Page 38 - AAA Every Day – AAA Hudson Valley – May/June 2019

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
London Calling
Afew years ago, I was able to take a great trip to the Making of Harry Potter. We had to venture a bit outside
United Kingdom. It was very high on my bucket list and, of course, traveling in the summer was ideal for weather conditions. At the time, my friend was working in London, so my travel buddy and I decided to take a trip to visit her.
We began our trip to London the
right way, by taking the Underground and promptly meeting our friend in Kensington. She greeted us with scones and tea to make us feel welcome. It was the start of a few great days exploring the city. I was the only person who had never been there, so the other two were kind enough to let me pick out several things that I wanted to see and do. I very much understand now why people like to travel with guides because it was so much easier with those who knew their way around.
The first stop on the to-do list was
Kensington Gardens, the home of both
Kensington Palace and the statue of
Peter Pan. “Peter Pan in Kensington
Gardens” is one of the installments in the famous series of adventures by J.M. Barrie. Seeing the figure was a dream come true for me as I have spent my whole life quite taken by the story of Peter Pan.
The next big thing on my list was Buckingham Palace. The year we visited was notably the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday. We were lucky enough to get to see an exhibition within our tour of the Queen’s fashion throughout her years of the crown. On display were her hats, dresses, military uniforms, suits and most notably, in my opinion, her wedding and coronation gowns. This exhibition is probably still my favorite.
List item No. 3 was the Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The
the city via train the get to this, but what a thrill it was! This attraction is a tour of the sets from the original motion pictures, including Dumbledore’s office, the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room and more. One also can see
the dozens of props, costumes and even the diorama of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We even got to drink butterbeer. Yum!
Throughout my London journey, we got
to explore many of the famous landmarks such as the Globe Theatre, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I even got a chance to visit the overwhelmingly large and extremely elaborate department store, Harrods.
While in the city, I did not hesitate to do
very touristy things like take a photo booth picture, ride around in a double-decker bus and eat fish and chips. I also got to pop into places that the locals go, which was fun and added more modern authenticity to my trip.
The last thing though that was on my list was visiting the Twinings flagship store. This
may strike you as odd that this was so high on my list of priorities, but when you love tea as much as me, how can you not visit a 310-year-old shop that offers tea masterclasses, tastings and flavors that are hard to find elsewhere? (As I type this letter, I am drinking Twinings Earl Grey, totally unplanned.)
All in all, my trip to London was incredible. I want
to go back to England again, but next time I think I want to step further outside the city limits and see the countryside.
Contact your AAA Hudson Valley Travel Agent to book your trip to London. Call 518-426-1000 or email booktravel@aaahv.com.
38 I MAY/JUNE 2019
Emily Gnacik is the Editor of AAA Every Day magazine.