Going to Godric's Hollow, Meryton, Budleigh Babberton and Downton

Halloooooooo!!

So this is the post I was so damn excited about writing last weekend :D On Saturday 15th October I went to Lacock to visit the village and the abbey (it is part of the National Trust, so hehe). Main reason besides doing something cultural, exploring and getting out of London is, of course, film locations. More specifically for Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and yes, Harry Potter. Yes, I'm at it... Again...

 
I went with one of my friends who just wanted to get away from London and is a Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter fan as well :)

We planned this weekend back in September, booked our tickets back in September. It is only about an hour and 20min train ride to Chippenham from London Paddington, so we planned to arrive in Chippenham around 9.50am so we could catch the 10.05am bus to Lacock. Well, that was more of an challenge than first expected. All the time tables said there would be a bus leaving from the bus station, turned out that the bus station isn't infront of the train station, but is about a 10min walk. We've asked people to show us the way, where to go, when a bus would leave, etc. When we finally found the station we needed, the X34, our bus, just left... Another look at the time tables showed that another bus would leave in approx 20min. Not too bad, lets wait. Half hour went by and still no bus... Turned out, we looked at the Monday to Friday time table and not the weekend time table. Next bus would leave at 11.05am... So we lost a good hour. Thank god the weather was nice and we've had a good chat, so the waiting wasn't too bad.

Anyway, by 11.30 we finally arrived in Lacock. First thing on the agenda: food. Besides a coffee, I hadn't had any breakfast yet! We first wanted to go to the little National Trust cafe, but they didn't have any breakfast menus, so we then tried another little cafe, well tea room, at the King Johns hunting lodge. Breakfast was delicious and I had a Jane Austen tea (yum!). Apparently they hadn't had someone who was so excited for a tea... x)

By 1pm our bellies were enough satisfied and started the 'tour' through the village.

Lacock is only 4 streets big. Literally. But oooh man, the number of films and series that were filmed here. A dream for a movie geek like me! Especially costume dramas like Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice. But also Robin Hood, Cramford, etc. A bit more fantasy would be, yes, Harry Potter! I found this really cool map online of all the film locations of Harry Potter in Lacock.

So we did a tour combining all the film locations of Harry Potter (Godric's Hollow and Budleigh Babberton, Downton Abbey (Downton) and Pride and Prejudice (Meryton - 1995)

Within an hour and a half I had taken all the photos that I wanted in the village and then it was time to visit the Abbey. As National Trust members, we were able to walk through and marvel at the stunning building that was built somewhere in the 12th century (I believe).

But it would be just an abbey if they didn't shoot any films there! Three guesses... Yes, Harry Potter. It served as Hogwarts in the first 2 Harry Potter films :) The Mirror of Erised, first potions class and the Defence Against the Dark Arts class were filmed here.

The 11 year old in me is yet again satisfied x)

The abbey was much bigger than we expected, so we ended up walking around for a good hour and a half. Did a tour around the abbey and then made our way back to the village. We absolutely couldn't miss our bus back to Chippenham, as that would mean we would miss our train back to London. Something we definitely wanted to avoid :)

We had brunch in the garden of this tearoom

Village life

Around 19.30 we arrived back in London Paddington and I made my way to Waterloo station to go to a birthday party nearby. It was passed 12 when I made my way home, but hurray for 24hour busses around the corner x)

Sunday was spend indoors on Pinterest, putting together my imaginary apartment :) And then Monday happened again. Work work work. Counting down to the weekend again.

And that is it for this weeks update. Probably one of my favourite days of 2016 ^^
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

From William Thacker in Notting Hill to Georgiana Cavendish in the Duchess.

Hallooooo!!

Lets make this into a litle countdown: 11 weeks left in 2016. Eeeek!

