Harry Potter and Halloween

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. There were 2 problems with that this year:

1. It fell on a Wednesday. My Wednesdays go from 7:30am- 5:30pm, sometimes 7:30pm. Then, I have class at 9am Thursday morning. Needless to say, Wednesday is not a night for merriment.

2. They don’t really do Halloween here, save for a few decorations and some halfhearted costume parties in pubs and clubs.

I spent Halloween week doing the best I could with what I had to work with.

I went on an informal outing to go see some Harry Potter filming locations around the city, whilst nibbling on fresh falafel, which was my main incentive to go. As most of you know, Harry Potter is not really my cup of tea…. I sort of cut off our relationship in middle school and we haven’t talked since. Before I hear a thousand gasps and cries of blasphemy, let me just say that I have actually been inspired to pick him back up and make amends. When I’m home for the holidays, I may dust off that 5^th book and read past page 50 this time. Here’s why: This city is filled with mysterious doors, roads and alleys that ignite my imagination, which is one of my favorite things about wandering around and losing myself here.

The Alley that Rowling cited as her inspiration for Diagon Alley was my favorite of the Harry Potter walk. It has interesting shop fronts selling maps, old books, antiques, etc. One shop, called “Through the Looking Glass” was just completely empty and had two women sitting in chairs inside. It was bizarre.

 We also saw one of the filming locations for Diagon Alley

 And Gringotts bank

We concluded our walk with a drink and some nibbles at a thai restaurant in the area.

Fast forward to Wednesday:

I wake up, basking in the glow of Halloween happiness. I go to therapy, then skills class, then peer led movement, then movement studies… energy and glowiness fading along the way. I get home and waffled between immediately going to sleep, or listening to some jams and hyping myself up for the best holiday ever. While doing my flat mate’s hair and makeup, I decided that not dressing up was not an option. But, going out was also not an option. I decided to throw on a bunch of different outfits until I “looked liked something” and then do hair and makeup to play it up. I ended up being a pinup girl “for my man overseas.” Get it? I thought it was clever. Anyway, I had some wine with the ladies before they went out to the pub. Then, went back to my flat and crawled into bed.