By Taylor Corrigan*
It’s Wednesday night and I’ve just had a long but great day. I and a few other people got tickets to the Warner Bros Harry Potter Tour! To say that I used to be obsessed with Harry Potter is probably an understatement. My room was plastered with posters, I knew every tiny little fact and would take online trivia quizzes to prove I knew every little fact, and I’ve definitely read the books more than once. I was always convinced (okay, still am) that my Hogwarts letter had just gotten lost in the mail.
So it’s safe to say that visiting the studio was something of a childhood dream coming true. Tears never fell, but boy were they close. Ever since I was little I’ve never been apologetic about my interests, I’m a passionate person who cannot physically downplay my excitement about things. If they ever do HP movie remakes I’ll be the 50 year old woman sitting in the theatre with my Gryffindor scarf on.
It was an amazing tour and absolutely worth the money. I would definitely go again, mostly because it was awesome, but also because it was enormous and I probably missed a few things. I would recommend it to any Harry Potter fan.
Monday we had a tour that has been my favorite so far. It was a visit through the Churchill War Rooms and it was fascinating. We learn so much about WWII during school, and we learn about Churchill and the major battles in Europe, but aside from Pearl Harbor we never had to endure fighting on US soil.
We were given a stroll through the bunker Churchill and many important military figures used during the war. A ton of the rooms were left exactly the same as they were 70 years ago. A lot of this trip has been extremely informational in terms of history. American history is still a baby compared to the thousands of years of history in England; which now will probably make me feel a little bad if I can’t recall a piece of American history…
Yesterday I decided to do a little souvenir shopping, for the family and girlfriend specifically. I decided I’d get everyone else taken care of before I do some shopping for myself because I try and personalize or put some thought into gifts. I’d rather give a gift that will mean something to someone rather than buying 5 London postcards and calling it a day. But I consider myself a pretty good gift giver so I think everyone back home will be happy.
There are only two days left and tomorrow we have one last visit/tour and a play at night. Friday is just class in the morning (oops, yes this is the reason I am in London) and a free afternoon, so I’m going to try and make the most of it!
*Taylor Corrigan is a senior from Iowa City, IA majoring in marketing at the University of Iowa. She is currently studying abroad on the winterim International Business Abroad program in London, England.