After a year full of traveling in 2017, Sohrab and I were thankful to spend some time at home with our three kitties for the holidays. We even got to enjoy a quiet Christmas and New Year’s Eve with our parents in our own zip code! But it was Christmas morning that was perhaps the most – dare I say it? – magical. A casual morning turned into a whirlwind when the final present made itself known in the boughs of the tree, nestled next to my Hedwig ornament.
But ah, before I give too much away, press play here:
It was an envelope addressed to me. It was my Hogwarts acceptance letter.
I cried. I squealed (I won’t acknowledge just how much I sounded like Lavender Brown). I danced.
And then I opened it.
Perhaps photos will best tell the story:
Oh yes. This man got us the incredibly elusive tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage. In London. In April 2018. Clearly, we can’t sit still for long. We’re going to London!
We spent the rest of Christmas Day, in between preparing for both sets of parents to come for dinner and dancing to the Wizarding World playlist Sohrab created, planning and booking a magical 10-day trip to the place I’ve always dreamed of exploring: London! The home of Platform 9 3/4, Diagon Alley, The Leaky Cauldron…
“Can we find all this in London?”
“If yeh know where to go.”
After we take to the skies on our Virgin Atlantic brooms, we’ll immerse ourselves in wizarding society by staying in the beautiful chambers of the Georgian House Hotel (believe me, you’re going to want to check these rooms out!), which are, and I quote: “concealed behind a bookcase door on the lower ground level of the hotel, along a portrait-lined passageway bathed in candle light.” Sold yet? Me too.
PS – This is how I imagine Sohrab looked while working his magic and getting us Cursed Child tickets.
Using Westminster/Victoria as our home base, we’ll travel north to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour where we’ll get to explore Hogwarts, meet Aragog (if I’m brave enough!) and sip on some butterbeer. On yet another day, we’ll take a walking tour around the city focused purely on Potter.
Since this will be our first trip to London together, Sohrab and I of course want to take some time to see the city itself. So, we’re breaking our trip down into a Harry Potter segment and a London segment. After all, a wizard and a muggle see the world very differently! When it’s time to put our wands away, we’ll move from the Georgian House to the Grosvenor Hotel, a gorgeous space with a lobby to die for mere steps from Victoria Station. It’s quintessential London, if you ask me.
But while we pretty much have our Harry Potter segment figured out, between the studio tour, Cursed Child, and the walking tour, we’re still looking for ideas on how to best explore the muggle side of the city. We’re open to suggestions (Have a favorite place from your travels there? Is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to go in London?) so please let us know what we absolutely can’t miss out on!
