Tuesday August 5th: The whole gang meets up in London!!
Today we all (Me, Charlie, Sophie, and Phil) met up in King's Cross station! Charlie and I met Sophie at Liverpool St. where we then caught the tube down to King's Cross St. Pancras (long name, huge train and tube stations. St Pancras is trains only but right across the street from King's Cross. complicated and ginormous) which is the station closest to where Phil lives. You know what's at King's Cross??? HARRY POTTER! Well, not him exactly, but Platform 9 and 3/4 which is how you get to Hogwarts. Everyone knows this (if you don't, you have approximately one hour to find a copy of the first book and start reading or else). We didn't know exactly where in the station it might be since the station is so big but it is actually by platform 9 and 10, though not on the platform because then you would need a ticket. The line ("queue" as the British say) was inside and then the overflow was directed to wait outside to keep out of the way of people in there for traveling not Harry Potter sightseeing. We waited in line for a bit over an hour but it was so worth it. We had plenty of time to discuss poses, what scarf we would wear, if we would wear the glasses and/or wand, etc. I was sorted by Pottermore into Ravenclaw so I chose that scarf, Charlie chose that one cause it matched her outfit, Sophie picked Hufflepuff because she likes yellow, and Phil is clearly a Slytherin. For the group photo I wore Gryffindor so we could all be different (and there was only 1 Ravenclaw scarf out there). The one lady controlling the line was SUPER enthusiastic and also from Australia. She told us multiple times that it is completely FREE (which is rare in London) and that they also take a professional photo that you have the option to buy. It was a long wait but we had plenty of time to each pose a few ways then take a group photo. Oh yeah, the scarves, there is a person who holds the scarf out to make it look like you're running. We all decided that she has the best job there (compared to enthusiastic line lady, photographer, and people working in the shop). Next up: the shop!!! It is way too tiny for the amount of people it attracts. We squeezed in, looked at our photos, and then I proceeded to buy just about everything. Plenty of postcards, keychains, a sweatshirt (I forgot to bring one with me, now I have something to wear on the plane!), etc etc. Pictures will be on facebook :D and videos. we were bored in line...
After King's Cross we set off to find some lunch. Phil kept suggesting Ethiopian food and some vegan buffet. Nobody was being decisive (besides saying no to phil and to my idea of well, there's a mcdonalds). We found a burrito place and it was fairly tasty. The burritos were huge and my quesadilla was yummy. Then we set off on the great milkshake adventure only to have three of the places Charlie googled no longer exist. Lots of walking, no milkshakes. Icecream shops just aren't as common. We set off toward the Museum of London (taking the tube again) which is in Barbican. Barbican is like a city within a city (in London). It's all connected by walkways above the road which are labeled like streets. It's kinda neat. The museum was really cool. We hit the gift shop first and I bought more postcards and things then explored. The Roman part of the museum was my favorite. It's basically a history of London. Then we tried to find milkshakes (to no avail), said good bye to Sophie, then Phil, then back to Charlie's house! We had spaghetti for dinner (very tasty) then watched "Don't tell the Bride" which is wear the groom plans the wedding without any input from bride or bridesmaids! I had pity for the bride for about 10 seconds then realized she signed up for it! It was funny though. I'm still writing postcards and will be for quite some time.
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