Rebecca's Visit Day Three: HOGWARTS!

The Main Gate!

For the longest time I was puzzled why I could not find Alnwick Castle in any of my Scottish guide books. I mean that was where they filmed the first two Harry Potter movies, it was Hogwarts! How could they not write about that in any Scotland guide book? Well, it was obvious. Alnwick Castle is not in Scotland, it is in England. Duh. Semeli, Rebecca & I went to venture to England for a day!

The third day of Rebecca's visit was full of AWESOME surprises and good times. We woke up especially early and made our way to Waverely station to catch a train to Alnmouth. It was only an hour away. After we crossed a bridge we were in England, Northcumberland to be exact! As the train rode by we saw so many cute lambs!

We pulled into Alnmouth and we had to take a bus to Alnwick. At one stop on the bus there were A LOT of people getting off the bus. So I asked one lady if it was for the castle but a girl giggled and said, "oh no the castle is the next stop." She then turned to her friend and scoffed, "tourists." Putting a lot of belief in strangers, we got off the next stop. Castle my butt. There was NO castle, anywhere. She lied purposely. She was a bitch. I was ready for a fight! I was that angry. How dare anyone steer me wrong of Hogwarts! We were on a deserted strip of a tiny town. There was a woman across the street so we decided we would ask directions. But as soon as we crossed to be on the same side of the street as she was...she crossed to our original side. It was pretty awkward looking as the three of us re-crossed to our original side. The woman was pleasant though and led us to town. I asked her a silly question, "so, are we still in Scotland?" and she replied, "oh no dear, you're in England now." We grabbed a quick bite to eat and looked around the town square.

We found the tourist information and discovered where the castle was. We were buying the tickets as I asked for two concessions and an adult. The elderly gentlemen pushed his glasses down and said to Rebecca, "You look like a student, how about three student concessions? We can't just leave you out!" He was the sweetest and funniest British man. When we entered the grounds, I nearly died of happiness. We went to the Dragon quest section designed for children (and big kids too!) Now get this. We did COSPLAY! We dressed up as KNIGHTS! It was the best thing EVER! They had little activity displays. You could pose in a suit of armor and slay a dragon, get knighted, loose your head, practice your crossbow skills. It was beyond awesome. I was on such a high. Pure and utter GLEE. It was AWESOME. I cannot properly express how much fun it was. Semeli was dressed as a crusader, Rebecca a knight and I was Harry Hotspur (a knight that was so awesome, he got his own statue in the courtyard). We were grinning from ear to ear.

AHAHA

The Knights!slaying the dragon!being knighted!off with my head?!

We made our way to the tour. We were on the path where Harry, Ron & Hermione confront Hagrid about Fluffy (in the 1st movie). The tour guide asks the audience, "so who can tell me what the name of the three-headed dog is?" Polite little children rose their hands waiting patiently to be called on when I was possessed by Harry Potter knowledge and yelled out (without hesitation), "FLUFFY!" Everyone giggled. Then the tour guide gave out a chocolate egg, but a man said, "but she was not the one who got it." The tour guide, puzzled asked who had gotten it right and the guy said, "she did." Everyone's glare was on me. And I stuttered, "prematurely..." and I got a free chocolate egg! The tour guide pointed out where the beginning of the Forbidden Forest was and how in the second movie that the cars really flew. The tour brought us to where Madam Hooch taught them how to fly, where Neville broke his wrist, where Harry caught the rememberall & where Oliver Wood taught him qudditch for the first time. As we entered I immediately spotted everything. I knew where Professor Mcgonagall's office was and which field was used for what! The tour guide asked the little children where flying lessons were held (there was a sign on the right side of the field saying, "FLYING LESSONS) so all the children ran to it, as I whispered to Semeli, "it's the left side." She called the children back and told them it was actually the left side. HA. I knew so much, I could have given the tour.

The path where Harry, Ron, & Hermione confront Hagrid

The beginning of the Forbidden Forest!

Professor McGonagall's Office & where Harry flew to catch the Rememberall

Where Neville fell and broke his wristFlying Lessons

Later we wandered the grounds and went to the State Rooms. The corridor in that section of the castle was where the lantern of Hogwarts was (the ever-lasting blue flame of Hogwarts representing the life of the school) and where Hermione runs away crying after Professor Flitwick's class (when Ron insults her!) It was AWESOME!

The LionSemeli the dinosaur

The ever-lasting flame lantern & the corridorThe Corridor!

Then we came across an owl because they had a birds of prey exhibit. It was adorable! After the castle we went to the Alnwick gardens that boasts 3000 different roses. Except the roses were not in bloom, it was disappointing. But the garden was lovely as well!

Willow the owl!The Garden Fox!

We nearly missed the bus to the train. Luckily we caught it (it came once every hour) and on the train ride back we did riddles. It took Semeli and I 45 minutes to solve one riddle. It took Sara only two minutes. We ate some yummy dinner at The Apartment, a belated birthday dinner.