Ticket For Tea

Tucked away right outside the city of Bristol in Southwest England, right by Wales, sits the lovely little village of Clifton. Clifton is mostly know for its famous suspension bridge (Clifton Suspension Bridge), and its unique little shops along the cobble stone paths.

The first time I heard about this adorable village was in a book called Three Amazing Things About You by the very talented Jill Mansell. In the book, one of the main characters lives in Clifton. So, being the book nerd that I am, I knew I had to visit Hallie's (main character from the book) beloved Clifton while I was staying in Bristol.

Clifton was only about a 20-30 minute walk from Bristol city center. Although walking up Constitution Hill to get there almost killed me. That is one steep hill my friends. But as always, the view was absolutely worth the half hour walk uphill. I initially intended to just visit Clifton to go to the Suspension Bridge and take in all the views of the city and the Avon Gorge, but as I was strolling through the village, I passed a small park with a very large Christmas tree in it. I went into the park and saw that the village was having the tree lighting celebration the next night. And if you know me personally, you know that Christmas is my favorite time of year (I start celebrating in August...), so I was so excited to come back and celebrate with Clifton the next night.

On the day of the tree lighting, I walked back into Clifton about 2 hours before the ceremony began. I made the walk back up Constitution Hill and started to explore the little shops all along the cobble stone lanes. The streets were all decorated with bright lights of red and green as the people of Clifton started to get ready for the Christmas season. After about an hour of getting absurdly lost, I came across a little cafe called Bar Chocolat on The Mall. They had one of the best hot chocolates that I have ever had! I got my dark hot chocolate and headed out to the park where the Christmas celebration would soon begin.

The celebration was being held at The Mall Garden and was run by the lovely people of Christ Church. Before the Christmas carols began, the Christ Church Choir handed out carol books to everyone who entered the small park. There were about 500 people who were all crammed inside the gates of The Mall Garden, surrounding the 50ft. Christmas tree. It was a tight fit, but once the choir started singing the Christmas carols, everyone joined in in song and did not have a care in the world. The streets of Clifton Village were being filled by hundreds of voices singing Silent Night, The First Noel, Angels We Have Heard On High, and so many more!

After about an hour or so of singing, the head of Christ Church and The Lord Mayor came up to the stage to get ready to turn on the lights of the tree. They called two adorable little kids up to the stage to press the big red button that would officially start the Christmas season in the village. The countdown began and everyone in the crowd counted along. And when we got to 0, the children pressed down on the button and the tree came to life with a gorgeous display of lights! Everyone shouted "Happy Christmas" and cheered as we kicked off the festive, joyful Christmas season together in Clifton.

I absolutely loved being a part of this celebration and ringing in Christmas with a lovely community of people from Clifton Village. This is one of the many reasons that I adore traveling. You get to become part of something special and important, even if just for a few hours, that will bring cheer to many people who visit the village. Thank you Clifton Village and all its people for starting our Christmas's off right with lots of joy and happiness!

Oh my. When I first booked my Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, I wasn't exactly sure what it would consist of. I thought that they would take you through a few sets, show you how some of the magic was made, and charge you an arm and a leg for everything at the gift shop at the end (that last part was true of course). But as the big double decker bus, decked out in scenes from Harry Potter, rolled into Watford Junction Station to take a whole lot of us to Leavesden, I started to become extremely excited for the day ahead.

Once we got to Leavesden, our bus pulled up in front of sound studio J at the Warner Bros. lot. This is where all the magic would begin..

Walking in, you are greeted by large pictures of every character when they were filming the first movies hung along the walls. Then, you get in the queue that will lead you to the beginning of your tour. BUT before you even enter through the doors to start your magical journey, one of the most iconic sets is right in front of you. Harry's cupboard under the stairs. It is like you are right on the set, right in Number 4 Privet Drive! You get to see Harry's bed and glasses, the Dursely's staircase, and everything that was in Harry's tiny space. It was at that moment that I knew this tour was going to be magical and a must see for every Harry Potter fan.

