Watford is for Wizards

September 1,2019 is a Sunday.  We ate a final breakfast on the boat.  We found our bags and our transfer bus.  We were all back in London at the Heathrow Sofitel and checked into our rooms.

After checking in we had a little snack for lunch and play SPOONS for about 1 1/2 hours then at 2 PM our car came to take us to Watford.  Not for Spurs vs. Watford but for a Tour of the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio where they spent filming Harry Potter for 10 years.  The place is huge and amazing.  According to Google the tour takes 3 hours and I think it could be closer to 4 if you listen to every video.

I don’t have a lot of family pictures from her because Grace and Marissa were off like they were shot out of a gun.  If you like Potter this is a must do.  45 min from the airport by car if your in downtown London probably little over an hour on the tube and then a 20 min shuttle bus.

Grace with a model of Hagrid

At the front of the Great Hall. Dumbledore and Severus

McConagall, Dumbledore and Snape


The faucets for the bathtub in HP and the Gblet of Fire


Wands and the wizards or witches that used them

Enterance to Dumbledore’s office 

The door to the Chamber of  Secrets

Grace is a Giant????

Marissa is a blurry giant???

The train car.  Zoom for detail.

The fireplaces at the Ministry of Magic

Platform 9 3/4

Grace and I on the bridge at Hogwarts

The making of a goblin

We are in Gringot’s.  Do I know the password?

Giant model of Hogwarts.  I finally caught up with Grace.

Outside the studio with the queen from Wizard’s Chess.

After the studio we stopped just long enough for a snack.  It was also just long enough for Grace to spill hot chocolate all over herself and her new Hufflepuff sweatshirt.  She cried hard.  Not as hard as when she gets caught smuggling dangerous objects.  Grandma Eva tried to make her feel better.  I question if she understood how a cup works.  We made it back to the car and ultimately the hotel.  The hotel washed her clothes and got all the hot chocolate out.  Crisis everted.  However Grace is grounded from drinking hot chocolate for 8 weeks so if you see her don’t give her any.

We had a pleasant but slowly served dinner at the bar in the hotel.  Bed and home tomorrow.

I received to special gifts on this trip. One, I was able to travel Norway with my mom and see her excitement about all the big and small things.  No one deserve a trip like this more than her.  Two, I was able to travel with Grace and really get to see up close what a smart, funny and confident person she is becoming.  Now all I have to do is teach her to drink out of a cup.

Thanks all till next time.

Sea you later

August 31st, 2019.  We spent Saturday on the boat headed back to Dover. The boat is what you make of it so I started with a massage and moved on from there.

Grandma Eva and I worked on our napkin folding 

Mulan fan.

Tuxedo shirt 

Peter Pan slipper

After that we tried our hand at animation.  Wendy and Keith chased Marissa and Grace around from pool to Oceaneer Club.

Stitch #1

Stitch #2

From animation it was on to towel folding.  We had a great time.  Grandma Eva killed it.

 Doggy

Swan

Elephant 

At dinner we met Rapunzel

Marissa wanted nothing for dessert.

From dinner we went to the show.  Great Disney show full of the best songs 

After dinner family photos.

The Newmans 

No gang signs please

Grandma Eva and the Newmans 

Metallic Rules!!!  Is that a Disney theme?

Finally got it right.

The best part of this trip was seeing your family truly happy.  Sometimes that comes out as anxiety before an excursion as your trying to make everything perfect, sometimes it is a finger in the upper corner of your picture as you try not to miss a thing, sometimes it is finding the perfect sweater.  It is smiles and laughter and the quiet moments when you see the happiness in your families eyes as they see something amazing for the first time.

I hope my mom had half as much fun in a Norway as I had running around with her and the Newmans.

Tomorrow is Dover and the turn for home.

Cruising to the Pulpit

August 30th 2019, Friday.  We didn’t arrive into Stavanger until late morning and didn’t disembark until 10 AM.  The crew wandered around town for about 1.5 hours waiting for our fjord cruise out to Pulpit Rock.  From a Instagram world standpoint this is the big ticket item in the region.

Grace by a statue near the market.  The top hat is soooo sweet


Old. Norwegian church at the top of the square

Inside the church was amazing.  Reverent, simple,  beautiful and complex all at the same time.


The Pulpit with its carved wood iconography.

Gothic style architecture as you approach the alter


Old tapestry with a Viking connection 


Watch tower over Stavanger.  Warned of fire and danger.  Pretty much a one man show to keep the city safe.

Stavanger is supposedly the Norwegian equivalent of Lyon, France when it comes to food but 8 hours including a 3 hour cruise does not give one enough time to sample the culinary delights this city may hold.

Trolls in Stavanger 

More trolls in Stavanger  👁 on me.

Trolls!!!!

How authoritative is 4’10” and 66 lbs

Grace wanted Grandma Eva to ride this brass sheep.  Come on Grace, that is ridiculous 

From the streets of Stavanger we boarded a fjord cruise out to Pulpit Rock.

The cruise route to Pulpit Rock up Lysefjorden.  Which is a very narrow and deep fjord.  #sometimesyouneedafingerinthephoto

 Cruising out to the Lysefjorden

Norway.... cool, rainy, windy and not die the faint of heart.

G-money there is no bad weather only poorly dressed people.  How are you doing?


Vagabond cave.  Paupers warded off tax collectors from this spot

Fjords are beautiful.

Pulpit Rock.  More impressive from the top then from the bottom.

🇳🇴 🇳🇴 🇳🇴 

Not a bad family photo in the wind and rain

The original Norwegian!!!!!

Goats along th me shore of the fjord 

Grandma Eva, Marissa, Grace and I on the boat.

Grace it is so windy up here on top of this boat!!! 💨 

Beer on the way back from Pulpit Rock!!

On the way back to Stavanger 

After we arrived back in port we walked around a little more.  The fish market looked awesome but I didn’t take any pictures.  We found bracelets for Gracie’s crew at the Hub!!!

I am not sure you will find Cinderella the Princess or the 80s hair band down this alley.

We made it back to the boat. 

Goodbye Stavanger.

Grace loves street art 

Why so serious?

Grandma Eva was grateful she found some traditional Norwegian jewelry so we completed the trifecta Norway, sweater and jewelry.  We didn’t quit get Grandma Eva established as a major lefse importer but don’t count us out yet.

Tomorrow is a day at sea as we rerun to Dover, England.