Monday, July 18, 2011

Great Merlin's Beard!

Since I flew to London on July 13 (arriving on the 14th), I missed getting to see the final Harry Potter movie with my YA lit buddies. But the positive news is that I got to see the movie in London with some librarians. We finally had some spare time this evening and took the tube to Notting Hill to see the movie for only £3.50 with our student cards. It wasn't in 3-D, but the savings made it worth it. Typically a movie here would cost £10 more.

I would have thought that London would be a-buzz with Harry Potter madness this weekend, but it seemed strangely unaffected. However, I did see some cool stuff on Friday night that I saved for today's blog...

Hamleys is a London toy store. At seven stories and 54,000 square feet of floor space, it is the largest toy store in the word. It's also one of the oldest; Hamleys celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2009. According to a sales associate, the store is the exclusive outlet for Harry Potter replica merchandise licensed to the Noble Company. This means that they have HP collectibles, not just toys, that are unavailable anywhere else. HP merch is some of their best selling stuff and even though the final movie has just been released, Hamleys has a contract with the Noble Company for another three years.

 


Ever want to go to Ollivander's Wand Shop? For about £25/$40, you can have a replica of Harry's wand. Or Ron's, Mrs. Weasly's, Draco's, or many more.



You could also practice pulling Godric Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat for a mere £180/$290.


I did see some wizards at Piccadilly Circus (near the limbo dancer.) It's not my best photograph, but the girl in the khaki pants was wearing a Gryffindor tie and had a wand in her back pocket.

 

Our tour guides have pointed out several places used as locations for the various HP films, such as building that stood in for Gringott's Wizarding Bank and the Millennium Bridge. I know I'll be seeing more as the weeks go by.

As you can probably tell, I'm having a magical time in London!

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Last minute bonus!  Hank Green sings his new Harry Potter song!

© Vlogbrothers/Hank Green

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2 comments:

  1. Ms. LehmanJuly 18, 2011 at 4:46 PM

    I better not listen to that Hank Green song - I'm sure it will stick in my head! Great Blog. I am totally going to Hamley's. AND I'm going to walk on the Millennium bridge and try to imagine the wobble.

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  2. LucyJuly 22, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Love Hank's new song, it makes me sad and happy at the same time. I'm also all types of jealous about your trip to that toy store. I can't even comprehend a toy store that's been open for 250 years. That's insanity!

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