My adventures in London

This past week I went to London for a few days with my mum and dad. We went specifically at this time because I booked tickets to see the Tempest which you can read all about here. Instead of just going up for the show we decided we would take a mini break and spend a few days doing some other things.

Tuesday 6th August.

We basically spent most of the day in the car driving up and stopping at the services. We got to London around 5:30 and we went to our hotel to freshen up and go out. I saw the Mousetrap at the St Martins Theatre which was really good: surprisingly good actually. I don't really know what I  was expecting but either way it was very entertaining which is my main need for a theatre production. If you ever have time I'd recommend going and having a look, its celebrating its 60th anniversary and is the longest running west end production!

Wednesday 7th August. 

Probably a day that will be forever imprinted on my brain. In the morning we went to M&M world and Kings Cross Station to go to Platform 9 and 3/4, had a little bit of lunch, although I couldn't really eat much because I was too excited. Then at about 12 we made our way to the Shakespeare's Globe. We queued up for a while then we got let in and well the rest you can read here because it has its own blog post already because it was honestly one of the best days I ever had. Its also dangerous for my friends and family because if they thought I was annoying going on about Colin Morgan before well then they are in for a nasty shock!

Thursday 8th August. 

We went to the zoo on this day, ZSL zoo. It was fairly good but to be honest compared to the day before it certainly lacked a certain Colin Morgan shaped hole. I do remember zoo's being absolutely amazing when I was younger but they seem to have lost its zing for me now I'm slightly older, which is sad. The best zoo/safari park I've been to is Longleat so its pretty hard to get something as good as that. I did however, buy a giraffe toy which I named Gregory and I had probably the best milkshake I've ever had in my life. My mum and I also went shopping in Oxford Street and all places like that, so it was a pretty fun day.

Friday 9th August.

We went to The Warner Brother's Studio tour again for the second time (if you want to see pictures from the first time click here). It was amazing and I think I probably spent my life savings in the shop (no changes there then). Honestly you put me in a Harry Potter shop and I am possessed woman. After the Studios we drove home which took bloody ages.
So all in all I had an amazing few days, but I'm not sure I'd want to live in London because its too fast paced for me and it gets a bit claustrophobic with all the people on tubes and in the streets. I'm not a person with lots of patience so you can see how this would annoy me.

London and MCM Comic Con!

Yesterday I went to MCM Comic Con in London. It was amazing and an incredible experience to see all of the different Cosplay costumes. I went with my friend Molly and met a girl called Emma, that Molly is friends with at Kings Cross Station.

We started the day by waking up at 5:30 AM (cry) to get the half past 6 train. Unfortunately that train got cancelled because of a fatality on the tracks so we got the later train at ten past 7. The train ride was pretty uneventful except for the fact myself and Molly were duelling on the train and getting funny looks, until we realised we were in the quiet carriage. Woops, sorry passengers! 

When we arrived at Paddington Station we got our tube tickets and made our way to Kings Cross. This was ridiculously exciting for me as I haven't been to London since I was about 4 and had never ridden on the tube, by the end of the day however, the novelty had somewhat worn off! 

When we arrived at Kings Cross we found Emma, Molly's friend, and got in the queue to go on Platform 9 and 3/4. The man who was taking the professional photos was very impressed at how prepared we were with our scarves and wands. 

After we had had our pictures taken we took a trip inside the Harry Potter shop on the platform. It literally took every single ounce of self restrain I had not to buy the whole shop! I did however, buy the photo of myself and Molly on the platform (she brought the one with us doing the spell) and a Ravenclaw scarf! We also got our purchases inside a Platform 9 and 3/4 plastic bag... which may not seem exciting to you but seeing as we have to pay for our plastic bags in Wales, this was great getting one (which was also very cool) for free! ...The simple things in life.

After Kings Cross we made our way on several tubes to London Comic Con. I forgot to take any pictures here, but as I say it was incredible with all the Cosplays. My particular favourite was someone who dressed up as Jack Sparrow, I had to do a double take because he looked so much like him! We saw several YouTubers like Jack and Dean and Crabsticks but I didn't get any photos because I didn't want to stand in the line. We also saw Tom Baker who was the fourth Doctor which was pretty cool but I didn't want to pay £15 for an autograph and a photo so I just watched from afar. 

My overall impression of Comic Con was very positive and I shall be going back next year however, I think my experience would have been ever better if there had been celebrities there that I knew well rather than people who I just vaguely knew in passing. All in all, I would definitely recommend you go if you even vaguely like anything to do with Sci-Fi or especially Anime and Manga.

After Comic Con we went to pizza hut because we hadn't eaten all day and and then Molly and I walked around London. We visited Hamley's because of the massive Harry Potter section they have, M&M World which was amazing and then Buckingham Palace to have tea with the queen and Trafalgar Square to cry that the Harry Potter preimere was held there.

Then at about quarter to eight we went back to Paddington to go back on the train only to find that our carriage was the entertainment carriage and we had a TV in the back of our chairs with four episodes of Doctor Who and five episodes of Miranda along with other things, so that was us sorted!

Travel writing- Egypt

A word of advice: never go to Egypt in the middle of August. I found this out the hard way, after having severe sunburn almost immediately after stepping off the plane. The heat hits you very fast, and very hard in the face; you instantly start taking all the layers that you possibly can off without being indecent. The heat never decreases and you feel like you are constantly in an oven.

Although it’s not all bad, Egypt, enriched with history and myth, always keeps you on your toes and intrigued. An absolute must if you're visiting Egypt is to see the pyramids in Cairo. To see history right in front of your eyes on such a massive magnitude is incredible; something that you will never forget. The problem with the pyramids is that when you are marvelling at the exquisite features ahead of you, the street traders come out to play. A friendly tip is that if you completely ignore them, they will go away, if you so much as show as spot of interest or even eye contact, they will follow you around until you outwardly tell them to leave you alone: although this is not fool proof as most can't speak English. So don't buy anything unless the tour guide himself recommends it, or else you will be offered to be traded for five camels in exchange for a piece of rock from the ground: an offer I’m pretty sure my parents were considering.

Cairo is an adventure in itself: the roads are manic and the drivers equally insane. Instead of there being two or three lines of traffic there is about seven, with each car trying to get in front of the other, like an episode of the Wacky Racers. So, you will thank yourself later that you booked this trip with a tour guide and can leave them to try and keep you alive: you are quite literally putting your life in their hands.

Once over the initial shock of the driving without any clear rules, you look around and see a city so very different from the UK. The inhabitants are clothed in items from the Islamic religion and all the women have their hair covered: although how they manage to stay covered with the intense heat, I'll never know. Something also remarkable is seeing camels used as a way of transportation; I was told that this was common and often cheaper than buying cars. It was still a massive cultural shock none the less and highly amusing to see bags of shopping tied to the camels hump. 

Egypt is a place you will never forget, possibly because you come home with burnt feet or because you have been in the presence of an incredible part of history: either way it’s a fantastic place to cross off the bucket list.