Thanksgiving in London, 2014

When planning for our short Thanksgiving break this year, I decided to head to London. I hadn't been in about a year and a half and I simply love the city. Elizabeth, who was my travel buddy in Iceland this summer, offered to let me stay with her now that she's living in a London suburb.

the only cityscape picture I took

I had a few things I wanted to do while in London, including catching at least one musical...and resisting the urge to see Wicked for the 7th time. So, instead, I bought a ticket to The Book of Mormon, which I've always heard is fantastic. It definitely lived up to the hype. It was so good, extremely clever,  hysterically funny, and a little raunchy. But, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Currently, the two leads are both American and one trained at CCM, which is in my hometown of Cincinnati.

I also took time to venture out of the city to the Warner Brothers Studios where they've set up The World of Harry Potter. A lot of filming was completed in the studios here and they have piles of costumes and sets for you to look at first hand. You can walk down Diagon Alley, drink Butterbeer, and green screen yourself flying on a broomstick around Hogwarts. I really liked the green screen technology they showed, comparing the green screen version to the film version we're used to seeing. They also have the masks and costumes for all the creatures, like the Gringotts goblins and it was really cool to be able to see the masks and listen to the costume and makeup artists talk about their work on a television screen hanging above.

Dumbledore's costume on display in the Great Hall

Right now, everything is themed as "Hogwarts in the Snow", with winter and holiday decorations.

Costumes and props from the Yule Ball

Wigs for Bellatrix Lestrange and Dumbledore

Identical outfits for Harry, labeled with where and when they were needed

the green screen version of the Invisibility Cloak

one of only three places in the world to try butterbeer...

Several of the goblin masks

Hogwarts- this is the model used for all the exterior castle shots

Having lived in Europe for over three years now (how is this possible?) I have developed a few friends in various places and London is home to several of them. I met up with a friend from Milan for coffee, two former ASM teachers for dinner and drinks, and a group of ADEs (Apple Distinguished Educators) who I met in Cork, Ireland in 2013.

catching up with Zach and Elisa

Graeme, Marc and Lauren and I met in Ireland in 2013

It's hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. Eight work days to go and I'll be on a plane 'across the pond.' Can't wait to see all my Savannah friends! 

Are you a Harry Potter fan? You should check out the studios next time you're in London. You can book tickets in advance (a must) on the site linked above and book a convenient, but expensive, bus ride there as well at this link.

You can see the rest of my pics from my day with Harry here.