London trip photospam
May. 18th, 2012 02:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oanjaSo I went and took some photos... most of which are from the HP tour (if you discount the 2000+ photos I took of documents and I think we'd better) and I'm posting some now \0/ (because it's not like I should be doing something more productive with my time... oh no, never that!)
So the hostel where I was staying was all the way in Northfields and right next to the train tracks, so the noise was pretty bad as the trains went past, but it was cheap and I got used to the noise in two nights and after that I didn't even notice the trains. The room had a fridge, which was the best part, so I could bring my own food in a not worry about someone else eating it. The self help kitchen was really clean too, so that was awesome too. Here is what the room looked like
I don't think I will ever get over the fact that British houses seem to have horrible windows though. Like who thinks having only one sheet of window glass in enough anywhere else than the tropics... I don't even want to think about how cold this hostel would have been during the winter, or how energy inefficient it must be trying to heat the place.
See? There was another sliding window too, so technically it had two layers, but it seriously couldn't hold any kind of drafts out. (I took this photos when it was hailing outside. You can kind of see the granules on the sill)
The National Archives were in near the Kew Gardens subway station and on the walk over you could see a lot of streets like this. It was a really pretty neighbourhood and I bet the houses cost a fortune there...
Right in front of the Archives building was a small pond and I had fun trying to identify all the birds there every morning on my way in. =)
This one is called 'soot chicken' in Finnish and I think it's a lot funnier name than Eurasian Coot
More birds, a grey heron, which is called the same in Finnish so at least we agree on that one
Okay last bird photo of a tufted duck... (I had more of these, so feel grateful I spared you)
Sightseeing photos. (that text on the McDonalds add is a bit disturbing though)
I love how curved buildings look, they are like magic to me... =D
I forget what day it was, but I finally hauled my ass to see The Avengers again, this time in an IMAX theatre and it was glorious! I take back everything bad I have ever said about 3D. It seems it only takes a ginormous screen to be awesome... So it still continues to suck unless you can afford a really expensive ticket and your country actually has IMAX theatres...
But anyway, as I got to the cinema way too early I decided to go exploring for two hours and took the tube to:
There was this cool poster on the wall...
Where they had this glorious tile thing going on at the station
And then this was right outside. Hee~
I walked for a bit and saw a sign for Reagents Park and thought that might be nice, and it really was pretty
I just got to the gates when I realised that I needed to turn back, unless I wanted to be late for the movie, but it was still worth the walk, just to see a little glimpse.
And here are the Potter photos
It was kind of surreal to actually stand there. And I've never even been a big fan of movies
Hogwarts gates (I'm pretty sad I had my old camera with me and the new one, because the quality of these is not the best)
They had all kinds of odds and ends, which was cool to see
In the books they mention the trophy room and I always thought the idea was cool, but I don't think they ever actually awarded anyone with a trophy for anything. (if you don't count the triwizard tournament and I don't considering how that ended)
Potion masters sharing space peacefully... will the wonders never cease?
The Weasley house! \0/
I think it's pretty random that the hands are made out of scissors. That can't be canon, can it?
And while I'm on the Weasleys here is Ron's bed! They always looked tiny tiny in the movies and they really were small irl too... I dunno why they made them like this, I always pictured great big four poster beds when I was reading the books.
Pretty!
The Dursley's house! It was an outside set, full scale and everything. It was super bizarre to stand there looking at it.
Ministry stuff
I wish they had had the original fountain too
These paper things were my favourite part of the whole tour. They had saved a lot of different things and they were just as awesome as the random details included in the books.
I stood there for ages, reading through all the stuff
a detail from the vanishing cabinet... I can't believe how much detail they bothered with
They also had the whole Diagon Alley front. Very pretty
And at the end they had this huge model of Hogwarts
I think I took photos of it from every angle, it was that awesome =D
And of course I spent a lot of money on the trip and here is a photo of my haul
I got some posters and they didn't even suffer that much even though I had to open the rolls and fold them to fit them into my tiny suitcase. \0/ And yes I got two 1D posters... Not sure I won't die of embarrassment if I put them up on my walls though. I guess we'll see.
Not to mention the last minute shopping I did at the airport, where I got this baby. (I'm reading The Hound of the Baskervilles right now, as it and other classics came with it. It's really good so far and at least I'm finally reading some Sherlock Holmes)
Then because I suffered a bout of insanity I bought these Gryffindor robes from the HP place and now I have to show you a few photos of those... (they were soooo expensive I still pale even thinking about it)
So this is my Hermione cosplay... (The robes actually have a wand pocket on the inside!!! How awesome is that? I think it's pretty cool)
The wig could have been a bit darker brown but I think it's okay overall...
And this is me as Harry (and I spent a lot of time tonight painting the glasses black with nail polish...) The hair is obviously book!Harry hair and not L'Oreal model!Harry hair from the movies. x)
So yeah... The trip was awesome although my wallet and my mom will curse me for it for ages to come... (Mom because she actually paid for most of this stuff. It's not as though I could ever afford to pay off my own credit card bills. And wow this makes me sound like such a spoiled brat... Who would have thought. ^_^;)
So the hostel where I was staying was all the way in Northfields and right next to the train tracks, so the noise was pretty bad as the trains went past, but it was cheap and I got used to the noise in two nights and after that I didn't even notice the trains. The room had a fridge, which was the best part, so I could bring my own food in a not worry about someone else eating it. The self help kitchen was really clean too, so that was awesome too. Here is what the room looked like
I don't think I will ever get over the fact that British houses seem to have horrible windows though. Like who thinks having only one sheet of window glass in enough anywhere else than the tropics... I don't even want to think about how cold this hostel would have been during the winter, or how energy inefficient it must be trying to heat the place.
