10.28.2010

Harry Potterville - Day 4

Prepare yourself for a ton of pictures. We had so much fun at Universal Studios. We spent most of our time at Harry Potterville (what we called it...not sure what the real name of the place is). We started out at the Hogwarts Express. It even had steam pouring out!
Next we headed up to Hogwarts Castle for our tour. It was so amazing. So many details. The ride inside was amazing. I think most of our party was slightly ill but I loved it. Talk about amazing. There was a fire breathing dragon, we flew with Harry, and we were terrified by a few dementors. Really I was scared.

Next we went on the hippogriff ride...a bit more mild. Yup that is me looking a bit crazy.

Honeydukes...yummy. The line was out the door. We got a few chocolate frogs and of course some of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans...we tried them a few nights ago. Yes, the Vomit flavor does taste like vomit and the Rotten Eggs...well Zac said they taste awful. I will take his word for it. It smelled awful.

Right before lunch Anne and I tried the Dragon Challenge (a really fast, feet hanging, upside down roller coaster...really fun but I now know how old I am. My legs were slightly unstable as we walked away. Anne of course wanted to do it again. We had lunch over at The Three Broomsticks. So yummy. We are talking really good English food. I had the Shepherd's Pie, Andrew the fish and chips, Zac had the Cornish Pasty and you can see what Anne and Zac shared.

These drinks were my most favorite part about Harry Potterville. The Pumpkin juice was so refreshing in the heat and the Butterbeer was the best cream soda I have ever had then topped with a creamy top. We are in the process of trying to replicate the Pumpkin Juice but I really don't think we can do the Butterbeer. It was just too yummy for words.

This picture still makes me laugh. I was looking for the bathroom and I stopped and asked a man who worked there. He pointed across the plaza and said, "It's a Public Convenience." I looked at him and thought...maybe they charge for the bathroom in England. Then I looked at the sign and I laughed to my self. Does anyone know if they call the rest rooms Public Conveniences in England?


7 comments:

Lisa said...

Cute. I love the large bird leg, yummy. Those drinks sound good. I am glad you had a wonderful time. I think these are the things worth spending money. Way to go.

Lauren said...

Oh my goodness! I love it all...I want to go so bad! Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Nikki said...

J-E-A-L-O-U-S!!! wow!!! looks awesome. we want to go soooooo bad. we love harry potter over here! how fun.

Anjuli Fry said...

Wow!! Thanks for taking so many pictures!!!

Scott & Marcie said...

My FAVORITE day! It was great fun to be there!!

Sarah Keith said...

I am so jealous. I love HARRY POTTER! Did you drive to Orlando? I want to talk more about it with you! I miss you too! Let;s for sure talk on Saturday!

2 Cool 4 School Medway said...

Hi, I stumbled across your blog while looking for photos of Honeydukes and couldn't leave your public convenience question unanswered :) In England, we just call them public toilets these days. Or we'd say "just nipping to the loo". Loo or toilet is the most common expression, but we've been told it's rude to say this while in America as the term restroom or bathroom is considered more polite. We do find the term bathroom quite funny though. Where's the bath? ;)

Public convenience is more of a Victorian term. It was round about 1850 when public toilets became a normal feature of city life. I suspect Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were kitted out with public lavs/lavatories (that's another one)at around the same time, so would've been given this old-fashioned name. Apparently, the term "to spend a penny" (meaning to urinate or that other thing - I am so sorry about this) originates from the Great Exhibition of 1851 where it cost a penny to use the loo. Haha! I feel like I need to wash my hands now :)

Most of the London train stations have pay to use toilets, but generally speaking, spending a penny is free.