A Trip To Hogwarts..

As part of mine and my boyfriends 18th birthday presents,curtosy of my wonderful "mum in law", we had the most wonderful day trip to the one and only "Harry Potter Studios" in Watford. As we live in Greenwich, it took about an hour and half by car (on the M25) in what was a horrendous journey of sleet, wind and very heavy rain. But it was definitely worth it as when we arrived at our magical destination we were greeted by those iconic, and very large, chess pieces from "Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone". Once inside we queued for about 20 minutes, where we were treated to Harry Potter badges; as its the studios one year anniversary this week there was lots of special treats and workshops running throughout the tour. Finally we got to the front of the que, the doors opened and the magic began.. 


Tie Dye Dress: Primark, Waxed Jacket: Barbour,
 Creepers: Underground, Necklace: H&M 

From the moment the doors opened and I stepped into the "world of magic" that sense of nostalgia I had at 6 years old, from watching No.1, came flooding right back and I really did feel like a giddy 6 year old again. The tour includes parts of the real sets used in the film, some very famous  sets and others less recognisable, costumes gallore from alot of different characters throughout the 8 films, props and there's even a green screen room where you can take home a picture of you driving the Weasley's car or flying on a broomstick. Outside is where the exterior props and sets are and the second studio is where the creatures, prosthetics and animatronics are (this was my favourite part of the tour) where you can see how they created the goblins, the horntail dragon, the basilisk snake and the loveable house elf Dobby among many others. Take a Stroll through Diagon Alley and you'll find yourself looking at original architectual sketches of many sets and props and finally you'll find yourself with the Hogwarts model, whichwas fascinating to see up close & now I know how they filmed those shots flying around the grounds of Hogwarts. I had a brilliant day out and if you're a fan of the Harry Potter Franchise I would definitely recommend you take a visit to the Studios. Tickets are £29 per adult (16years +) but I think the experience was well worth the money. To book tickets or look at the official website click here.

 

Butter Beer: Propoganda: Bridge Close Up: Prop Sketch: Me & Ben On The Bridge!



Sweet Leaf

Why Hello there, as this is my first post I thought what better a way to start than by celebrating one of my all time favourite bands.. I've grown up drooling over my dad's vinyl collection of about 500 12"records and thankfully the Black Sabbath records were in there and here began my obsession with the Prince of Darkness himself Ozzy Osbourne, his love for leather & that world famous foul mouth... Fast Forward 12 years to 2012 and the incredible Download festival announce Black Sabbath are headlining on the Sunday and I could not of been more excited at the prospect of finally being able to see them. However, it was not meant to be as my bank account had other plans and regretabbly I could not go. So when in January 2013, the band confirmed they will be releasing their new album "13" this summer, I could not of been more ecstatic. But wait, it gets better... Shortly after announcing a new album release Sabbath announced they would be doing a European tour at the end of the year and tickets would be released to the general public on Friday 12th April. As you can imagine I was jumping with joy when I heard and immediately I, once again, became that crazed fangirl I was when I was 8. However to my utter dismay, it turned out there was to be only one gig in the South East (the whole South region as a matterof fact) which was to be at The o2 London, situated in the Greenwich Peninsula. Luckily, this is only a 20 minute drive from were I live so I was very happy to hear where it would be, but if any of you have been to The o2 Arena you will probably agree with me when I say it is massive and not always the best venue to see your beloved bands at. I'm not one for sitting when I'm at gig so I was adamant I would try to buy standing tickets and waking up half an hour before general public release (9AM) was definitely worth it as my metal loving boyfriend and I are very happy to say we WILL be at The o2 on Tuesday 10th December and I will probably cry.. Tears of sweet joy ofcourse.

Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler & Ozzy Osbourne