london Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Harry Potter turns 20!

May 23, 2017 by Bel

Can you believe that on June 26th 2017, JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” has been publish for 20 years?! It seems no time at all, since I discovered my love for Harry Potter and his Wizarding World but despite being 38 years old this weekend and having gotten both my daughters to love Harry Potter too, I find it hard to believe that it really has been twenty years since the start of my favourite book series.

That said, I wasn’t one of the first people to jump aboard the Harry Potter band wagon. In fact, when both my mum and dad were raving about the books, I was actually wondering what the hell was going on with all these adults loving a “kids book”. It wasn’t until 1999 (Philosopher’s Stone was 1997), not long after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published, that I finally caved to peer pressure and borrowed my parent’s copy of the first book. In typical “child” fashion, I hated to admit when my parents were right, but oh my god I loved the first book. So much so that it was read within a few days, despite working full time. Book two was then devoured within days, followed by book three. It was official, I was hooked. I was desperate for the fourth book… and I suppose that was when I truly became a Harry Potter fan.

Book Four – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was pre-ordered. When it arrived, I couldn’t wait to get reading and I literally didn’t put it down until I was done. This became the same for all the other books, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and finally The Deathly Hallows. I have never before, or since, been so hooked on a book series. And it didn’t end with just the books either. I went to see every movie that was released, if not on the very first day, within very few days of released. The Deathly Hallows Part 1 was released not long after my ex and I split up and having no one who was immediately free to go to the cinema with, I ventured for the first time by myself to see a movie – rather than wait too long and go with someone else. When the final movie was released, myself and fifteen other friends, all gathered for a party of sorts. We all went to the first midnight showing of the movie and some of us even got Deathly Hallows tattoos to remember the occasion – this was my first ever tattoo.

This week I have been to London and of course a visit to the Platform 9 3/4 shop is an essential part of that trip. Not only that, but as I mentioned earlier – I turn 38 at the end of this week and guess what I’m doing for my birthday? A trip to Watford and the Harry Potter Studios (it will be my third time!). I’m really a huge Harry Potter geek and I don’t care if I should be too old for it or whatever. I have loved Harry Potter for (almost) twenty years and I will continue to do so for at least twenty more. I have loved sharing the stories with my children and hope they will continue to share the books with their own children too. This weekend we are also attending MCM London Comic Con and they have pre-releases of the 20th Anniversary “house” editions of the Philosopher’s Stone and I’m so tempted to get one (or all of them…)! Harry Potter books are the one and only set of books I would never be parted with, over all the books I own.

As a final thought and conclusion to my post, I wanted to share this infograph, put together by Cartridge Save. It has loads of fun facts about most used words and phrases, along with how many copies have been sold and how many words are in each book etc. If you’re yet to read Harry Potter, no matter what the reason, I honestly recommend you give it a try! You have nothing to lose and a whole lot of love to gain!

Summer Bucket (and Spade) List

July 15, 2016 by Bel

With summer holidays fast approaching I have to admit I’ve started to wonder what I can do to occupy the kids. For the most part they’re fairly happy kicking around the house or even going out to the local park, but its always nice to get out and about – especially as we live so close to the beach and other beautiful countryside. I’ve flicked through Molly’s Guide and the Primary Times to see if there are any good vouchers for local attractions, or even free activities days. I’ve even been scouring the net for things to do that won’t cost the earth. I came across an article on Haven’s blog about alternative beach activities and since Mablethorpe and Skegness are so close to us, I figured I could put some of the ideas to use. However we will most likely spend our time in our pool if the weather gets too hot to go out, if you plan on doing the same with your family then you may want to get some swimming pool refurbishment done before summer comes around.

Anyway, with the help of the kids, I put together some bucket list items that we’d like to tick off this summer. Here’s what we came up with.

Visit the beach (preferably on a day sunny enough to paddle/swim and build sandcastles – easier said than done in the UK)
Travel on a double-decker (preferably open top) bus.
Go to London on the train and catch a theatre show. We’d love to see Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Aladdin. Maybe even Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Swim at the local pool, preferably once a week.
Catch a movie at the cinema, especially on the cheap kids show either Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Walk to the local park, play and have a picnic lunch.
Get out the tent and go camping. Megan spent a few nights in her sleeping bag last week and now they’re both obsessed with the idea of going camping. When going camping in remote areas without access to electrical hookups, having small generators for camping can be a lifesaver.
Go to a theme park. I recently saw that Drayton Manor had a discount on their tickets, or places like Alton Towers and Legoland often have 2 for 1.
Attend a Yule Ball and Harry Potter convention. We actually have tickets and dresses for this already. We’re pretty excited to be attending a ball.
See the poppies at Lincoln Castle. These are here till September and I would love to see them before they leave.

