the road is endless

Kristen Desmarais. Junior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges chronicling her adventures during her spring semester in London. This blog is meant to keep family & friends informed about her experiences.

harry potter studio tour pt.3

The last few pictures were possibly the coolest part of the tour. Sure, seeing all the sets, costumes, and props was amazing, but being able to see the process that went into making everything was mind blowing.
The first room that explored the process had walls covered in scale drawings of absolutely everything. Before anything was made it was drawn up. In the next room, the  cardboard and wood models were displayed. The next step in bringing sets and props to life. Everything was so small but so detailed. I wish I could build something like these and keep it on display in my house forever.
After all that, you walk into a room where the next scale model was. I was blown away. Immediately I was overcome with emotion and got goosebumps. This model of Hogwarts was used for ariel shots and such where less detail was needed and special effects could be added. Each light could be controlled and things inside could be manipulated. It’s the closest thing to actual Hogwarts.

The entire studio tour was as astounding. I took over 400 pictures, and chose just under 30 to share here. I wish I could post them all, but that would take forever. Having loved Harry Potter from the very beginning (I was given the first book at age 7), this was a dream come true. I spent three hours absolutely entranced. But in the moments I was able to stop geeking out and become aware of the people around me was when I was able to realize the magnitude of importance that this series actually holds. From 8AM until whatever time the place closes, the exhibit had been entirely sold out since the day it opened. Not a single person there wasn’t impressed and in absolute awe of what they were seeing. Harry Potter is more than just some cultural fad, it was and still is a worldwide phenomenon. 

Going on this tour was easily one of the best days of my life, no exaggeration. 

harry potter studio tour pt.1

harry potter studio tour pt.2

1 week post london

I’ve been back in the US for exactly 8 days now. While spending an extra 9 days in London after my program ended definitely helped me to make a transition out of the semester, I’m still homesick for it. I’m possibly more homesick for London than I was for home the entire time I was there. 
The nine extra days I stayed let me say goodbye to my favorite places one more time, go to places I meant to go to but never did, and find new places I wish I had found earlier. By the end of those nine days I felt ready to come home. I told myself it was time to really say goodbye (at least for now) and go back to life as usual. 
For the three short days I actually spent at home I was glad to be back. I got to see my home friends. It was as if I almost never left. Almost. We were just as we always have been, but something inside me seemed just a little different. I couldn’t place my finger on it.
Then I went up to visit school. It was absolutely beautiful. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed and loved campus. But it was strange. Even stranger than being home or seeing my friends. Things had happened between people, there were new friends, new inside jokes, new places. Everything was different. I guess I hadn’t realized that while I was living my life in London my friends were still living their lives. Time doesn’t stop just because you leave a place. I expected to go back and everything would be the same. I would start up again right where I left off, but it wasn’t like that. Next year will be interesting to say the least.
Then I went to Boston for the day. I’ll be living there this summer. Going for the day made me realize that I already need to change my expectations. When I found out that I got the internship in Boston I kind of saw it as a way to replace London. One city I love can be interchangeable for another right? Not quite. It’s going to be different and I have to accept that. Just because I’m in another city doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the same.

I guess this is the reverse culture shock they warn you about. These feelings along with the fact that I’m still confused on which way to look when I cross the street, the sadness when I don’t hear a British accent, and the longing I feel to just walk around the corner to my favorite pub. I’m reminded everyday of something that has to do with London. I wish I could be with the people I lived with and I wish I could still see them everyday.

It’s hard to imagine that the way my life has been for the past four months will never be that way again. It will always have a special place in my heart. Now though, it’s time to put those months and memories in the past and lean into the future with a clean slate. It’s time to make new memories that I’ll one day long for.

Yes, London. You know: fish and chips, cup ‘o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary Poppins… LONDON.

—Avi, Snatch (2000)

It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.

Anthony Bourdain (via travellinginspiration)

Photojournalism Final Edit Part 1