See? There was another sliding window too, so technically it had two layers, but it seriously couldn't hold any kind of drafts out. (I took this photos when it was hailing outside. You can kind of see the granules on the sill)
The National Archives were in near the Kew Gardens subway station and on the walk over you could see a lot of streets like this. It was a really pretty neighbourhood and I bet the houses cost a fortune there...
Right in front of the Archives building was a small pond and I had fun trying to identify all the birds there every morning on my way in. =)
This one is called 'soot chicken' in Finnish and I think it's a lot funnier name than Eurasian Coot
More birds, a grey heron, which is called the same in Finnish so at least we agree on that one
Okay last bird photo of a tufted duck... (I had more of these, so feel grateful I spared you)
Sightseeing photos. (that text on the McDonalds add is a bit disturbing though)
I love how curved buildings look, they are like magic to me... =D
I forget what day it was, but I finally hauled my ass to see The Avengers again, this time in an IMAX theatre and it was glorious! I take back everything bad I have ever said about 3D. It seems it only takes a ginormous screen to be awesome... So it still continues to suck unless you can afford a really expensive ticket and your country actually has IMAX theatres...
But anyway, as I got to the cinema way too early I decided to go exploring for two hours and took the tube to:
There was this cool poster on the wall...
Where they had this glorious tile thing going on at the station
And then this was right outside. Hee~
I walked for a bit and saw a sign for Reagents Park and thought that might be nice, and it really was pretty
I just got to the gates when I realised that I needed to turn back, unless I wanted to be late for the movie, but it was still worth the walk, just to see a little glimpse.
And here are the Potter photos
It was kind of surreal to actually stand there. And I've never even been a big fan of movies
Hogwarts gates (I'm pretty sad I had my old camera with me and the new one, because the quality of these is not the best)
They had all kinds of odds and ends, which was cool to see
In the books they mention the trophy room and I always thought the idea was cool, but I don't think they ever actually awarded anyone with a trophy for anything. (if you don't count the triwizard tournament and I don't considering how that ended)
Potion masters sharing space peacefully... will the wonders never cease?
The Weasley house! \0/
I think it's pretty random that the hands are made out of scissors. That can't be canon, can it?
And while I'm on the Weasleys here is Ron's bed! They always looked tiny tiny in the movies and they really were small irl too... I dunno why they made them like this, I always pictured great big four poster beds when I was reading the books.
Pretty!
The Dursley's house! It was an outside set, full scale and everything. It was super bizarre to stand there looking at it.
Ministry stuff
I wish they had had the original fountain too
These paper things were my favourite part of the whole tour. They had saved a lot of different things and they were just as awesome as the random details included in the books.
I stood there for ages, reading through all the stuff
a detail from the vanishing cabinet... I can't believe how much detail they bothered with
They also had the whole Diagon Alley front. Very pretty
And at the end they had this huge model of Hogwarts
I think I took photos of it from every angle, it was that awesome =D
And of course I spent a lot of money on the trip and here is a photo of my haul
I got some posters and they didn't even suffer that much even though I had to open the rolls and fold them to fit them into my tiny suitcase. \0/ And yes I got two 1D posters... Not sure I won't die of embarrassment if I put them up on my walls though. I guess we'll see.
Not to mention the last minute shopping I did at the airport, where I got this baby. (I'm reading The Hound of the Baskervilles right now, as it and other classics came with it. It's really good so far and at least I'm finally reading some Sherlock Holmes)
Then because I suffered a bout of insanity I bought these Gryffindor robes from the HP place and now I have to show you a few photos of those... (they were soooo expensive I still pale even thinking about it)
So this is my Hermione cosplay... (The robes actually have a wand pocket on the inside!!! How awesome is that? I think it's pretty cool)
The wig could have been a bit darker brown but I think it's okay overall...
And this is me as Harry (and I spent a lot of time tonight painting the glasses black with nail polish...) The hair is obviously book!Harry hair and not L'Oreal model!Harry hair from the movies. x)
So yeah... The trip was awesome although my wallet and my mom will curse me for it for ages to come... (Mom because she actually paid for most of this stuff. It's not as though I could ever afford to pay off my own credit card bills. And wow this makes me sound like such a spoiled brat... Who would have thought. ^_^;)
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 10:44 am (UTC)Also, I want to see the Avengers in imax too. Stupid Finland, stupid. (toisaalta ne liput olisivat niin kalliita ettei olisi varaa)
no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 10:50 am (UTC)Yeah I hope they would get one in here too (except it would be useless anyway as it would be in Helsinki and when am I ever going to be there...) the tickets were around 13 pounds (but they were already cheaper than normal, because the movie had been playing for a while already) so yeah the tickets are expensive as hell...
no subject
Date: 2012-05-19 02:50 pm (UTC)And I lol'd at that McDonald's sign. srsly...
no subject
Date: 2012-05-19 02:57 pm (UTC)I have no idea what they wanted to say with that? O_o