Thursday, February 28, 2013
Off again...
I will be leaving for Edinburgh, Scotland in a couple of hours. I will be taking a 9 hour bus ride throughout the night. Wish me luck!
Harry Potter Studio Tour
Yesterday, Sophie, Julie, and I went to Warner Brothers studio. We were able to see all of the props, sets, and costumes from the eight Harry Potter movies. Everything was actually used in the movies.
Yule Ball outfits from HP4
Great Hall
Bellatrix's wig. We spoke to one of the employees
at the studio and she said this wig was the most
expensive to make because of the grey hair
and was so heavy that Helena Bonham Carter
had to take it off between shots.
Luna and Lockhart's outfits
Harry's bed. The beds were never made bigger so
towards the end of the series, the actors' feet would
hang off the end, but they wouldn't film it.
Coolest wands. Narcissa, Grindelwald, Gregorovitch
Gryffindor Common room
Sirius' robes
The portraits. Most were modeled after people who
actually worked on the films and/or their families.
Bellatrix, Voldemort, Lucius
Hagrid's hut
The burrow
'Magic is Might' statue
Umbridge's office
Marauder's map
Knight Bus
Potter house
Pivet drive
Diagon Alley
Monday, February 25, 2013
My favorite observations...
My favorite things about Dublin?
1. The Irish drive however the hell they want. If they want to park on the curb, they will park on that curb. They drive up onto the sidewalk and make U-turns in the middle of the street. They park in all different directions and are not afraid to park in a fire zone.
2. The noise the street lights make when it is time for people to cross the street sounds like you are entering a game of laser tag. And their speed limit signs have the speed limit posted next to a picture of a child and a light up "Thanks" or "Slow Down".
3. The way they say their threes and all other 'th' words. Tirteen. Tirty. Tank you. I looooooved it. It made me smile every time. And they seemed to always say things in threes. It is as if they know they say it funny and, therefore, try to say it all the time.
1. The Irish drive however the hell they want. If they want to park on the curb, they will park on that curb. They drive up onto the sidewalk and make U-turns in the middle of the street. They park in all different directions and are not afraid to park in a fire zone.
2. The noise the street lights make when it is time for people to cross the street sounds like you are entering a game of laser tag. And their speed limit signs have the speed limit posted next to a picture of a child and a light up "Thanks" or "Slow Down".
3. The way they say their threes and all other 'th' words. Tirteen. Tirty. Tank you. I looooooved it. It made me smile every time. And they seemed to always say things in threes. It is as if they know they say it funny and, therefore, try to say it all the time.
Dublin
I loved Dublin. It was the first city outside of London we travelled to on our trip and it was so Irish that I couldn't take it. It wasn't like London where the majority of the people are not from the country the city is in. Most, if not all, the people we saw in Dublin, were from Ireland.
There were a few unexpected things I learned about the city and the country, however.
First of all, it is not like any city, let alone a capital of a nation, I have been to. It is small, I joked and said it was the size of Red Bank and it is, for lack of a better term, dirty. Not dirty in an "oh my god get me out of here" way, but dirty as in dog poop everywhere and used condoms on the sidewalk. It is Ireland though, and I half expected it to be rough. The Irish begin drinking early, earlier than in England. The bars were packed by three in the afternoon and the majority of the patrons were drunk already. There were old men falling down outside of supermarkets and teenagers pregaming in the streets. But despite all of this "sketchiness" as I say, I loved it. It was the first place where Americans were not the loudest people in the bar and it gave me a real comfortable feeling. Dublin is the kind of place where you can go and know you will have fun.
We went to a bar on our first night because we heard music while we were passing by. We walked in and the first band playing had a guitar and a BANJO!! Banjos are my favorite instrument so I knew this was a sign that I was going to enjoy myself in this city. The next band had a fiddle and an accordian. The music put me in such a good mood because it felt like Ireland. Every place I go to, I wait for that moment where it finally hits me that I am here enjoying the culture and this is what it is all about. The music did that for me. I ordered a Guinness because it is the capital of Guinness and it was great. I joked with my friend and said they must pump the fresh Guinness in pipes under the city from the factory to every bar in Dublin. I just stood there drinking my Guinness and enjoying the music. What an amazing way to start off the trip.
The next day we went to Howth (see previous post) and did a pub crawl that night. I was just excited to go from bar to bar to see what the atmosphere was like. Each place we went had live music and fun people. We went to one bar that had a band playing with a slideshow in the background with the words of the song displayed so you could sing along to traditional Irish songs. "Crying cockles and mussels, Ah-live, Alive, OOOOOOhhh" The entire bar was screaming it at the top of their lungs and clapping along. I wish I could just relive that moment over and over.
On Saturday, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, although we did not pay the €4.50 to go in because none of us wanted to pay for anything at this point. That is another thing I learned about Dublin- nothing is free and nothing is cheap. My friends ordered nachos on friday night and paid about €10. A Guinness cost €5.35 (it costs £3.75 in London) ((if you converted it, that means a Dublin Guinness costs £4.67 or $7.08!)) This confused me considering the Guinness factory is right down the street. We visited that factory after St. Patrick's and it was actually really interesting. We saw how they made the beer and were able to learn how to pour our own pint. I was never really interested in beer, and still am not, but learning about how glasses are shaped for certain beers and how Guinness' foamy top is actually nitrogen gas, was absolutely fascinating.