As I was finishing off the list of things we’d like to do, Lily added “buy a new house”. While it’s not really part of my Summer Bucket List, I do wish that it was! I think selling the house that fast at this stage would be a bit of a dream, but I guess we can hope!

What do you have planned for the summer?

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Travel Diary – 17th June 16 – Paris Day One

June 27, 2016 by Bel

So a few weeks ago, I headed off to Paris once again! You may remember that I took a trip with my family back in May, but this time the trip was a Girl’s Weekend, partly to attend a convention and partly to visit Paris itself! I was absolutely dreading leaving Chris and the girls for 5 days and 4 nights, but I also had a lot to look forward to. My best friend Nat and I, were traveling from my house, while Amy was coming from hers. Though we were traveling separately, we were spending the whole weekend together – or at least that had been the plan until Amy was unable to make it.

On Day One of the trip, Nat and I took the girls to school and then drove to Retford to catch the train. From Retford we traveled to London (though ended up delayed), where we would then catch the Eurostar. Neither Nat nor I had traveled on the Eurostar so it was quite exciting, but also a little nerve-racking when we found our seats had been changed. Luckily we were upgraded to Business Class and this made the change quite exciting!

From setting off in the morning at 9am, to arriving in Paris at 4pm (French time), the journey was fairly uneventful (despite a slight delay on the original train). When we arrived in Paris, we already had our journey to Versailles figured out and so we went about buying a ticket and catching the RER to where we needed to be. It was pretty busy on the first RER B to St Michel, but after that the RER C was fairly quiet and the journey took us around 20-25 minutes.

When we stepped off the train at Versailles, we used my phone to figure out where we were going for the hotel. It was only a 10 minute walk and the weather was pretty nice, despite having rained most of the afternoon while traveling there. On the way to the hotel, we actually spotted the Palais Des Congres, which was where our convention was being held the next day. Registration was taking place so we decided to queue up and get our pass, before heading to the hotel.

Getting our passes took about an hour but we knew it would save us time in the morning. However the hotel was literally a minute or two from there so we crossed over in front of the Versailles Palace and checked into our room. At first glance, the room was pretty spectacular. There was a double bed and a single bed, a lovely bathroom and a separate toilet. However while at a glance it looked nice, on closer inspection it could have done with a little TLC. One of the lights on the wall wasn’t working, a drawer handle was missing and the tablecloth was dirty. However it didn’t really matter to us and overall it felt like a nice hotel.

We settled ourselves in the room, unpacked somewhat and I also FaceTimed with the girls. At first we had planned to head out and see some sights in Paris and meet Amy from her plane, but when ended up not being able to come, we decided to just stay local to the hotel. On checking in we were given a 15% voucher for the hotel’s restaurant but since we weren’t sure what we wanted to eat, we decided to go for a walk and see what was nearby. We went past the Palace, this time walking around it to see how beautiful it was, then down back towards the station, all around the restaurant area and finally back to the hotel restaurant.

In the restaurant we were luckily given an English menu as Nat and I are both poor at French. She ordered a burger and chips while I ordered an artisan tart (which turned out to be more like pizza). I thoroughly enjoyed mine, though Nat’s burger came far too rare for her. Despite sending it back and it being cooked more, there were still parts that were rare and she really struggled to eat it. Check out for Roanoke weekend activities and you sure won’t be disappointed.

After finishing dinner and paying the bill, we just decided to head back to the hotel and go to bed. Even though all we’d really done was travel, we’d pretty much worn ourselves out and we knew we wanted to be up early the following morning for the Fairytales (Once Upon a Time) convention that we were going to.

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Week 36 – Monday Round-up

September 9, 2015 by Bel

I am so behind on everything right now that I’ve realised its Wednesday and I still haven’t rounded up last week! To be truthful it was the usual mix of nothing some days and loads the next, but I will try to recap as best I can remember!

