the magic and the mundane

1st september is a big day in the wizarding world. this means that it is a big day for tyler.

in harry potter, the hogwarts express departs every year from king’s cross station platform 9 & 3/4 on 1st september at 11 a.m. sharp.

i’m sure you can guess where i was on 1st september at 11 a.m. sharp.

what i did NOT guess was that jude law and eddie redmayne would be there as well–but i’m getting ahead of myself.

i had my picture taken at the platform, browsed the platform 9 3/4 shop, and got some trivia damned right (sectumsempra: for enemies; ron flew from privet drive to the burrow accompanied by tonks) and one not so right (kingsley shacklebolt was the bodyguard of the muggle prime minister, not the minister for magic). not knowing how many people would be there, i showed up actually almost a bit too early.

by the time i was through the queue and done it was about 9:45, so i stopped round the corner to see the british library, which was enormous and exceptionally pretty. i can not imagine how hard it must be to manage a collection of that size. unfortunately most of the collection is closed off to the general, non-member public, but at the centre of the building was a six story tall glass tower which was full of books dating from as far back as the 15th century, all of which belonged to king george iii’s collection. here is the tower as seen from the second level of the atrium:

it was a pretty spectacular sight.

i finished exploring what i could of the library (including an exhibit on the history of civil rights and multiculturalism in britain, which was fascinating) and returned to king’s cross about 10:30 to see if anything else was going on. i had noticed a small stage was being set up while i had been in the queue for the photo-op earlier, and figured they might have something fun planned closer to 11. just a minute or two after i arrived back to a considerably more crowded station, hedwig’s theme chimed over the loudspeaker, and out walked two of the stars of the new fantastic beasts film due out this november.

jude and eddie took pictures with several of the people at the front of the photo queue and did a brief q&a about the film, followed by a quick countdown to 11 a.m., wherein they announced that ‘the hogwarts express was now departing from platform nine-and-three-quarters,’ hedwig’s theme played once more, and then everyone went on their way like it was a perfectly ordinary thing to have happened in a train station.

but that was not all, as i had booked the harry potter studio tour in leavesden that evening.

until then, i had some free time.

i spent the next three hours or so exploring westminster, beginning in green park with a quick stop to see buckingham palace:

followed by an ice cream in the park before a good long walk around to piccadilly circus, back through and down old bond street, and over through a small part of hyde park, which i had thought i had seen practically all of until i discovered the lake:

at which point i knew i did not have nearly enough time to see the whole thing, as my tour was scheduled to begin at five and the main train line that typically brought people to the warner bros studio was cancelled for maintenance.

from there i will let you imagine the various underground trains, rail replacement buses, and private studio buses i had to find to get there and back again.

i would give you an overview of the tour itself, but i have literally taken hundreds of photos and it could take days for me to list all the things i saw there. if you ever get the chance, i would encourage you to see it. it was absolutely fascinating to see so many of the real sets, costumes, props, models, and vehicles used in the films that had such an impact on my childhood. here’s a brief teaser:

n.b. the above model of hogwarts was built for all aerial shots of the castle in the first film and adapted and changed throughout the rest. it measures 50 feet x 50 feet at the base, and probably about 40 feet tall, including the grounds.

it was an emotional experience, to put it lightly, and it took me about 3 hours and 45 minutes to go through the whole tour.

by the time i had caught all my buses and trains back to the flat in southwark, it was past 10 p.m. and i was exhausted.

i had a video chat with my family around 11, and got to sleep just after midnight, feeling inspired, fulfilled, and absolutely magical.

…

i woke up today before 7 o’clock–surprisingly early, considering the day i had had yesterday–and spent most of this morning and early afternoon in markets. london really loves its weekend markets.

before leaving southwark, i stopped by a spot around the corner which my airbnb host elle had recommended, aptly named ‘where the pancakes are.’ obviously pancakes were consumed, and they were really lovely.

my first stop for the day was the sunday flower market in shoreditch, which was jam-packed and full of flowers, some of which were very unfamiliar to me. attached is a brief sweep of the mouth of the beast, which stretched for several blocks and was even more crowded toward the middle.

having no place to put flowers, i did not purchase anything, and spent a brief while wandering around the east end before heading to the brick lane street market, which opened at noon:

brick lane was an entirely different experience, full of great street food and plenty of art. whereas the flower market was classical and timeless, brick lane lives decidedly in the now.

while in brick lane i met a collage artist who is about to be published in vice magazine and sampled colour-changing teas and tried on very strangely shaped sunglasses and stopped by a wonderful little bookstore that forced me to remind myself that i don’t have the room in my backpack for a traveling library before i was tempted to buy the place out.

by about this time, i was beginning to feel the aftermath of all the walking i have done over the last few days. around 3 o’clock i arrived back at the flat, spending most of the rest of today relaxing so as to alleviate the pain in my calves and ankles.

for all the things i’ve seen over the last few days, i’m astounded by the things i still haven’t gotten near. i’ve hardly been into the more posh west end, and only seen a few boroughs in the east end, but i feel as though i’ve seen more people, more places, more ideas and things and all the other types of concrete and abstract nouns–generally, more than i feel i’ve ever seen before. i can’t wait to see what else is out there.

maybe slightly less excited to do all the walking, but i’m sure that’ll have passed after a good night’s sleep.