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London, UK

 For this trip, our main destination is Scandinavia - Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. However, mom and I couldn’t resist a long layover in London. We started off with a 10 hour flight direct from San Francisco to London on United Airlines. We got 2 meals on the plane and were able to pass the time reading and sleeping.

We landed early Tuesday morning and after making it through border patrol and customs, stored our bags at the airport before jumping on the underground train to central London. We headed to Kings Cross station, where we were scheduled to meet up with a walking tour. We arrived about an hour early so we got some coffee and walked around the block to see St. Pancras Station, the British Library, and the Francis Crick Institute.





Back inside, we met up with our tour group at Platform 9 3/4 and then headed out. Our tour was focused on locations related to Harry Potter - places that inspired the story and places where they actually filmed. We started at Cecil Court, the inspiration for Diagon Alley, and Goodwin’s Court, the inspiration for Knockturn Alley.





We saw the Palace Theater, where the Cursed Child Play is currently showing. In the US, the play has been condensed down to one part, but in the UK they’re still showing the original 2 part version.


Next we headed over to Leicester Square where they’ve installed a series of statues for “scenes in the square” featuring popular characters like Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, Mr. Bean, Paddington Bear, and Batman.





Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery are where they held the premiere for the final movie.



We walked by Scotland Yard, outside of which scenes for the 7th film were shot.




We saw the changing of the horse guards, the London Eye, and the Prime Minister’s residence.




Made a brief stop to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey



Before our final stop at the River Thames to see London Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.



After our tour, mom and I made one final stop at the House of MinaLima. Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima are the two main graphic designers for the Harry Potter films and they have a small gallery and shop here.








Finally it was time to head back to the Airport, pick up our bags, and get ready for our flight to Stockholm, Sweden. 



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