London

I'm still slowly going through the last batch of Europe photos. Our last stop on the trip was London! Originally when my sister was planning this trip, London was not on the itinerary, but I was able to convince her to add it, since I had never been. London was definitely the highlight of my trip, I knew that I would love the city, but I especially fell in love with the cityscape and the parks. 

Some highlights included: walking along Millennium Bridge and visiting Trafalga Square and the National Gallery. I really enjoyed visiting two places that had subtle ties to Harry Potter, I had completely forgotten that the Millennium bridge was in the sixth film, until I recognized it on our walk across the bridge. And I've wanted to visit Trafalga Square since I watched the livestream of the premiere of the eight film (I know I'm a giant nerd when it comes to Harry Potter). Some highlights from the National Gallery included the Rosetta Stone and the reliefs from the Pantheon, both of which I studied for my undergrad, and it was surreal to see them in person. 

I mentioned previously that we spent a day trip at the Harry Potter Studio Tours and at Oxford. Almost half my photos from the trip were taken at the Studio Tours so I'll be sharing those next week.

These two photos were taken during a stroll through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I fell in love with all the parks we went to in London, they spoke so highly of the city's culture and they honestly felt like a wonderland. 

Views from our walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. We were originally in the area because I had wanted to see Big Ben (sometimes you have to check things off the tourist checklist), but we weren't aware that it's down for renovations, and instead we made our way through St. James Park. This was the first park we visited, and I was immediately drawn to the wildflowers that lined the trails. 

We took a stroll through Regent's Park before sunset and it was my favorite moment while in London. We mainly walked through Queen Mary's Gardens, which is filled with thousands of roses. I may also share a separate post of just photos that I took while in the Gardens because it was the most gorgeous place I've ever seen.

Saving the best for last! I wanted to share a photo I took while waiting for Part II of the Cursed Child. When I first read the script, I loved revisiting the world, but I also recognized that it had a lot of problems (I have a detailed review of my thoughts). This is a story that demands to be told on stage and reflects how hard the cast and crew have worked to bring true magic to life. I absolutely loved seeing this in person and I feel so lucky that I was able to see this sooner that I could have imagined and on it's original stage. - Jessica