[D]reams

This a phrase that I think most people will always say, "If only I am rich...."
Oh well, this is something that I have been saying all the time when i see something I like or want... and people will just give me a dream-on look that totally bursts the bubble of my fantasies...

And then, i came across this site which seems like a total dream to me... as people who have been reading this blog would have known that I love Harry Potter and have always dream of going to Hogwarts.. Which Harry Potter fan is not waiting for their Hogwarts acceptance letter to go to Hogwarts??? Poor mail service of various countries, they have been framed countless times for losing Hogwarts' letters.. when they obviously did not... or did they??? Hmmmmmmm....

Anyway, it is pretty obvious that I don't have $2699 (i assume it's US dollars) to spare... or any extra cash for a flight in to London... from 27 October until 2 November...

It will be so cool to get myself into London and kinda live an English life for like a week or so... The thing I always loved about travelling is I could walk on a foreign street and try to act as though I am not a tourist and blend into the crowd, whereas I am actually going to tourist spots for sight-seeing... so much for blending into the community...

Oh well... I guess I could write out the itinerary as though I joined the trip... just for self amusement... so please bear with me...

So.... if I were to join to the tour.. I will be boarding a flight to London...

London is still in my 10 places to go before I die list... At least I could go see the Tower Bridge that is not falling down...
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fine, that's lame...

However, there will be a welcome dinner to start the journey... I sure hope it will be like the Welcome Feast during the start of semester in Hogwarts, where you get to see the Sorting~~ Maybe the participants could be sorted into their respective houses... Ravenclaw all the way!!!


The next day, the participants will get to visit the London Film Museum.... I wiki-ed it, it features the original props, costumes and the sets of film... I could spend hours here... I am starting to love film museums since i visited the Harry Potter exhibition last year... and I must splurge on an audio guide.. a museum visit will never be complete without a tour guide or an audio guide because looking at exhibits without knowing the background of it feels like spaghetti without the sauce.. So, I must chase away the cheapskate in me and get an audio guide... it will be worth it~~

Then, there will be a panoramic tour of London in search of Harry Potter film locations.. The hunt really sounds fun.. we will be in an air conditioned coach.. if the coach is something like the Knight Bus, the whole journey will be even more memorable~~ (minus the sudden brakes and turnings.. the passengers might puke their lunch)

Not forgetting, the iconic Platform nine and three quarters at the King's Cross Station... The entrance to the magic..

Day 3, we get to visit Warner Bros. Studio Tour of The Making of Harry Potter.. This is going to be the best experience a Potterhead could get because you get to see behind-the-scenes, experience the sets and exhibits of the film.. I think there's Butterbeer!!!! Just thinking of this really excites me, there'll be sets like the the Gryffindor boy's dormitory, Hagrid's hut, Umbridge's office, the Great Hall... these are the sets I saw during the Harry Potter exhibition in Singapore last year.. I guess it would be somewhat the same but bigger and a lot more exciting with interactive exhibits to play with.. This is gonna be a hell of an experience!!!

Christ Church College is the Great Hall set... Imagine the Halloween Feast or Christmas during the Yule Ball... I think its interiors were also used as the interiors at Hogwarts besides the Great Hall.. it will be like stepping into Hogwarts..

The Bodleian Library... This looks a bit like Gringotts.. Hang on.. google-ing.. Oops.. my bad... it was the  Hogwarts library...the exterior does resemble Gringotts though...

We also get to visit New College that was the set of the courtyard, there's a huge tree there, if i remember correctly, it was the place Harry told Cedric about the dragons during the Triwizard Tournament... and a corridor...if you could recall in Goblet of Fire, the students gathered there to see the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang..

Day 4, off to Lumley castle.. i think this is the set of Hogwarts.. a really magnificent castle.. it overlooks the River Wear and Durham County Cricket Ground which I assume is the Lake and the Quidditch pitch in the movie.. I think~~ besides, we get to stay here!!! staying in the castle is like staying in Hogwarts... I wonder if the rooms will be like dormitories with common rooms.. if they are, that will be superbly perfect!!!

Day 5... we get to take a vintage steam train, the Hogwarts-Express alike passing by routes used in the mvie for the Hogwarts Express... and the Goathland station, I assume, will be Hogsmeade station..
The journey ends n Whitby(Oh, one of my colleague's kampung!!) Besides, the Whitby Museum has the Hands of Glory that Draco used in Half-blood Prince...

We get to celebrate Halloween on that day too!! If only this could be done in one of the Great Hall sets.. that will be so much fun!!!

Day 6... the Durham Cathedral... according to lexicon, it was the Transfiguration classroom, and several sets seen in Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.. check out lexicon
walking around the cathedral give you the feeling of walking on the Hogwarts grounds, making you feel like a real student...

Day7 is when all the magic ends.... breakfast and back to London..

I want to repeat that I did not participate in the tour.. I was just writing this for self amusement because I really wanted to go~~

In the meantime... I'll just continue my journey as Janet Hayden....

So that's all for my dream travel... now it's time for a real dream.. off to sleep I go..

Signing off..
Toodles!!