Travel – Books, Music, Photography, & Movies

Magic in the New Year

January 3, 2022 KG3 Comments

We decided to start the New Year with some magic, and so we booked the Making of Harry Potter tour by Warner Bros Studio, London on New Year’s Day.

We drove to Watford on New Year’s Eve and stayed in a hotel near the Bhaktivedanta Manor (ISKCON temple). We visited the temple that evening (given it was safe to do so on New Year’s Eve than on a New Year’s Day). Given that it was at least 20 mins away from the Watford Town Center, it was quiet and apart from some fireworks we had a relatively calm and quiet end of the year 2021. On New Year’s Day, we went to the Town Center (parked at Atria Shopping Center) and roamed the almost empty high street for a while. Found a place called “Crispy Dosa” where we had our lunch. They had very good south Indian food. I loved my Chettinad Dosa.

After that, it was a 15 min drive to the studio. Mr M was getting on my nerves as he was very leisure and wanted to arrive at the studio only a few minutes before the start of the tour. I wasn’t so sure but given the new year and the new me thing going on in my head, I decided to give him the benefit of doubt and tried to do my calm breathing exercises (it worked!!!) We were spot on time and the tour began as soon as the majority of the folks had arrived. Didn’t realize that there would be that many people in there and this was reduced count. I wonder how many normal attend the tour in a non-pandemic situation.

They warned us that the tour takes around 3 hours and there would be a cafe halfway through for us to sit and have some rest and refreshments if we wish to do so. The entrance was well done, with interactive screens and people talking etc. From there you go on to a small theatre room where they show the video of what the place is about and then the screens go up and you see “The Great Hall” and that is the actual entrance of your self guided tour. The lady who was explaining the stuff in the Great Hall was too fast and too loud. She could have done it a little better, but I zoned her out and was on my own exploring stuff.

There is so much to see and experience and enjoy. This tour also shows how much goes on in the background for something that comes up in the movie for a mere 2 seconds. I have always appreciated the effort by the artists who work behind the scenes to bring something which might closely resemble the imagination of an author or a fan. It is not easy and sometimes it fails, but when it clicks and succeeds you get something like Harry Potter which becomes a huge sensation. The detailed sketches on the architecture of the buildings that were built, the makeup, the costumes, the food that is shown on the tables, the automotive used, the amount of mechanical and electronic wizardry involved in all these things is amazing. It was so much fun.

One of the highlights of the whole tour for us was the awe-inspiring Gringotts Bank and the way the dragon demolishes the bank. It was amazing. The Diagon Alley was another one of those places which I loved 🙂 and when we were ooh-ing and aah-ing over these things we come to the halfway point and then we have to go out for a bit to find the Knight’s bus and Potter’s Place in Godric’s Hollow, the Privet Drive and the Hogwart’s Bridge all sprinkled with some snow. Such fun! 🙂 The Goblins was one more thing that surprised me. How much work has gone into their makeup and I didn’t know that Warwick Davies played two Goblins apart from being Professor Flitwick. Interesting. Since we didn’t take a break at all and didn’t linger too much on the things which are more catered to be more interactive with kids (where kids could practice their spells for the battle, or do the Yule Ball steps, etc. etc.) we kind of completed the tour in about 2 hours and 15 mins or so. But by the time we browsed the shop towards the end and bought a souvenir and came out to the Food Hall our legs couldn’t hold us up.

If you like Harry Potter this is a definite must-see place. Makes you appreciate the effort that has gone into the movie more and also the effect of a series on a whole generation (or two). I am glad that I belong to the generation of Harry Potters (not necessary grew up on it, but was there to see it grow into a phenomenon). Also, it would be wise to stay after the trip (unlike us who had to drive all the way back to Swansea afterwards) as the tour can be tiring. And they have a food place (apart from a Starbucks and a Frog’s cafe which sells amazing milkshakes) inside the studio which we weren’t aware of. If we had known then we might not have stopped off at Watford (and then I might have missed my dosa!!!).

I am glad we started this year with this tour. I truly enjoyed it. Here are a few photographs from the tour.

Looking forward…

December 31, 2020 KG2 Comments

I had to give up my swimming lessons in January 2020 when everything exploded and I can feel my fear of water dampening my soul,

but I am looking forward to the fact that I can pick up from where I left off in the future or even re-learn to conquer my fears.

I had to spend almost twice the hours doing that one thing I always hated, which is to record my voice (for my lessons),

but I am looking forward to doing the same but with acceptance of the fact that I, at least, have to listen to it only once (to check if it is ok) but it’s worse for my students 😉.

I had a mini breakdown for the first time in my teaching in the Uni when some feedback from the students became too personal to be accepted as constructive criticism,

but I am looking forward to looking at them again for the next semester and continue my work with the same passion and hoping that one day they might get my jokes and my sarcastic comments 😉.

I was amazed at how the youngsters took to the digital form of living (virtual schools, workshops, remote catch ups) etc. so easily with so many tools (Zoom, Teams, Meet etc.),

and I am looking forward for the elders to catch up with them and prove that they can mute their Zoom sessions without having to search for the button every single time.

I hadn’t traveled this year as much as I would have loved to, not just to my home country but also within the UK (except for one small one that we did in August),

but I am looking forward to exploring my city’s nooks and corners more and find those hidden gems and rubble.

I had the pleasure of indulging in my friend’s baked goodies which he experimented every week the bake off was on,

and I am looking forward to enjoying more of his baked goodies even when the bake off is off and also encourage other friends of mine who are good at baking to experiment to their hearts pleasure as I am only too glad to be their guinea pig ;).

I had to finally give up on my resolve never to buy a weighing scale as I was afraid that I would be only too obsessed with it and would end up measuring my weight every other day,

but I am looking forward to using it wisely to ensure I balance myself well on baked goodies and healthy meals.

I had been trying very hard to encourage Mr M to switch to the digital medium of books (aka using kindle) and buy only paperbacks for those which we might need forever,

and I am looking forward to buying him one as he finally came around to it close to Christmas. It is only wise to invest in it as he devours as many books as I do and we are running out of space in our home.

It is easy to look back and worry at how and what causes this shake up, feel angry at all things said and done, feel annoyed at people for their ignorance and stupidity,

but I think controlling what I can, taking pleasure in small things and small moments, being grateful and happy for the lovely people in my life, and hoping for the best in the future by doing the best I can to be part of it is the only way forward.