Seeing the Sights: The Birthday Trip, London (Nerd Edition)

April 10th, 2015:
Since I didn't get any homework done in Oxford either, I spent the morning writing my final essay proposal for my Reconstruction of Western Europe class. Took a bit longer than I'd thought because my original topic didn't pan out. This is why I shouldn't procrastinate this much. But it worked out and I turned in my proposal on-time (an even an hour early) and received the go-ahead.

I only had a couple hours to do this assignment in because I was meeting up with a tour bus to go to the Making of Harry Potter. Since it opened, I'd had this dream of spending my 21st birthday there. But because I procrastinated at buying tickets, they were sold out. So I paid a bit more and went a couple days late, but I still get to go!

The journey, however, was not smooth sailing. I got to Victoria Coach Station half an hour early, didn't see the bus on the board, asked around and no on had heard of it or the company (it's a company I've toured with before, so I knew it existed). I had to find wifi to look for a phone number on their website (which was not at all as easy as it should have been), and waited on hold for 20 minutes, by this time I've already missed my departure time. The woman on the other end said the bus didn't actually leave from the coach station, but somewhere else. She puts me on hold to see where the coach was at the moment, and my phone hangs up, as I'm out of money. Fantastic.
    Using the info I got out of the woman, I try somewhere else (this becomes important for my tour tomorrow that also leaves from "Victoria Coach Station" but not the station) and find a different company that mine is partnered with. They put me on a bus with instructions of who to find at the other end to pick up my "late" ticket, and off I go. (Which, after all the difficulties, is really all I wanted.)


I took more than 350 photos in the bit-more-than-three hours I was in the studio, so there are going to be lots I skim over.

Where it all began. (Okay, so
technically it starts at #4, and I have a
picture there, but there are other people
in it so... shush.)

From the front door emanates that heart-warming John Williams composition that immediately boosts my excitement level by ten-fold and I actually squealed.
Did you know that each country that shows the Harry Potter movies chooses their own movie posters? I assumed they just translated the same selection of posters, aga ei, ei, ei.

Ron & Harry's beds in the Gryffindor Dormitory

Interestingly, most of the tour is in one giant room with different sections.
The butterbeer is a necessity, and it's so much better than the junk my brother and I have made at home. It is crazy sweet, but not as bad as I expected. The foam on top really makes it.

Diagon Alley. Duh. The light changes as you walk through so you
can see it during the day and at night. 

There were lots of designs and story board art hanging on the walls that was spectacular. There were models of bridges, transport, buildings, etc. If you want to see more than the few pictures here, we'll do lunch.

This moment, however, is the one that made the biggest impression. There were several things that made my cry, or at least teary-eyed, but I (and everyone else who rounded the corner onto this gloriousness) abruptly stopped and gasped before crying. The music, the lighting, the size; this model is truly one of the most incredible and beautiful things I've ever seen. It did feel like coming home. Lights came on in windows at night, and the attention to detail is incredible. Certainly one of those moments I missed having someone to photograph me with it (the security office said she totally understood and took my picture; it's a bit blurry but that's life). I think I spent more than half an hour working my way around this massive structure and watching the videos about its creation. It left me stunned. And I haven't stopped thinking about that moment since.

April 11th, 2015: [[[LIKELY TO CONTAIN SPOILERS, BUT NOTHING TOO RECENT]]]
I ventured back to the coach station today headed for Cardiff. I had to take the earliest bus in order to make it to the Doctor Who Experience in time, as they have timed entrance tickets and only midday tickets were available. I got a bit anxious when the bus was delayed (and because of how the station works, bus only leave at half hour increments, so there's no 10 minute days. We left an hour late.), but from the murmurs around me of people who often take this route, this company always leaves late, but will usually get there early. Fine by me. 
I did learn one important thing while on the bus; as motion sick as I get, sitting backward makes it no worse. Both interesting and surprising. 

Arriving in Cardiff, my goal was to get to the harbour (TIGER BAY! Dreams do come true, kids.). This meant using the bus system. Now, you may or may not know this about me, but bus systems and I have yet to understand each other. I can manage the Tartu bus system because I go to the same places over and over. For whatever reason, I find other transportation systems easier to navigate than the bus system. But! I have found that Europe makes their transport as easy as possible, because they get so many visitors. With nothing but the maps posted in stops, I managed to get from the city centre to Tiger Bay without incident. 

From there, I entered the queue, ticket in hand, and exchanged it for this epic VIP pass. Before you get into the actual Doctor Who Experience museum section, you go through a mini-adventure in which, collectively, we were companions helping the Doctor to save the world. As you do. These passes lit up, vibrated, and we had to hold them in various positions to work parts of the TARDIS. 
In order to maintain the mystery, we weren't allowed to take pictures, but you get to engage with some of the great monsters. Of course, there's a Dalek room, and of course, they're going to turn on even though they look like they're broken. So I attempted to find the one spot in the room where no whisks nor plungers were pointed in my direction. This room, however, was nothing compared to the next pitch-black room, which you immediately know is full of Weeping Angels. Weeping Angels are THE monster that makes me the most uncomfortable. And that's a great description for the entire Doctor Who Experience. It was epic, 100%, utterly, and completely epic. And it made me uncomfortable in the best way. Most uncomfortable I've ever been in a museum, because of the monsters, but I'd do it all over again. In a heartbeat.
Anyway, we saved the world (duh!), and then the Doctor abandoned us in 1963 (so we could move forward in time through the show's history, and because he's like that). 