So, I'm currently sitting at my little table in my room in London, reminiscing about what a splendid day I have had yesterday and how excited I am to write that particular post. Any Downton Abbey, Harry Potter or Pride and Prejudice fan will find it to be very interesting. But before I can get to that particular post, I will first share a few other exciting photos from Hampstead! Here is a hint:

Yep, last weekend I went to Hampstead and Hampstead Heath with my parents, so of course I had to go to Kenwood house. A splendid country house, owned by English Heritage but free for everyone. It is also the filming location for the Henry James film location in the 1999 flick Notting Hill. A film location of a film location in a film... Filmception? I guess you can tell why I was so excited x)

The house itself is of course stunning. Interior and exterior. The main thing to view, besides the splendor of the rooms, are the portraits and other paintings. Vermeer, Van Dyck, etc. You know, your regular masters.

From Kenwood House we took the bus back to Hampstead and started our tour around town.

Hampstead is situated North of London, above Primrose Hill. Whilst walking around you kind of forget that you are actually still in London. A bit like Greenwich. Mind you, in the olden days, Hampstead wasn't part of London, but the capital has been growing and growing, taking all the surrounding small villages under its wings. Hence the name 'Greater London'.

Our first stop was on Admiral's Walk where you find the house that allegedly inspired P.L. Travers. Remember Mary Poppins? And the Bank's weird neighbours who kept on firing cannons from their roof? Well, apparently this happend in real life, more specifically on this roof top. Nowadays, it is rumored to belong to Russell Crow and no cannons are being fired from the rooftop though.

From there it is only a small walk to Fenton House where I had a sneak peek in the gardens. Little high five for any fellow National Trust members x)

Then we've visited the grave of the late Jane Austen's cousin who is buried in one of the graveyards. And then it was time for lunch! At the Wells. Ridiculously delicious food. Highly recommend it! Very busy though so bear that in mind.

From the Wells Tavern it is another 2min walk to 2 Willow Road. This house was designed by Erno Goldfinger, the guy that allegedly is the inspiration for the Bond villain Goldfinger. Ian Fleming was a Hampstead inhabitant in the 1930's when Goldfinger had this idea of a very modern building. This meant for a few cottages to be knocked down. As you walk around Hampstead you notice that all the houses are in a similar style: tall with white facades. You can tell why the below design caused so much outrage in the neigbourhood.

Obviously Goldfinger got his way and the building is still standing here today and you can visit it! It is also part of the National Trust. Although the building is 1930's, the interior is mostely 1960's.

Whilst we were in the area, we've visited Keats house as well. Apparenlty he is a famous poet of which the movie Bright Star is based. I had never heard of him to be fair, so if he is unknown to you as well, you're not alone ;)

We had dinner in the Riding House Cafe in Fitzrovia which I HIGHLY recommend!!

Sunday started off with breakfast at Carluccio's (yuuuum) and then a visit to Spencer House in Mayfair. It has links to Princess Diana and Georgina Cavendish (née Spencer), of which a movie was made with Keira Knightley called the Duchess. And to make it even more interesting, Georgina was the duchess of Devonshire and called Chatsworth her home. Chatsworth featured as Pemberley in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaption also starring Keira Knightley.

After Spencer House it was time to pop into Hatchards bookshop, sushi for lunch and then to make our way the Imperial War museum in Lambeth. We spent a good 3 hours there before making our way back to Mayfair to have afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason. A once in a life time experience. Extremely delicious, but also quite posh x)

Monday I started an hour early so I had more time to grab some lunch with my parents before they returned home. This week has flown by oO

Oh, and Thursday night I went to Combat Sabers Academy and picked up my training where I left it off ^^ It was so good to see everyone (well mostly everyone) and just have a good old laugh. I felt like I hadn't laughed in so long it truely felt good to use those core muscles again x)

And that is it for this week's update :) Next week is going to be an exciting one. I went to Lacock! Yes I did and it was freaking lovely!:D

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

A film location hunt in London

Halloooo!

I can't believe there are only 12 weeks left in 2016! Not many weekends left to venture out, so I'll try to make the best of it ^^

Last week Saturday I didn't leave the apartment. Oops, there goes my resolution. I did some writing, saw an episode or 2 of Outlander and research to film locations. The research to film locations was important though, as I went out on Sunday to go find them ^^

I started the tour on Regent Street to see the restaurant exterior used in the movie Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman and many many more.

