London Day Two: Harry Potter Tour -- London

Back in London, we were in the homestretch of our tour. King's Cross rail station was the first stop.

The station has had to learn to deal with Harry Potter enthusiasts and posted this helpful sign on where to find Platform 9¾, where young witches and wizards catch the Hogwarts Express.

We didn't have a Hogwarts ticket, but we still wanted to give it a try.

Emilie making her way onto Platform 9¾. Harry Potter fans were driving the station workers crazy crashing luggage trolleys into the actual archway used in the films, so the station had this little photo op built to placate them.

Percy showing how it's done in Sorcerer's Stone

Someday, Rebecca will appreciate having this photo.

The footbridge in King's Cross where Hagrid leaves Harry in Sorcerer's Stone and also where...

...members of the Order in Order of the Phoenix escort Harry to the Hogwarts Express, was demolished as part of King's Cross renovations.

Above us you can see the little that remains of that footbridge. This is also where Harry dreams of seeing....

...He-who-must-not-be-named while on his way to Hogwarts in Order of the Phoenix.

James' trolley just disappeared when we snapped this photo. This is the actual archway used in Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.

Micaela refused to pose for this picture until we told her that we will never again have this opportunity.

Desperate pleas did me no good. I could not get onto Platform 9¾. It's all Dobby's fault. Next to me you can see part of an obstruction put there to keep Potterphiles from smashing luggage trolleys into the archway...

...just like the Boy-who-lived himself did in Chamber of Secrets.

Ron flies the blue Ford Anglia not by King's Cross in Chamber of Secrets,...

...rather by St. Pancras Rail Station, located right across the street.

In Sorcerer's Stone, Harry and Hagrid walk through Leadenhall Market, a covered market, on their way to the Leaky Cauldron. The market dates back to the fourteenth century and stands on what was the center of Roman London.

As Gordon led us through the market, I turned my head, squealed, and snapped this very bad photo. Gordon told me I was getting ahead of myself. Do you see anything familiar?

Leadenhall Market is located on Gracechurch Street, a street mentioned in Pride and Prejudice as the home of Lizzy and Jane's aunt and uncle. A twofer!

This dragon fixture commemorates St. George and his victory over his fire-breathing enemy. St. George is the patron saint of England, but we've seen statues of him all over Germany as well.

St. George's emblem, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England, and part of the British flag. And it decorated a barrier in Leadenhall Market right below the dragon.

What had caught my attention earlier was the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron from Sorcerer's Stone. In the film, the woodwork around the door is black, not blue like it is today. The kids were fatigued at this point and tired of posing for pictures.

Gordon pointed out Bridget Jones' flat as we drove to the next location.

Here is the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron from Prisoner of Azkaban. The double-decker Knight Bus would not fit in Leadenhall Market, so the film makers used this nondescript spot instead.

Couldn't get anyone to pose in front of the Leaky Cauldron at this point.

We walked past the modern Globe Theatre (one of the few buildings in London allowed to have a thatched roof -- new thatched roofs were forbidden in London by the Normans in the 12th century to reduce the risk of fire.).

The London Millennium Footbridge is destroyed by Deatheaters at the beginning of Half-Blood Prince and Harry is escorted on broomstick down the Thames by members of the Order in Order of the Phoenix.

 

And that was the end of our Harry Potter tour. Believe it or not, there were many other places we could have visited -- such as the Reptile House of the London Zoo where Harry first unknowingly speaks Parseltongue; Australia House which was used as Gringott's Bank; Oxford's Bodleian Library doubled as Hogwart's library; Westminster Underground Station where Mr. Weasley does his best muggle impression; the corner that served as the entrance to the Ministry of Magic in Order of the Phoenix, though the phone booth was only put there temporarily for the movie; the list just goes on. Still, we didn't do too badly, did we?