So! Doing the Making of Harry Potter and the Doctor Who Experience back to back made for an interesting comparison. For as long as Doctor Who has been airing, the Experience is a much smaller space than MOHP. I don't know if this is because it's still filming and so fans still have that going, or if HP is a much larger industry. If Doctor Who is still niche enough that there are fewer people just stopping by? I'll admit, with 50+ years of Doctor Who, I was expecting more, but it was also very different. Sci-fi vs. Fantasy. Being involved in the fandom enough, I know the two are different, but visiting both of these locations back to back I could better compare the people in the fandoms instead of just the things they create. This is potentially going to sound a bit harsh, but I definitely preferred the Whovians. Potterheads were a bit self-centered, walking through others photos, pressing up against and pushing people to get around them. True, some of this is because HP has so much more stuff to pack in (even though the location is several times larger), but it happened in places that were entirely unnecessary. Whovians, on the other hand, were leaving plenty of space for people to take their pictures, offering to help, showing all their fangirl/boy enthusiasm instead of just wondering through exhibits, sparking conversations about things that have/might happen(ed), etc. 

We'll come back to that. Meanwhile, enjoy some photos.

9 & 10's TARDIS interior.
Also where the cross-over
10-11 episode was filmed,
since this set had already
been moved and it's way
too much work to move it.

River's costume

From my favourite episode, "Girl in the Fireplace."

Face of Boe! (It is pretty massive.)

Cue 2nd most uncomfortable display.
Resisted the urge to remove the blanket.
One of those things where I want to know,
but I don't want to know.

Unlike MOHP, DWE offers a tour to some filming locations around Cardiff (since it is frequently used for filming in DW and Torchwood). So, a group of us set off. There was another 20-something girl traveling by herself, so we ended up chatting. We were also the only two people not their with our kids. This was another instance where the DW fans and HP fans differ. These kids knew their stuff, it was a bit ridiculous. While we walked they'd ask guides questions or correct episode numbers from scenes referenced. This girl and I took it as a personal challenge to see if we could figure out which scene was filmed where before these 10 year olds could. There were surprisingly few kids at MOHP, and those that were there were not geeking out the way sci-fi fans do.

The stairs during Donna's first episode. Also that scene were
10 and Donna keep chasing each other around the building
(was that in the adipose episode?). [After doing some googling,
I couldn't find the pic I was looking for of this scene in action,
and it was the adipose episode.]

Where Martha & 10 learned Cap. Jack's childhood nickname
(I did figure this one out before the kids, SCORE!) This
location is also used in a million other scenes, but that's the
one I remembered first.

Cardiff Nat'l Theatre.
Filming inside for the cat hospital, etc.

(I figured this one out, too.) 10's first Christmas Special,
Sycorax control people's blood and they nearly jump off.

 This one had an interesting story, since this is where they filmed River's escape from prison (?) and then falling into the TARDIS. The citizens of Cardiff saw this being filmed, Alex Kingston arms outstretched, and assumed she was regenerating. News spread like wildfire. And then... well, we know she didn't. 

There were several more stops, I think the tour was more than an hour and covered a bunch of scenes, some specifically Torchwood, but since I don't watch that I didn't recognize them. We headed back to the Experience, I checked out the shop (also much smaller than MOHP's) and went to lunch. 

I ate at the Lockkeeper's Cafe, along the locks of Cardiff Bay. The lock's were used in filming Matt Smith's "Cold War" episode. They just sprayed fake snow everywhere and plopped in a submarine. Also in the back (near the closes light post) is BBC Cymru, housing the current sets and where indoor filming takes place, including the current TARDIS which is a permanent set. 

The people who run the cafe were great. I collected my things and was throwing away trash, they asked how everything was and when I said it was great they replied with, "Now take that energy and go do something awesome." (Not exactly with those words, but pretty dang close.) AND SO I DID! 

All right, so I didn't do anything incredible, just explored the city centre more, since I didn't on my way to the Experience. I don't know why the streets were lined with Welsh flags, but in case I'd forgotten where I was... I remembered. I wandered through markets, which at this time were closed, and streets. I found a castle, which was also closed. One cafe had the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular (hosted by Peter Davison) ad in the window... if only. 

...

I got some ice cream, picked up a few souvenirs, but the time came for me to board my bus back to London. This was a fantastic moment when the bus swerved/jostled and the elderly woman seated opposite me jerked awake and said, "We just killed a sheep." That, folks, is the sure sign you're in Wales. 

I was only in Cardiff for around 7 hours, and really only saw a few block radius of it, but it was fantastic. I've officially been to Wales, and certainly wouldn't mind going back. Even if only for the love of Doctor Who.




April 12th, 2015:

I had some time to kill before heading to the airport (one I've never visited before!) so I headed to parts of London unknown. I found St. Paul's Cathedral, which I was expecting to have different surroundings as my modern notion of it is influenced by the Doctor Who episode.
But either way, I saw it. It was Sunday, so I didn't go inside, but I did hear much of what was happening when I went under it. I have a video. It sounds kinda cool. (I actually have no idea, since I haven't listened to the video; we can only hope.)
I think I even sent a SnapChat to Suzie, since I head "Feed the Birds" stuck in my head. "All around the Cathedral, the Saints and Apostles look down as she sells her wares..."

Nerd it out!

 I've been searching for a particular bridge in London the last 3 times I've visited, but I think I've come to the conclusion that it no longer exists, so I stopped trying. Instead I crossed the Millenium Bridge (which smelled awesome due to the nut roasting stands) to see...

 THE GLOBE! I would have loved to see inside, however with limited time... next time. But I've seen it at least.
I crossed back across Blackfriar's Bridge and headed toward the coach station (my home away from hostel this trip) and headed to the airport. I found a spectacular salad for lunch and made my way back to Riga.