Monday we were still in London and I posted about that day here. Since we were actually back by Tuesday, life pretty much returned to normal. The girls went to their dad’s house and Chris was at work so I had a day of sewing, blogging and watching TV (not necessarily in that order!). I made some decisions about the month (that sadly haven’t really happened yet) and tried to take a determined approach to life since it was September 1st!

In the evening I sat down to make loads of hair bows and watch Grimm. It was actually pretty awesome ;)

In the morning I got up and headed out for the girls, about the same time as Chris headed out to work. I picked them up and we headed to Asda Living to pick out some school uniform for Megan and a few last minute bits and pieces they needed. Afterwards we went home and while the girls sat and played on their computers (and Disney Infinity on the Xbox), I made more bows and watched Grimm… right up till bedtime. Other than that there was the odd bit of getting ready for school etc. but that was pretty much it.

On Thursday the girls were back at school and we had the usual mad rush in the morning. After dropping the girls off I came home and started to sew. Nat came around for the day and although we mostly sat and chatted, she helped me cut out pattern pieces etc. until we both needed to pick up the kids from school. After school we all just flaked in front of the TV and computers, recovering from a busy day! Friday was fairly similar, except that I dropped the kids off at school and went on a ribbon hunt in Lincoln. I realised Nat was off so called her to meet up for coffee and we spent the morning chatting and drinking coffee/hot chocolate. I headed home as I needed to go to the post office and get a few bits done. However it wasn’t long before I was back out to get the girls. That evening I spent sewing, getting both a Woody dress done and also working on a Wendy cosplay.

Saturday morning and it was the weekend. The girls had no school and Chris had no work, so it should have been heaven – except I felt awful! I had a headache all day long and this resulted in me crying on and off through frustration. However I managed to get some work done in the end and my headache finally cleared by about 7pm. Sunday was another day of sewing and another day of everyone being off. We spent the day doing our own thing but sat down to a family dinner of fajitas in the evening.

It was a lovely week but as always, highs and lows. This week is fairly crazy so far but I’m beginning to think that’s the new norm!

36/52

September 7, 2015 by Bel

Last Monday we were at Platform 9 3/4 (a day early for traveling to Hogwarts!). This is my unimpressed face as I didn’t think Chris holding the camera that way around was going to get the sign in the background ;) Since I already shared a pic of the girls in their scarves and pushing the trolley in my post last Monday, I figured I’d go with this one. It probably should have been a “first day back at school” pic this week really but I forgot to take one!!!

Week 35 – Monday Round-up (on Tuesday)

September 1, 2015 by Bel

Trying to keep on top of my week this week, as it’s a bank holiday weekend and then the kids will be back to school and I don’t want to get too far behind! This week started off really great! Monday the girls had been overnight at their Grandma’s and then went on to their dad’s so I still didn’t see them. Chris was off work though so it was nice to spend the day together (well sort of). I spent the morning working on orders, to make sure I could get them sent off that day. I then grabbed a shower and Chris and I went out for lunch. Since we ate at NYC Bar and Grill (again), we ended up going for a wander around Bawtry at the same time. It was lovely having a walk around somewhere new and the weather was good too.

On the way back to Gainsborough, Chris’ car started playing up and that was a worry. We came in and I started sewing, but he had to call the garage and get it checked out. Luckily it didn’t seem like it was anything to worry about so I spent the rest of the day sewing, answering emails and working on my orders. Chris and I headed to bed around 11pm though as we were both tired.

Tuesday was another day off for Chris but we had a lot planned. I was out the door at 8.30am as I needed to pop to market before heading over to my mum’s. Chris was coming too but decided he would take his own car and give it a run. Luckily it was fine though we still popped into the garage to make an appointment, just for it to have the once over. We then headed on to my mum’s, where I worked on the Saxilby School website with her and Chris fixed an issue with her computer/printer, while causing one with her internet! However we couldn’t stay and fix it as I needed to get the girls from their dad and then head over to Louth. I picked the girls up and then we all headed over to see my Auntie Pat. She had her grandchildren around so it was sort of a playdate, but it was nice to see Pat and catch up. We had a lovely lunch and the kids played nicely. I almost felt bad that we had to leave. Chris headed back to my mum’s to fix the wifi he’d broken earlier and the girls and I went to Scunthorpe so I could scout out a Fabric Warehouse I’d found online.

