Traveling

Monday, 6 January 2025

London 2024/25 - Part 1

Munich Airport

Saturday - December 28th 2024

Our annual London trip over New Year's Eve was upon us. Since our flight to England departed Sunday early morning, we decided to spend a night at the Novotel Munich Airport. After lunch we packed our stuff and hit the road towards Munich. There was a lot of traffic, but we finally made it to our hotel. We stayed already many times at the Novotel and were always pretty happy with our rooms and today was no exception. First we checked in and then we took the bus to the airport, because we wanted to check out the Christmas Market. We got a couple of mulled wines and later we had dinner at McDonald's, where we both got the McPlant burger. Before we returned to the hotel, we strolled through the airport and bought some snacks and magazines. Back at the hotel we watched Disney's Frozen before heading to bed.

Novotel Munich Airport

Our Room

Christmas Market

Dinner

Thursday, 2 January 2025

London 2024/25 - Part 2

Flying To London

Sunday - December 29th 2024

Today we had to get up pretty early since our flight left in the early morning. First we took a taxi to the airport and after the security check we headed to the airport lounge for breakfast. Then it was time for boarding, but unfortunately our flight was delayed due to the cold and icey weather. Finally an hour later we departed munich and about two hours later we landed at London Heathrow Airport. After we collected our luggage, we got picked up by our private taxi, because of construction the airport train to London wasn't operating. In the late morning we arrived at our hotel for the next couple of days. Like last year we stayed at The Alma in Wandsworth Town. Our room wasn't ready yet and so we got a welcome drink at the adjacent pub.

Breakfast

The Alma Pub

Welcome Drinks

Wandsworth Town

After our welcome drinks we stopped at Lockdown Bakery for a coffee and a snack. Then we walked along the River Thames to Battersea Power Station. This walking tour has become a sort of tradition since we were doing that for the last three years. About an hour later we made it to Battersea and there we wanted to find something to eat. We decided to try BAO Noodle Shop, a Taiwanese restaurant, and ordered a noodle dish with spicy tofu. The food was really good and now we were ready to do some shopping.

London

Battersea Power Station

Battersea

Bao Restaurant

Late Lunch

Battersea

Before we headed back to the hotel, we bought some snacks at M&S for the evening and then we took the train back to Wandsworth Town. Back at The Alma we checked in and after we dropped off our luggage in our room, we spent the rest of the evening at The Alma Pub. There we had a couple of drinks while being happy to be back at our favourite pub. Later we returned to our room and ate our sandwiches before calling it a day.

Battersea

Train Station

Our Room

Drinks

Wednesday, 1 January 2025

London 2024/25 - Part 3

Warner Bros. Studio Tour - The Making Of Harry Potter

Monday - December 30th 2024

Today was the highlight of our trip to London, because after many years of trying to get tickets we finally got to visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter. After we got up, we had breakfast at the hotel. Then we took the train and metro to Victoria Station from where the bus departed. The Studio Tour was located at Leavensden about an hour outside of London. Since we still had some time to kill until departured, Claudia and I just strolled around the area and checked out some shops. Finally we were on our way to Warner Bros.

The Alma

Breakfast

Wandsworth

London

Bus to Warner Bros.

At first we were a little bit shecked, when we saw all the visitors in the line to enter the Studio Tour, but crowd control was really good and soon we were inside. Each guest had an allocated time frame and we still had to wait for half an hour until we were allowed into the actual show building. So we headed to the merchandise store and bought some souvenirs. Once it was our time we entered into a cinema and got to see a short movie about the making of the Harry Potter films. Afterwards the actual studio tour started with an amazing special effect and we got to explore Hogwarts' Great Hall. Along the tour we saw Dumbledore's office or the Gryffindor common room among other sets and props. Plattform 9 3/4 was another highlight of the first part of the tour before it was time for a break at the Backlot Cafe.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

The Making of Harry Potter

The Backlot Cafe even offered a vegan burger and of course we both had to try it. Although the restaurant was very crowded, it didn't take too long to order and to get a place. The plant based burger was pretty good, while the butter beer was just okay, but the ice cream on the other hand was quite delicious. Then it was time for the sceond part of the tour. First we had to go outdoors, where the sets of Privet Drive or the Knight Bus waited for the guests to be explored. After Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Diagon Alley the tour ended at the amazing model of Hogwarts Castle that was used for exterior shots. I think we spent almost five hours inside Warner Bros. Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter and it was totally worth it, even if you aren't a fan of the movies. Since we still had some time until our bus back to London departed, we got a coffee at Starbucks. Back in Wandsworth we stopped at the Alma Pub for drinks and later we enjoyed a relaxing evening in our room.