And the people in Ireland are super, super sweet. They are willing to help you out in any way they can. When making our way out of the airport towards the buses, a bus driver just sensed that we did not quite know where to go and he immediately pointed us in the right direction of the cheap buses instead of trying to get us to take his more expensive bus. Jessica, the receptionist at our hostel, did not make us pay for the 9 person booking (I thought 9 of us were going for some reason. It turned out to be only 6 of us). She made us only pay for 6 and we were able to move to a private 6 person room with our own bathroom. IF YOU EVER NEED A HOSTEL IN DUBLIN, GO TO ABBEY COURT!!!
I was disappointed to leave the city, but my excitement to return home to London greatly outweighed that feeling. When I swiped my Oyster card to get on the tube, I knew I was home and couldn't be more happier. I think it is saying something that I am happy to be home in England rather than home in America....
There were a few unexpected things I learned about the city and the country, however.
First of all, it is not like any city, let alone a capital of a nation, I have been to. It is small, I joked and said it was the size of Red Bank and it is, for lack of a better term, dirty. Not dirty in an "oh my god get me out of here" way, but dirty as in dog poop everywhere and used condoms on the sidewalk. It is Ireland though, and I half expected it to be rough. The Irish begin drinking early, earlier than in England. The bars were packed by three in the afternoon and the majority of the patrons were drunk already. There were old men falling down outside of supermarkets and teenagers pregaming in the streets. But despite all of this "sketchiness" as I say, I loved it. It was the first place where Americans were not the loudest people in the bar and it gave me a real comfortable feeling. Dublin is the kind of place where you can go and know you will have fun.
We went to a bar on our first night because we heard music while we were passing by. We walked in and the first band playing had a guitar and a BANJO!! Banjos are my favorite instrument so I knew this was a sign that I was going to enjoy myself in this city. The next band had a fiddle and an accordian. The music put me in such a good mood because it felt like Ireland. Every place I go to, I wait for that moment where it finally hits me that I am here enjoying the culture and this is what it is all about. The music did that for me. I ordered a Guinness because it is the capital of Guinness and it was great. I joked with my friend and said they must pump the fresh Guinness in pipes under the city from the factory to every bar in Dublin. I just stood there drinking my Guinness and enjoying the music. What an amazing way to start off the trip.
The next day we went to Howth (see previous post) and did a pub crawl that night. I was just excited to go from bar to bar to see what the atmosphere was like. Each place we went had live music and fun people. We went to one bar that had a band playing with a slideshow in the background with the words of the song displayed so you could sing along to traditional Irish songs. "Crying cockles and mussels, Ah-live, Alive, OOOOOOhhh" The entire bar was screaming it at the top of their lungs and clapping along. I wish I could just relive that moment over and over.
On Saturday, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, although we did not pay the €4.50 to go in because none of us wanted to pay for anything at this point. That is another thing I learned about Dublin- nothing is free and nothing is cheap. My friends ordered nachos on friday night and paid about €10. A Guinness cost €5.35 (it costs £3.75 in London) ((if you converted it, that means a Dublin Guinness costs £4.67 or $7.08!)) This confused me considering the Guinness factory is right down the street. We visited that factory after St. Patrick's and it was actually really interesting. We saw how they made the beer and were able to learn how to pour our own pint. I was never really interested in beer, and still am not, but learning about how glasses are shaped for certain beers and how Guinness' foamy top is actually nitrogen gas, was absolutely fascinating.
And the people in Ireland are super, super sweet. They are willing to help you out in any way they can. When making our way out of the airport towards the buses, a bus driver just sensed that we did not quite know where to go and he immediately pointed us in the right direction of the cheap buses instead of trying to get us to take his more expensive bus. Jessica, the receptionist at our hostel, did not make us pay for the 9 person booking (I thought 9 of us were going for some reason. It turned out to be only 6 of us). She made us only pay for 6 and we were able to move to a private 6 person room with our own bathroom. IF YOU EVER NEED A HOSTEL IN DUBLIN, GO TO ABBEY COURT!!!
I was disappointed to leave the city, but my excitement to return home to London greatly outweighed that feeling. When I swiped my Oyster card to get on the tube, I knew I was home and couldn't be more happier. I think it is saying something that I am happy to be home in England rather than home in America....
The Irish love TOMS, and I love the Irish
View from our hostel window.
Just being Crim and trying to
steal the barrel
I have had this place on my list for almost
a year now. We weren't allowed to take pictures
but I creeped these anyway.
Trinity College
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Thank you, sir.
There was this really cool computer that let you
type in your last name and trace if you had any
relatives that worked at the Guinness factory.
I wonder...
View of Dublin from the top of the Guinness factory.
I couldn't help but keep thinking I was in Willy Wonka.
Going to a factory in the middle of a smoggy, cloudy city.
Gravity Bar
Dublin Airport
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