The girls and I had a wander around the fabric store and I did buy a few bits. We then went to The Range where we spent a bit more! Finally we headed to Costa and grabbed coffee before we all headed back. Chris was already home by then but we were all pretty worn out so we did our own thing. The girls weren’t hungry (I think from the coffee) and neither was I. We postponed dinner for a while and I worked on Amy’s cosplay outfit. Finally we had dinner and as the girls were finishing I realised it was 9pm! I have no idea how it got that late but after letting them have a few minutes for their food to go down, I soon packed them off to bed – with Megan having a while longer for iPad time. I spent the evening sewing until eventually Chris and I went to bed as well.

On Wednesday Chris was back to work and on an early shift too. This meant that I got a lie in till 9am which was really nice. When I got up, I realised I had quite a bit of blogging to do so caught up on that (and started this). The girls played happily on their computers. I spent the morning working on Amy’s cosplay costume, working out a custom order with a possible customer and browsing the net for ideas/supplies. To be honest I don’t really know where the day disappeared to, but I got quite a lot done!

On Thursday, Nat came around. I spent majority of the time sewing, though we did go out into Gainsborough for a while and treated the girls to Subway while we were out. I bought some things I needed for Amy’s dress and continued to work on that. When I ran out of the things I needed, I stopped to order them online instead. I spent the evening working on yet another custom order idea, now having two in the pipeline!

Friday we were up early and out to take Chris and his car to the garage. Luckily it didn’t need much doing and so we headed into Lincoln and got the girls their school shoes. After this we met up with Nat and her kids, wandering around town, doing various bits of shopping. Chris went off to work and we took the kids to McDonalds for lunch. Afterwards we headed up to Lincoln Castle and had a lovely afternoon there. Finally we dropped Nat and the kids back off at her car and went to grab Starbucks. We then headed home and collapsed. Before bed we needed to pack as we were off to London the next day, but we managed that without too much fuss!

Saturday and Sunday were spent down in London, but I documented them separately and there is no point me doing it again! This was yet another lovely week and I can’t believe the kids are back at school soon!

Bank Holiday Weekend – Monday

August 31, 2015 by Bel

Last day of hols and while I’m updating this from home, I still wanted to compete the diary for our third and final day in London.

We woke up this morning, got ready and packed. It was raining so this scuppered our plans but we decided to head for the Museums. First we started with the V&A but the girls (and us really) just weren’t interested. Instead we headed for the National History Museum and while this was much better, it was so busy that we only lasted an hour before leaving.

We caught the tube to Kings Cross Station, just to make sure we were there on time, then headed out for lunch. We settled on Subway, with the plan of takeaway for dinner when we got home. After Subway we went back into the station and after some deliberation we queued for the Harry Potter 9 and 3/4 photo shoot. It took the whole hour we had spare and so then we caught our train and traveled back to Newark. The helicopter rides around Rochester is truly an enjoyable experience that one must try.

Mum picked us up from the station and it was chucking it down with rain! We got back to her house and then Chris drove us back home. We unpacked, ordered takeaway and settled in for the night. That’s where I am now. We’ve eaten takeaway and the girls are on their computers. I’m making my way through emails and browsing the net! It’s been a good weekend.

Bank Holiday Weekend – Sunday

August 30, 2015 by Bel

Again I’m updating from the Travelodge on our Bank Holiday weekend away! It’s been another lovely day, this time shared with Chris!

The girls and I got up and got ready this morning and went out to meet Chris. By 11am we were all together and after a quick visit to the Platform 9 and 3/4 shop (which is also online), we set off for Leicester Square. We had Five Guys for lunch, then wandered to Forbidden Planet. We were in Forbidden Planet for ages and even when we left, we wandered into two or three other other geeky shops while making our way towards slowly Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Megan bought a Minecraft book and Lily got a little obsessed with Harley Quinn. I can see this is going to be a craze setting in!

