A Magical End to Spring Break

Hello again!

As promised, here is the England post to wrap-up both Spring Break and Mackenzie's time in Europe! Sunday, April 13th through Wednesday, April 16th, I had to be back in Bath in order to go to class (ugh, the studying part of studying abroad is getting in the way of the greater goal here... traveling!). But, on the 17th we set off for Manchester to see one of my favorite music groups, "The Piano Guys," play in concert. The very next day we traveled back to London and stayed there until I had to drop Mackenzie off at Heathrow Airport on Easter. Without further ado, Mackenzie's experience of England in a nutshell...

Mackenzie at the Roman Baths. The audio tour was great and both of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves using up the last of our euros by throwing them into one of the pools (totally permissible, don't worry!) But, Mackenzie's favorite part just had to be tasting the water... psych. You are allowed to taste the water at the end of the tour from a fountain that spouts out a purified version, but its chocked full of minerals and luke-warm... needless to say she practically gagged and immediately spit it out much to my amusement. :)

I had never been to Roman Baths before since I was waiting to go with Mackenzie, so this was my first time seeing it as well. Very cool historical site, I definitely recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Roman era. 

Mackenzie about to devour a cinnamon-butter Sally Lunn bun. I've mentioned Sally Lunn's in my blog before when I went there myself for the first time, but basically Sally Lunn's is one of the oldest buildings in Bath and it doubles as a tea room. A Sally Lunn Bun is hard to describe...it's part cake, part bread and utterly delicious. I think it took Mackenzie all of about three minutes to down the whole thing.

On Mackenzie's last day in Bath, I decided to take her up to the top of Bath Abbey on a tower tour. It ended up being a private tour with just the two of us since we were there first thing in the morning. Mackenzie made it though! All 212 stairs up and down; and now she has officially had her fill of spiral staircases and never wants to climb another ever again :)

At the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester for the Piano Guys concert! I had a blast; Mackenzie, on the other hand, was not so thrilled to be going to a concert with two guys playing the piano and the cello. Oh well, money for a ticket to this concert was one of my Christmas presents so I was not missing this! In case you have never heard of the Piano Guys, they are four dads from Utah that have managed to rack up 2.8 million subscribers on YouTube by playing covers of pop and classical mash-ups. Check out one of my favorite videos of theirs if you get the chance: their cover of David Guetta and Usher's "Without You":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfRtPbBFoGg

On Mackenzie's first full day in London, we all took a tour around the city on the iconic double decker buses and saw everything from Big Ben and Parliament Square to the Tower of London and Scotland Yard. By the end of the two hours though, we were more than ready to get off we were so frozen from the cold. At least everyone had a wonderful laugh at my expense over the wind-blown state of my bangs that resembled an unintentional mohawk. :)

And now for quite possibly the best day of my life... Our Harry Potter Day!!!

Of course we ventured over to King's Cross Station for our Platform 9 3/4 picture!!! Mackenzie is sporting her Gryffindor colors, maroon and gold... 

...and I've got Ravenclaw, blue and silver!! After King's Cross, we took a "London Walks" Harry Potter tour to show us a bunch of the film locations around the city. Mackenzie and I will definitely be looking for those the next time we marathon all the Harry Potter movies. 

And the anticipation only built throughout the day as we not-so-patiently waited for the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour :D

Mackenzie at the set of the Gryffindor common room with the costumes and set-up for the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

One of my favorite parts was seeing all the special effects that happen in order for the actors to play quidditch!

Mackenzie with some of the handmade props, like newspapers, Hogwarts textbooks, and letters... we are both still waiting on our Hogwarts letters... they're just a tad late. Most likely lost in the mail :)

In front of the fireplaces used in the Ministry of Magic!

Poor Dobby!

On board the Knight Bus in the exterior sets backlot!

On the Hogwarts bridge... I know it looks like Mackenzie is taller than me, but rest assured, it was just the slant of the bridge :)

In front of James and Lily Potter's home, destroyed by Voldemort.

At No. 4 Privet Drive, posing with one of the four snowy owls that were trained to play Hedwig in the films!!

DIAGON ALLEY!! 

Mackenzie's face quite literally lit up upon seeing....

...the Hogwarts Castle model room. My life is officially complete. 

I'll post again with more on my last four weeks in Bath (Ahhh!) sometime soon. I think it's just about time for a post on all of the differences between the British and American lingo...

Cheers!