Day 3 - : Souvenir Shopping, Warner Brother's Studio (HARRY POTTER), Cambridge
We woke up mostly rested and enjoyed our English breakfast of baked beans, eggs, ham & sausage, tea and crumpets, and more. This was a nice leisurely morning, heading back over the Tower of London Bridge, to check out some souvenirs! Everyone was quite happy, and made some decent purchases with all you folks in mind at home! Very sweet! Once we were done, we walked back to the hotel for what turned out to be a very brief rehearsal. Marisa, Suzie, and Shauna went to the grocery store to purchase 50+ already made sandwiches for our bus ride to Cambridge. The grocery store clerk was impressed with the quantity of our purchase!!! After the rehearsal, we checked out and left for Warner Brother's Studio tour, the Making of Harry Potter. Wow! Everyone was beyond excited to go through this amazing tour! Harry Potter galore! We first saw some video of the beginning stages, the ideas that went into actually turning the books into movies, and then once the video was done, the screen lifted and we were right in front of the doors leading to the very famous dining hall! We were actually in the hall where all those fantastic scenes were filmed! Also, we entered the new exhibit, the Forbidden Forest. It gave a display of animatronic (but realistic) giant spiders that lowered themselves from the ceiling. Sydney was scared. The magical experience was a favorite to many of the kids. They enjoyed trying out character wands, walking through the replica of the Hogwarts Express, and sampling the oh so famous Butter Beer, (non-alcoholic of course).
After leaving Harry Potter World, we all conked out on the 1.5 hour bus ride to Cambridge, where we were greeted by our hosts at St Catharine's College, in a city Eric calls home. We all gathered for a pizza dinner with our homestays and hosts, and then serenaded them with a rendition of Aalloilla in the beautiful acoustics of the octagon. After dinner and song, those being hosted went back with their families, while the rest were given a personal tour by Eric of the scenic Cambridge backs. We wondered along the river, passed the historic colleges of Clare, Trinity, and King's and relaxed in a grassy meadow where the kids ran and learned the pony game. The walk back was peaceful in the late evening twilight. Off to bed for all these youngsters and their trusty chaperones in their fancy dorm suites!
Click through the slideshow below to view some highlights from today:
