Hogwarts Students Travel by St. Pancras

Another eclectic day this side of the pond. The heat let up today, leaving us in the beautiful 70s for our walk to St. Pancras Station and the British Library. We started out fairly early so the city was unusually quiet. No emergency vehicle sirens, shouting tourists, or any of the other usual loud sounds you hear in our neighborhood. It was a peaceful walk until we got to the bustling train station. You may recognize St. Pancras as the outside of the Hogwarts station "King's Cross". The real King's Cross is the less beautiful building next door and it houses the wall they used for platform 9 3/4. Apparently, JK Rowling chose to include King's Cross in her books because it was where her parents had met. 

St. Pancras Hotel and Train Station 

King's Cross

Getting this far, we couldn't not try to get through platform 9 3/4, right?

The two men taking the photos were delightful.  They showed you how to pose and even flipped your scarf in the air to make it look like you were moving all while making jokes and keeping the wait fun.  When they saw Pigwidgeon they were delighted and insisted on taking a couple of photos of us as well as one of Pigwideon alone.  Our little owl is so photogenic and happily posed for the photos.

From there we visited the British Library.  The only photos of the British Library I've seen were old so imagine my surprise when the British Library turned out to be a modern building.

Once I got my library card, I made my way to the Manuscripts reading room where I picked up my reserved letter from J.R.R. Tolkien.  The letter was written in August 1942(5) and discussed C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens...at least, it was supposed to.  Tolkien's handwriting is hard to decipher.  If you've ever read any of the Lord of the Rings books you've probably seen his handwriting in pictures in the books.  It looked like Lewis was either teaching or leeching (off) their publisher o_O  I also didn't see any reference to Dickens but I did see a Charles Williams.  Though I found it disappointing that I couldn't understand half the letter I did enjoy the chance getting to see something he'd written.

After my reading room extravaganza I got to see the Magna Carta (!!!), Jane Austen's writing desk (!!!), some writings by Da Vinci, and some letters and lyrics form the Beatles (Lennon had interesting handwriting).  I also got to see some absolutely beautiful illuminated manuscripts.  Alas, no pictures allowed.

Tonight we'll be seeing Les Miserables so the excitement continues.  I'll be sure to bring some tissues.