Not far from Ripleys, we still had time to kill and so we went in the M&M shop. I’ve been before but the girls and Chris hadn’t (well not the London one, we went to one in Florida). It actually took us quite a while to walk around all three/four floors and the girls had their picture taken with all the M&M characters. Afterwards we headed to Ripley’s though and while we weren’t really sure what to expect, it was pretty good and took us just over an hour to look around. Afterwards we just sat outside for a while, our feet were hurting and we were trying to decide what to do. However we then went for another wander and ended up at Nandos for dinner. Again, Chris and the girls hadn’t been to a Nandos and I realised it was before Megan was born since I’d last been. We all enjoyed our food though and the service was great.

Finally we headed back to the Travelodge (another long trip on the tube and this time incredibly busy!) and chilled out. That’s where we are now – watching X-Factor! Chris is going for a shower, the girls aregoing to go on their iPads and we’re all just relaxing.

Shopping Haul - Minecraft and Harley Quinn Comic

Bank Holiday Weekend – Saturday

August 29, 2015 by Bel

It’s Saturday night and I’m coming to you live from a London Travelodge!! We’ve had a fab day, traveling on the train from Newark to London, then checking in and enjoying London. The train journey went great and everything was on time for a change. We traveled the tube to our Travelodge in Hounslow Central though and this took ages!

On the way back, we got off at Knightsbridge and met up with my friend Tim for lunch at the Disney Cafe in Harrods. The food was pretty expensive and the cafe was nothing special, but the service and food was good and the girls got “free” Disney ears. Afterwards we went to Harrods Disney Store. It was much nicer than a lot of Disney Stores I’ve been in and they did seem to have things that other stores didn’t. I bought Megan a beautiful jacket and to be fair to Lily, she got some Disney Infinity characters. Finally we headed out and went for a wander, before deciding to grab coffee and sit for while to chat. At 5pm Tim needed to go so we said our farewells. The girls and I did the London Eye (thanks to Avios Reward Scheme) which was great and then finally we traveled back to the Travelodge for dinner.

Dinner was very average but it hit the spot. We then went back to the room and collapsed. We’re now heading to bed, though we’ll probably watch X Factor first!!

Minnie Mouse in the Harrods Disney Store

My Dream Staycation

August 15, 2015 by Bel

Money is tight for the majority of people these days and so holidays are definitely classed as a luxury! I’m always looking for the odd getaway weekend here and there and with six weeks of summer holidays upon us, what better time to take a break? However I for one can’t afford to book flights anywhere and a staycation is really the only option. So far we’re three weeks through the summer break and sadly we haven’t managed to visit anywhere. I’m working hard on getting my new business up and running and that means we’re all being even more careful with money than we might be otherwise. Not only that but we’re hoping to finish decorating our house soon and get that on the market, which will mean an expense moving house on top of everything else. So when I was asked to share my Dream Staycation, the ideas came fairly easily. There is no place in this country I love to visit more, than London!

Though there are heaps of places in the UK that I’d love to vacation (York and Bath being two that are high up on the list), London owns my heart when it comes to Staycations. Living in Lincolnshire, a very green and very quiet county, even our cities aren’t that big or loud. Lincoln – our nearest (and my dearest) city, it basically an overgrown town rather than a city. Don’t get me wrong, I love that balance of countryside alongside city, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love to experience the real city life whenever possible!

Theatre

One of my most favourite things to do in London is go to the theatre! Wicked is by far my most watched musical, totaling four visits so far! I’ve also seen Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Blood Brothers, Grease, Thriller and many more. Of course there are places other than London to attend the theatre but there’s nothing quite like the feel of theatre district, especially at night!

Shopping

No trip to London would be complete without some shopping. After all, the staycation is saving you money – you need to treat yourself a little. My favourite shops to visit are definitely Lush and the Disney Store, so Oxford Street is a must. However the plenty more shops to visit and with a Starbucks on almost every corner, you can’t go wrong!

Sightseeing

There are so many places to visit in London and I’ve always fancied taking an open top bus ride to see everywhere. There is Buckingham Palace, Big Ben (and the Houses of Parliament), the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square… the list goes on and on! There are so many places to see that I don’t think you will ever see them all, but I’d like to go up the London Eye too and try a different point of view!

So London is my dream staycation and these are just a few of the reasons why. However the biggest question is really… who would I take on my dream staycation. Well that’s a no brainer. This wonderful bunch!

Thanks a bunch to ThinkMoney who asked me to enter their competition!