The last day of the month and here I am writing about what I did on my birthday six weeks ago. Well, I planned to write about it at least twenty-seven days after my birthday because that's how old I am but no I am not waiting anymore. Do you remember me mentioning the Studio Tour in my previous blog post? That's where I went. 

My birthday this year was on a Monday; same as five years ago, where I decided to take control of my day and not entirely rely on others to make this day special for me. The other two years weren't entirely in my control because of the pandemic, but the one after that was the best because that's when I went to Manali, and nothing would top that at all. Not even the Studio Tour I did. Because for this year, I stayed at an Airbnb closer to the Studio Tour as travelling to and fro that very day would have been a little inconvenient which is why I chose to stay away for three days and it isn't something that always happens i.e., staying anywhere but home. 

The weather was fine and not that hot in a way and my pre-birthday celebration was more of walking around and doing cafe-hopping. I couldn't explore too much on the food area after having been affected by the Alfredo pasta which I hadn't had in a long time and the Alfredo pasta may have been a little too thick to digest so I had to stick to something light.

On my birthday after having a good breakfast and a shower and after calling my family who waited from midnight till almost eleven in the morning to get to me because I slept before midnight and I was out doing errands before I went for the Tour, and after a not so heavy lunch, I went to the station to board the shuttle bus. There were lots of tourists. I was excited from the very moment I boarded the shuttle bus but at the same time, I tried keeping it to a minimum to avoid being disappointed. 

After a waiting time of 10-15 minutes and having a hot drink before being immersed for three to four hours, I was ready. So this is where I went on my 27th Birthday. 

Welcome to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter. This is an attraction that offers visitors to opportunity to journey behind the scenes of Harry Potter and experience the magic that has gone into creating the most successful film series of all time. 

I have been planning this ever since I first came to the U.K. and I wanted to do this on my 27th birthday. I thought I would not have the opportunity due to my visa issues at that time and thankfully that has been resolved and I was able to visit on my birthday. 

Whether or not, you are a Harry Potter fan, you will certainly enjoy it. You have to give it at least three to four hours but can stay as long as you want. You will see all you wanted to see from Harry Potter and every season of time, they have different themes. For example, the time I visited, the feature was called ‘Return to Azkaban’ because the third film of the franchise: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban completed 20 years so you will some of the attractions based on that such as the Divination Classroom, The Knight Bus, and so on, along with the other Harry Potter movies as well. 

I am not going to tell you everything that I did because that is something you need to see for yourself. On one side, it is exciting and surreal but on the other side, it is tiring because you have to walk for four hours or more. There is a cafe in the middle of the tour where you can relax and grab a meal before heading to the other half of the tour. I noticed a different cafe at the exit served pizza and having pizza on your birthday is a tradition which didn't happen because by the time I stepped out of the tour, it was closed and the only cafe that was open provided me a slice of cake and a coffee, and soon after the tour, it was getting late and I had to eat something, and my phone was dead but I managed to have KFC as there was time for the bus to come and I reached home an hour before midnight where my family called and we had a virtual cake cutting celebration which was good. I enjoyed it. I wanted to sleep immediately because I had to check out in the morning and I doubted if I would get enough sleep then.

I felt like I didn't fully utilise the Tour by the second half because my phone was out of charge and I was rushing a bit while also trying to take photos. Because I was alone, I had to ask some visitors at times to click for me and they were too kind, some turned out really good and some pretty bad lighting. I asked three strangers to click a picture of me pushing the trolley to Platform 9 ¾ and I had to take a selfie in the end. There were also green screen photography sessions where we traveled in Hogwarts Express or fly a broom and I did both which was really expensive but I needed some memories.

I am not disappointed but not fully satisfied because of things in between not working out such as the pizza place closing, or waiting for thirty minutes for the shuttle bus to return, or the phone battery running out, and me at times, focusing more on capturing the experience than being in the experience, something I realised later on. I don't need to capture it because it is an attraction, but only if it is pleasing to your eye. I have taken multiple photos of the same spot outside my house at different points in time because it was pleasing to the eye. 

I solemnly swear that I had a really good time at WB Tour London. Would I visit again? Absolutely I will. I love Harry Potter, it is my childhood. If you had known me from my school days, you would hear me talking crazily about Harry Potter and I had a lot of merchandise back then, I bought a T-shirt even after it was too small for me because I loved it. Three months before the Tour, I was doing a Harry Potter marathon just to get into the mood and I realised how much I loved it and may have missed it. I may not be crazily obsessed (which is good in a way so you love it the right way) by having wands or robes as I am too old for it or I don't feel like it but I love it. 

I know I have been complaining about how I delayed in writing the birthday post but then I realised that this is the perfect day to write about my birthday trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour because today is the birthday of The Boy Who Lived. 

Happy Birthday Harry Potter.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for reading. 

Until Next Time.

Mischief Managed!