Platform 9 ¾

5/27/10
Location: London, UK

Another beautiful day in London! Besides our first half day here, which was in the 80s, it’s always cool, in the 50s to 60s, and sunny. Today we started off by going to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower of London is the oldest building used by the British government. The complex was built in stages, and construction began in 1078 with the Norman White Tower (built by William the Conqueror) and concluded in 1238 with the massive curtain wall with 13 towers (built by Henry III). I previously thought the Tower of London was just a prison, but it really has been used for practically everything under the sun: fortress, royal palace, treasury, armory, mint, zoo, observatory, and home to the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. We didn’t have time to tour the Tower of London today, and if I had known that, I would have visited the Tower when I had free time in the afternoons earlier. I just knew we were going there and thought we would, but we only looked at the outside. It sounds so interesting and I’m sad we weren’t able to tour it.  We also saw the Tower Bridge, the suspension bridge with two towers that is an iconic symbol of London.

We also saw the London Bridge, which isn’t as old as the Tower Bridge and has been reincarnated several times. The London Bridge most people think of in their minds when they hear the phrase is the one that is actually now in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. All four of my grandparents have either spent the winter at Lake Havasu or vacationed there for a couple of weeks during the winter, so I’ve seen it in AZ from their pictures, although I haven’t been there myself to visit them when they are there yet!

Then, Kelly had a special tour for us. She is one of the two students on the May seminar with Jonathan’s post-colonialism class. She and Jenny were required to lead an informative tour of a location on our trip. Kelly brought us to the side of London that most tourists never see. She took us to Banglatown, which is comprised of immigrants from many different countries and cultures. It’s more run-down than the rest of London that we saw, but it was also similar to places we saw in India and Egypt. They have street markets that sell everything the residents need, education centers that educate women and teach ESL, hospitals, and a lot of ethnic food restaurants. Kelly told us all about the area, which has seen many migrants come through. For example, a mosque there was previously a Jewish synagogue and before that, a church. It was cool to see the other side of London and realize that it is not at all made up of strictly white English men and women, but is a melting pot just like New York City.

Our next stop that afternoon was Abbey Road, location of the iconic Beatles album cover from 1969. I am not the Beatles’ number one fan, and in truth, I think they are quite overrated. But I do like some of their songs and my brother IS their number one fan and my mom likes them, too, so I definitely had to go visit Abbey Road and take a picture like the Beatles. Abbey Road is in such a picturesque neighborhood and there are always people there imitating the Beatles on the crosswalk. We were there on a Thursday afternoon and there was still a line to go walk across. I was surprised at how busy the intersection was. You actually had to time when you went across because there were so many vehicles and not everyone stopped at the crosswalk like they should. I suppose locals are thoroughly annoyed with the crowds on Abbey Road, but hey, you can’t blame them! Afterward, we went to a store full of vintage Beatles memorabilia and I got a few things for my brother and mom. Those of us whose stomachs weren’t feeling up to eating in Banglatown had lunch at a pub called Duke of York and got some of our favorite dessert afterward at, you guessed it, a geletaria.

There was a few hours to spare after we were finished at Abbey Road before we had to meet at the Temple underground station for our Harry Potter walking tour of London, so Jenny and I decided to hit up Oxford Street and do some real shopping—not souvenir shopping, but every girl’s favorite pastime shopping: shopping for clothes, shoes, and accessories for yourself! A lot of the stores on Oxford were a little too expensive and ritzy for a couple of college students from the Midwest, but we did make some purchases at a couple stores. I bought a couple of lightweight, dressy tops to wear with my business suits during my internship this summer at H&M, which they also have in the US, but I’m convinced they have more selection and trendier items in London. The tops look stylish and professional, but they are machine washable. Score. We were looking for somewhere else to go that we could afford, when we noticed that a third of the people walking by us on Oxford were carrying brown paper bags with the words “PRIMARK, Oxford Street” on them. We thought this Primark store must be something special if apparently nearly everyone we saw went there today, so we decided to check it out.

Primark was indeed something special! It is a gigantic, two-floor store that is like a warehouse of everything you could ever want: clothes, shoes, accessories, house items for men, women, and children. Everything is ridiculously cute and trendy; it reminds me of a cross between Gap and Forever 21. Only a little better, because it is London, one of the fashion capitals of the world. Oh yeah, and everything is super cheap. No wonder everyone had bags from Primark! The downside was it was packed with people and a little difficult to get around all of the racks and shelves with so many excited shoppers. Later, our guide for our walking tour of London would tell us that there were lines (or queues, as they say) down Oxford Street and actual riots when it first opened. I got two summery dresses, two pairs of cute flats, a top, and a belt, all for about 35 pounds, so I was definitely satisfied with Primark despite the crowds. It was so worth it.

