morning Ian and Robyn!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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