On the first of this month I visited The Harry Potter Shop At Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross station, London. I wanted to do something Harry Pottery, and since I did the Hop-on/Hop-off bus in London, with the orange line going by King's Cross, it wouldn't be too hard to visit and see this side of the city.
It would be fun to say I've been in King's Cross, though I didn't take any of the trains, and after visiting Buckingham Palace there was just enough time to navigate the two bus routes to get there before the orange route stopped operating at 5:30.
The station wasn't quite what I expected. Far more modern than depicted in film, though I already expected this. The actual platforms you can't access unless you're taking a train. The shop itself is in the main hallway where there are other shops and eateries. I was on a time crunch so didn't really get a good look around.
There was a language cart positioned at 9 3/4 with a long line. Sure, it would have been fun getting a photo with it, but speed shopping and making it back to the bus was of higher importance.
So here's the funny thing: For fun I got the 9 3/4 train ticket to Hogwarts. It was only a pound, I believe. My Mom and I looked at it and thought it was cute that the date, 1 Sep 2018, the date we visited, was printed on the ticket. A nice souvenir, right? We thought it was cool that the current date was on the ticket, but how wasteful it must be to throw out tickets and make new tickets for the next day stating 2 Sep 2018.
Heh, I know.
Last night, as I was going through things, it finally dawned on me: September 1st . . . September 1st was the day all the Hogwarts kids left for Hogwarts!
That wasn't a special date put on the ticket just for the day I visited! I just happened to go to Kings Cross the day the Hogwarts Express would have left for Hogwarts. It's like this really cool Harry Potter goal that I didn't realize I had, yet inadvertently fulfilled. And I also feel like a failed Harry Potter fan for figuring it out so late.
Well, it's cool.
Now when I reread the books and all the kids are rushing to Hogwarts, I can remember visiting King's Cross on September 1st.
It would be fun to say I've been in King's Cross, though I didn't take any of the trains, and after visiting Buckingham Palace there was just enough time to navigate the two bus routes to get there before the orange route stopped operating at 5:30.
The station wasn't quite what I expected. Far more modern than depicted in film, though I already expected this. The actual platforms you can't access unless you're taking a train. The shop itself is in the main hallway where there are other shops and eateries. I was on a time crunch so didn't really get a good look around.
There was a language cart positioned at 9 3/4 with a long line. Sure, it would have been fun getting a photo with it, but speed shopping and making it back to the bus was of higher importance.
So here's the funny thing: For fun I got the 9 3/4 train ticket to Hogwarts. It was only a pound, I believe. My Mom and I looked at it and thought it was cute that the date, 1 Sep 2018, the date we visited, was printed on the ticket. A nice souvenir, right? We thought it was cool that the current date was on the ticket, but how wasteful it must be to throw out tickets and make new tickets for the next day stating 2 Sep 2018.
Heh, I know.
Last night, as I was going through things, it finally dawned on me: September 1st . . . September 1st was the day all the Hogwarts kids left for Hogwarts!
That wasn't a special date put on the ticket just for the day I visited! I just happened to go to Kings Cross the day the Hogwarts Express would have left for Hogwarts. It's like this really cool Harry Potter goal that I didn't realize I had, yet inadvertently fulfilled. And I also feel like a failed Harry Potter fan for figuring it out so late.
Well, it's cool.
Now when I reread the books and all the kids are rushing to Hogwarts, I can remember visiting King's Cross on September 1st.
The shop itself. Didn't take pictures on the inside.
My loot.
(Photos by Sarah and Robin Stufflebeam)
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