Harry Potter Studio Tour
Another job as a parent is to do your best to not have the kids hate you all the time. For that we decided to take them to the much Harold did Harry Potter studio tour. Tom had managed to book tickets for 12 o’clock entry by arranging a package that included transportation to and from The studio which is a 45 minute drive from central London.
At 10:45 we arrived at our meeting place and by 11:45 we were collecting our tickets and heading in to be crowded but well organized studio tour.
We each had a fear that learning the secrets behind The production of the seven fantastic movies would somehow decrease our enjoyment of them. Our fears were unfounded as the exceptional artistry and amazing attention to detail as well as just learning how many young people literally grew up on the studio lights outside of London made the movies more impressive.
Entry into the exhibit is regulated by time but the exit it is not. And after four hours of exploration we were nearly ready to go. We probably would have spent another hour there if not for the fact that our tour included transportation and Tom’s phone was blowing up with the tour guide informing us that our driver was waiting and that if we didn’t emerge quickly we would pay an additional waiting fee.
At 4:30 we emerged from the tour and when the tour operator informed Tom that they would need to pay a 20 pound waiting for the big kids got a lesson in how to amicably negotiate over an unexpected and unwarranted charge. The tour guide, the middleman in the whole situation, kept referring to the voucher which did actually say you have 3 1/2 hours inside the studio. Tom used the fact that he kept referring to how weird is all laid out in the voucher against him by noting that there was no mention on the voucher of a regular fee or any additional fee. Ultimately the tour guide relented when his boss on the other end of the phone decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Score one for the Kramer’s!
Normally a cab ride doesn’t merit I mentioned in a travel blog however this was no normal cab ride! Our chatty cabbie was so taken with our upcoming journey to Slovenia and Croatia and had so many entertaining and take doubts about his free wheeling, motorcycle riding, boat buying lifestyle that by the end of our drive Tom and him became Facebook friends!
Back at home by six the Kramers, the Turner‘s, and Yangs – friends of the Turner‘s from Tiburon – settled in to watch USA versus the England in the World Cup semi-finals. It was a house divided for sure but we all enjoyed the excellent quality of play and lamented England’s ongoing in ability to make a penalty kick!
A second fantastic day in fantastic London!