After a couple hours of shopping, it was time for our Harry Potter walking tour of London! I adore the Harry Potter series. They are among my favorite books and since I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 5th or 6th grade and read every book the week it came out, I’ve really grown up with Harry, too. Our tour by BritMovieTours took us on a two and half hour walk of London, with a lot of stops to Harry Potter filming locations, as well as locations of other movies such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, Mission Impossible, Entrapment, Sweeney Todd, and more. Our guide, Celia, was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a lot of additional information about London, such as the history of famous buildings, The Great Fire of London, and other cultural facts.

At the conclusion of our Harry Potter walk, Celia took us to the underground station King’s Cross, the famed location of the magical Platform 9 and ¾ in the Harry Potter books and movies—the gateway to the Hogwarts Express. Normally, Platform 9 ¾ is just a brick wall with half of a metal trolley attached to it and a plaque that says “Platform 9 ¾” for HP fans to take a cool photo. However, today was our lucky day! The cast and crew of the final Harry Potter films wrapped up their last day of filming today for the two movies based on the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows!  Daniel, Emma, and Rupert were all gone already, but all of the location props were still there! There was the REAL Platform 9 ¾ signs, and piles of the wizards’ and witches’ trunks and owl cages between platforms 4 and 5 at King’s Cross station! Our group got to actually talk to the location manager and some of his crew (all wearing green “HP7” badges!) about how the final day of shooting went today! It was so, so amazing to see the real-life set of the Harry Potter movies! I can’t wait to finally see the movies in theaters and think “I was there!” Definitely a dream come true for this Harry Potter fan. The only way it could have been better would be to actually see (and meet!) the stars, but I’m still thrilled with what we did get to see.

At the conclusion of our Harry Potter walk, we met up with Scott and Anna, who weren’t interested in Harry Potter. I wish they would have come though because Celia covered so much more about London than just Harry Potter film locations and we saw so many places in the city that we hadn’t previously. Scott and Jonathan had planned for us to eat a pub near the London Reform Club, the club where Phineas Fogg made the bet that he could travel around the world in 80 days. We read the book prior to the trip, so they thought it would be fitting to conclude where Phineas Fogg began. However, all of the pubs and restaurants close to the Reform Club were full of businessmen and women decked out in designer dress clothes while drinking champagne and smoking cigarettes, so we decided those weren’t quite the places for us, clad in jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and cross-body bags or backpacks. It ended up being quite the search for somewhere that was appropriate and my feet were aching since we just got done with our two and a half hour tour and had been on our feet all day. We eventually found a steakhouse that was still serving at 10:00 P.M. so we had our final group meal there.

I can’t believe that as I write this, I am already on my way back to the United States, to Chicago, to Minneapolis, to Moorhead, to home. This trip has been a whirlwind and it has been 14 takeoffs and landings and more bus, train, taxi, ferry, and boat rides than I can count, but the travel has made this trip special. I know other May seminars stay in one location for the entire 25 days, and that is the traditional method of global education. Personally, I am of the other school of thought that the more places and cultures you are exposed to, the better. Do I know any of the countries we visited extremely well? No, I do not and I would never claim to. But, I feel that I have learned quite a bit for the days we were in each city and if you’ve been reading my blog, perhaps you think so as well. I also experienced quite a bit—I don’t think any other May seminar participants can say that they paraglided off a cliff in New Zealand, scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, rode the Star Ferry in Hong Kong, rode an elephant in India, rode a camel at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and walked across the Abbey Road crosswalk in London. I got a good taste of everywhere we went and while I wasn’t immersed in the place or culture for long, I did take away a great deal from my short time there and I know where I would like to return someday. I also learned how to travel and how to adapt to a new place in short order. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that we were in six countries and ten cities in just 25 days. We were really moving, but it was a month in motion that I will never forget and always look back on fondly. I’m confident I made the right selection for my study abroad experience. I went from seeing only three countries (US, Canada, Mexico) to nine! Every day was incredibly rewarding and I can’t wait to go back in my memory every time I look at one of my 1,000+ photos.

Tower of London

Me by the Tower Bridge

The group by the Tower Bridge

Abbey Road

Gorgeous

King's Cross station HP7 set!!

Where's Hedwig?

Going to Hogwarts through the tourist's Platform 9 3/4.