Did a tiny bit of shopping. Yes, during the weekend, but it was early so not a lot of people :) Then I made my way to Notting Hill to see the famous locations Richard Curtis used in his 1999 flick. I've seen the Blue Door multiple times now, but never in light of the movie location :) I also ate world's most horrible crepe on Portobello rd. Ugh.

From Notting Hill I went to Italian Gardens in Hyde Park. Another place I've been before and seen as a film location for Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason, but now I wanted to take pictures of the actual locations.

From Italian Gardens I went to Bond street to pop in the HMV to pick up Me Before You (which isn't out yet, apparently-.-) and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, I own a copy ^^ From Bond street it was only one tube stop away from Green Park to see more Notting Hill film locations at the Ritz.

From the Ritz to Piccadilly Circus to capture the moment when Bridget exited the underground to go to the book launch of Kafka's motorbike in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Piccadilly lead to Leicester Square to shoot another Burnt film location. And then a little detour to the Forbidden Planet where I saw a mug that is just meant for me to own.

From Forbidden Planet I walked to Trafalgar square where I shot the final film locations on my tour. Again for Notting Hill but also James Bond in the National Gallery :)

These are just a few of the many locations that I found and shot. I've linked a few to an instagram account, if you'd be interested for more.

So after I left the National Gallery I made my way home. Safe to say I was knackered :) It took me about 5 hours to complete my tour, but that included a bit of shopping on Oxford street and HMV :) I'm sure you can do it much quicker. I did use the underground, even for a single stop, to win time, so that is always a huge help :)

And Monday the usual work week started. Again.

So that is it for this week! If you're interested in more film locations or anything film related, make sure to check out instagram "afilmutopia" :)

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

A walk in the park

Hallooooo!!

This is going to be short post with a lot of pictures. Basically, I went to Richmond Park last Saturday, stayed in on Sunday, wrote my previous post, did some film location research, saw the Devil Wears Prada, Reign and Outlander. The week was the same as usual. Work from 9am til 5.30pm. There was a work related party on Thursday evening, the 25th anniversary of Screenworks. A company we often work with. It was a cool evening, playing ping pong and having a laugh with the colleagues. But the lighting was bad, so any pictures that I tried to take were blurry as hell. Aah well. But I did got very snappy happy when I was in Richmond Park. I got a bit carried away, so below is a selection of the many many pictures I snapped.

It took about two hours to get from where I live to the park and one change of bus. I treated the day as if I was on a proper day out. Walked for about 4 hours, had lunch and an afternoon tea at the local little lodge/restaurant/cafe with a stunning view. I treated the day as if I was on holiday. Such a good decision ^^

For anyone who doesn't know, Richmond Park is a giant park situated South West of London and has deer walking around freely. The warning signs say to keep a distance of at least 50meter, but that wasn't always up to us! They just casually walk by at a distance as close as 10meter. I think it is wonderful they are so at ease with people. It shows that most visitors to the park respect them and they trust us. Beautiful. And yes, I say 'most' people, I do mean not everyone has the brains to even go for a walk in the park with their dogs. As it is mating season, the deer are a bit more on edge as per usual and it is advised to stay away with your dogs. If you do decide to enter the park, the dog needs to be on a leash and preferably walk along the edges of the park where exists are nearby. Keep this info in mind, because I was walking through the park, I saw a woman with two dogs walking towards me. One dog was on a leash, the other wasn't. Very close by was a group of deer, just chilling around, minding their own business whilst other hikers walked past. Both dogs spotted the deer and the dog that wasn't on a leash set off and started to chase the deer. Of course the deer started to run for their lives. Bear in mind that there were other people around. A deer in blind panic can easily run into someone. The owner of the dog tried to call back the dog but with no success. Her voice didn't carry far enough and she obviously didn't want to go closer. The dog also clearly never had learned to listen to her. Just like some people shouldn't be allowed to get kids, some people shouldn't be allowed to get dogs. That woman's lack of judgement put about 10 people in danger, not to mention the fright her dog gave to the deer. Ugh. Anyway, now that little rant is out of my system, enjoy the pictures ^^

Who can see St Paul's Cathedral?

And that is it for this week! Told you it would be a short one :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara