Everything Harry Potter

The reason we ended up in London this summer was my daughters’ passion for anything Harry Potter. Over the years the two of them read and re-read the books many times, and watched all the movies repeatedly. For several years on Halloween they dressed as characters from the series, first as “good” characters such as Hermione, then, as they entered their teens, as wicked, goth-looking Death Eaters. A few years ago they forced us to visit Disney World, where we spent a couple of LONG days pacing up and down Diagon Alley. We were coerced into standing FIVE TIMES in the exceedingly long lines leading to Olivander’s Wand Shop, where my children hoped to be chosen by a wand. Little scientists as they were, they soon realized that the wands seemed to have a pattern: they always picked kids from a specific part of the store, one time a boy, the next a girl. And so, on the fifth attempt, my girls managed to squeeze right into that golden spot. Lo and behold, viola! -- a wand picked one of them! A rather expensive one at that, as we later learned at the checkout counter...

This year, after much begging, the kids finally got their way, and we all made a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Pottermanina. Fresh off the plane, exhausted from a long flight and completely jet lagged, we had to hike all the way to King’s Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4. Those of us who were concerned it’ll be hard to spot soon realized there was nothing to worry about: There it was, right next to the Potter gift shop, at the end of a super-long line of giddy tourists. There were actually two or three 9 ¾ platforms, one next to the other, each with it’s own line and half a shopping cart (the other half supposedly disappearing into the wall), flashed again and again by professional and amature photographers alike.

The next day we went to Leadenhall Market, where Hogs Head was filmed:

And then we crossed Millennium Bridge, which was “destroyed” by Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

When we went to the London Zoo a few days later our very first stop was naturally the reptile exhibition:

Even our only day-trip outside the city was touched by the Potter obsession. Between visiting Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral we squeezed in a quick visit to Lacock Village, a picturesque, beautifully-preserved medieval hamlet. Established in 1232 and continuously lived in, the village is a true gem of authenticity of the kind I find really exciting. It is now owned by the National Trust, and its existing houses date from the 18th century or earlier. Walking around town truly feels like going back in time:

The village, not surprisingly, appeared in several movies, but to my kids only the Potter movies mattered, and only one house was worth a thorough look: the house that was filmed for the Philosopher's Stone as the outside of the Potter home at Godric’s Hollow:

Sadly, we couldn't visit Lacock Abbey, another Potter shooting location, for it was closed when we arrived.

Of course a Potter trip could not be complete without a day at the Warner Bros. Studios. But that, I think, is worth its own post.