Leaving London, Kings Cross Station, June 20

Platform 9 3/4

 

Our Favorite Used Bookstore

172nd Royal Highland Show, June 24

The show was similar to a state fair: farm equipment, livestock, music, equestrian competitions, pole climbing, chainsaw carving, a forge, handicrafts competions, and more

E: The show was really fun. We saw a bunch of different things. We saw a demonstration of birds of prey. My favorite thing was the weapons tent. I also liked the sheep dog demonstration where the sheep dog herded ducks to get them over a bridge, through a tunnel, weave around groups of children, and go up a ramp then down an slide with water at the bottom.

S: The Royal Highland Show was fun. I liked the weapons tent where I tried different weapons and helmets. My favorite helmet was silver with a gold crown going around it. I also liked the show with hunting dogs. They were cute and really obedient.

A: I liked the falconry demonstration. We saw two owls fly. One was only eight weeks old and named Mouse. The other was bigger. An eagle, some hawks, and a vulture also flew around in the demonstration.

Award winning knitted socks

Scottish Parliment, June 23

Palace of Holyroodhouse, June 23

E: Holyrood Palace is the Queen’s house when she is in Edinburgh. She has a big garden party there every summer. It is just across the crags from our flat. I liked Holyrood Palace because we got to see where Mary Queen of Scots slept when she was at the palace. We saw some embroidery that she did. It was of a cat and mouse, and the cat represented Elizabeth I and the mouse Mary. We also saw a lock of Mary Queen of Scots’ grey hair.

S: Holyrood palace actually looked like a real palace. It had towers and giant lamps with gold paint and a giant courtyard. There is a giant abbey next to the palace. It is in ruins. It has giant thick columns, no roof, and lots of graves.

A: Holyrood Palace was very interesting. One room had portraits of all the Scottish leaders. The pictures all looked similar because they were painted at the same time.

London, Harry Potter studio, June 19

London, Harry Potter studio, June 19

S: The Harry Potter studio was soooooooo awesome. It was like we were at Hogwarts. We saw the knight bus – which was my favorite – Diagon Alley, Harry’s dorm room, Dumbledore’s office, and Umbridge’s office. Everything was so detailed. In Umbridge’s office you could see every cat plate from the movie. We saw all the paintings you see on the castle walls in the movies. The Burrow was awesome. We could see the iron moving and the knitting needles knitting. We saw all the costumes worn in the movie. Olivander’s wand shop look realistic It was filled with wand boxes that had the names of everyone who worked on the movie. We saw how they made Dobby move, and we saw a fake head used to make Hagrid look really huge. Butterbeer is delicious.

E: I never imagined it would be like it was. I thought it would be a huge castle with a bunch of rooms. It was the rooms and props separately, not a whole castle. The great hall was amazing because it had everything you see in the movie. One of the details in the great hall that I really liked was the mechanism that counts the house points with jewels. It was like you were actually in the great hall. Every single room had so much detail. The potions classroom had maybe 500. bottles each with something different. Diagon alley was amazing. It was like you were walking on the alley. It had all the shops – Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, Olivanders, Flourish & Blotts, qudditch supplies, ice cream, pet store, school robe store, and even more. In the window of Flourish & Blotts was all of Gilderoy Lockhart’s books.  We had butterbeer, and I loved it.  It is super creamy and butterscotchy.

A: The giant model of Hogwarts castle was interesting because it was so detailed. You could see all of the castle. They changed the lights so we could see it both at night and day. They used the model, which is very small, in the films where it looks big. I also liked the giant statutes of the pieces used in wizard chess. Seeing all the sets was amazing because they were so detailed. In the ministry of magic set each brick was individually hand painted. I liked the Knight Bus because it had beds and a chandelier inside.

London, Cheshire Cheese Pub, June 18

E: Going to the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub to meet our friend was really fun because one of the Bluebonnet Books I read for school was set in the pub!! The pub was REBUILT in 1667. It was sooo neat being where one of my books took place.

A: I really liked the Cheshire Cheese Pub. It was very old – even older than the United States. It was rebuilt after the London fire of 1666. I like all the passageways and little pub rooms. It’s very historical. Outside it has a list of all the English kings since 1666. I had a cranberry and apple drink that was good.

S: The Cheshire Cheese is a very, very old pub from a book I read. There are four levels: ground level and three going further and further down. The rooms were kind of like caves. The bottom one where we sat was like a cave wine cellar. I wish I’d known about it before my birthday because then I would have celebrated at the pub. It was super cool. It was almost like you were back in time.

London, Tower of London, June 18

At the Tower of London with London Bridge

S: The Tower of London is a giant fortress and castle. We walked around the top wall and looked all around London. There were animals made out of wire. From far away they looked real, especially the elephant.

E: The Tower of London was really cool. A bunch of prisoners were kept there, and we got to see the English Crown Jewels. There were crowns, scepters, rings, orbs. They were very pretty. Some of the prisoners kept there were famous. We saw towers where some prisoners were kept.

A: The Tower of London is a giant fortress. I liked seeing the arms and armory. I liked learning about the weapons and how they were used. I also liked learning about the English coins. We saw a play set in 1666 in the Tower. It was about who was supporting the king and who was against him. The costumes and actors were great, and we got to participate in the play by choosing sides for or against the king.

London, Science Museum, June 17

S: At the Science Museum you can see steam locomotives. I saw Puffing Billy which is the first steam powered locomotive.

A: The Science Museum was cool. It had a capsule that went on an Apollo mission to the moon and the steam locomotive The Rocket. The Rocket won a famous race and was the world’s most famous steam locomotive. There are sections on lots of different things.

E:  The Science Museum was really interesting. I especially liked the first floor. There is a machine where you can take a picture of yourself, and it will show how you would look as a baby, teenager, and old person. They weren’t accurate at all.

London, Harrod's, June 17

S: I got to Harrods to pick out my birthday present. I got two English Beefeater guards, on king’s guard, and some horse guards. Harrods is huge. The toy section was five or ten rooms, and it has a giant Harry Potter section.

E: Harrods is a huge, awesome department store. It was easy to get lost. The toy section is like twenty Toy Joys combined. You can play with a lot of the things. It has sections with really fancy, expensive things.

A: Harrods was very crowded. It had giant Lego statues.