Once you are let through the doors, you enter this large movie theater type room where you get to watch a quick video from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. At the end of the video, they walk through the doors of the Great Hall. Then, all of a sudden, the screen lifts up and right in front of your face are those exact doors into the Great Hall. The smile that appeared on my face when seeing those doors was huge. We were standing right in front of the entrance to a world of magic. Then, the guide opened the doors and we entered into the Great Hall. Lined with set tables, the Great Hall held the house robes of each house of Hogwarts, the exact costumes that Emma, Daniel, Rupert, and every other cast member actually wore. Then when we got to the very front of the set, there were all of the professors costumes, positioned exactly where they would be standing/sitting in the films. It was amazing.

Once our time was done in the Great Hall, we walked into the next part of the studio where there were even more amazing sets. Going through this large room, you find more costumes (Luna's, Voldemort's, more of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's), a golden snitch hanging from the wall, and even the gates of Hogwarts. You also get to see the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron's dorm room, and the Leaky Cauldron. Then you turn the corner to find the pendulum clock from the Clock Tower, and Professor Dumbledore's office. This was one of my favorite parts of the tour. It felt so surreal to be in Dumbledore's ACTUAL office! It even had the sword of Gryffindor sneakily placed in it. After I finished marveling at everything in there, I next got to see the actual Philosopher's Stone, the first Golden Snitch, the Triwizard Cup, the Goblet of Fire, the Crystal Goblet, Deluminator, Time-Turner, Remembrall, Liquid Luck, the Potions classroom, the door to the Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid's Hut and motorbike, the marble staircase, The Burrow, all of the Horcruxes, Borgin & Burke, The Ministry of Magic, Tom Riddle's grave, a Dementor, and so much more. Then I went to have my picture taken while riding a broom!

The next part of the tour was the Hogwart's Express! You walk down a hallway, turn the corner, and there it is; Platform 9 3/4 and the Hogwart's Express! And you don't just get to look at the lovely train, you get to actually go on it! They have the cars set up the way they were for all of the movies. Each one is from a different film and have everything you would imagine in them. Being on the actual train made me feel even more like I was actually in the wizarding world!

At about this time, you're probably halfway through the tour. This means its time for some food and BUTTERBEER! The cafe served loads of food (hot and cold), but its main focus was, of course, the Butterbeer! You could either get a normal Butterbeer drink or an ice cream! I opted for the actual drink because I have never had it before and because it was October in England, therefore it was quite cold. The Butterbeer was better than I could have ever imagined it tasting! It was absolute perfect timing to have it as well.

The outdoor sets were next. The Knight Bus, the Weasley car, the Hogwarts Bridge, the chess pieces, the Potter Cottage, and yes of course, Number 4 Privet Drive. Being outside of the Dursley house was a magical moment that every Potter fan needs to experience. It did not feel like we were at the studio. It felt like we were actually on Privet Drive.

After the outside sets, you walk into studio K where the tour continues. In this part of the tour, you first start off in the Creatures Department. Oh yes, that means every magical, mystical creature from the films is right in the same room as you. From the Goblins to Buckbeak, Dobby to Aragog, the basilisk to Fawkes. Every creature you could imagine was in there. It was incredible to see everything that went into making these marvelous creatures.

Next thing you know, you turn a corner and are magically on Diagon Alley. Every shop you could imagine was there: Gringotts, Ollivander's, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and so much more. I felt like I was meant to be here forever!

After this, you walk through the model room. Here, there are the models used to create all of the amazing buildings of the Harry Potter world. It was crazy to see that these small, detailed models turned into the huge magical world that we all know and love. After walking through this room, the doors open into the most magical part of the tour. All of Hogwarts is laid out right in front of you. The Hogwarts that they actually used to film all the shots of the outside of Hogwarts. It was a gigantic model of the entire castle and its surrounding grounds. It is so large that you have to stand above it and walk around it to take in every detail of the castle.

Once you are done in there, it is the end of the tour and you are led into the wand shop. And being the fan that I am, there was no way I was leaving the Wizarding World without a wand! I ended up getting Luna Lovegood's wand because she is one of my personal favorite HP characters. After the wand shop it is the gift shop (more shopping was done there too, obviously) and then the exit and back on the double decker bus to Watford Junction we went.

Judging from this lengthy post, you probably realized by now that I had the absolute time of my life on the Warner Bros. tour and would HIGHLY suggest it to any and every fan of Harry Potter. It was an experience like no other and I honestly cannot wait to go back there one day and live out my Potterhead dream again!

Now, please enjoy some of my favorite photos from my visit!