The blog post I know you all have been waiting for! The post
about my meeting my older, but much shorter, sister in London for: Harry
Potter, Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary, site seeing, Les Miserables,
and her hen party!
 |
| 24,000 people came to the 50th! |
 |
| Les Mis! |
I was really nervous getting to London as my flight was
delayed an hour and I didn’t want to miss anything we had planned in London.
But I made it in after buying an extremely overpriced water (to get a wifi password) to try and reach my mom so that if my sister
checked in with her she could tell her I would be late, I waited for my flight.
It was a miserable flight but at least I arrived and could book it to the bus I
had booked a ticket on to get to my sister. Mind you I had to take a later bus
so when I got there I looked around my sister and right as I turn around there
she is! We did the typical movie run and jump into a hug. It was awesome, and
reminded me of the TV show Psych. We are so Shawn and Gus!
 |
| I met the 11th! |
Then we headed to King’s cross station where we had this
fantastic meal at the Giraffe, and then had our picture taken at Platform 9 ¾. We
got to wear scarves and pretend we were pushing a cart, as my sister says I
always have a leg poised to look like I’m running. Maybe I’m just like the
Doctor, and I’ve been running for too long; but either way it was snazzy in the
picture. We headed back to the horrible hotel we were booked into that
literally had no heat, hot water, internet, manners or taste. But whatever, at
least we really got stuff done the next day!
 |
| Proud Gryffindor |
 |
| Kate with the Clock! |
We headed out to the Harry Potter studio tour, which was
amazing. I
grew up reading Harry potter and was turning 11 when the first film
came to cinemas. We got to see the actual Great Hall that they built with a
stone floor, the costumes, fly the Weasley’s car, hop on the Knight bus, taste
butter beer, and just do everything you can imagine. Harry Potter is one of my
all time favorite fandoms, I can’t explain it. I think it always gave me
comfort that you could be different and use that for good. But I worshipped
Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Remus Lupin growing up. |
| The Doors to the Great Hall! |
 |
| So...no little mermaid? |
It was great to get to go with my sister. I love traveling
alone, I don’t get lonely doing it. But it is still really nice to get to
experience things with others sometimes. Especially since Kate and I grew up
Potterheads. I remember she had used my library card once when the 3rd
book was out, and didn’t pay the fee. So I couldn’t check the book out, so
instead I stole her copy since she took FOREVER to read them! But we were
definitely potterheads. I even bought the 3rd book in the UK edition
to really get the full experience!
 |
| Originals! |
Then it was time for the town, seeing the sites and grabbing
dinner before Les Miserable! I love that musical so much because it is about
revolution, and living for a cause. I actually hate the character Cossette and
have been known to scream at the screen: you are a pointless character! You
stand for nothing! When I was in London in 2011 I wanted to see the revival on
the West End but the one night I could go to the theatre was the one night they
were changing the sound system :(
Therefore, my sister found inexpensive tickets so that she could take me for my
Christmas present!  |
| Don't blink near me! |
 |
| Matt and Jenna laughing |
It was fantastic! The slow motion choreography was mind
blowing, and the songs were perfect. I was just overjoyed at how fantastic that
show was. But we still had to make sure we got to bed since the next day was THE DAY. THE DAY WE WERE
GOING TO MEET MATT SMITH!
 |
| Lizard lady! |
Now ladies and gentlemen; new friend or old; fandom geek or
not; friend or foe; Dalek or Companion ;) if there is one thing that got me
through all my troubles in life, it is DOCTOR WHO. I am a true Whovian. In fact
I have waited over 8 years for something like this, something like the 50th
Anniversary of Doctor Who, and I was not going to miss it! It is everything I could
ever imagine attending.
 |
| The Silence saw me! |
So we went, I bought tickets and Kate and I attended what
will be the biggest anniversary celebration in history. The anniversary we will
tell our children about! And it was wonderful. We sang happy birthday to “who,”
saw stunt performances, original doctors, original companions, anything and
everything.
Then came the moment we were waiting for, that I paid a lot
of money for: we were meeting
Matt
Smith to take a photo with him. We waited in our line for 45 minutes making friends
with those around us. And I was trying to breathe as I had a plan to get him to
draw a bowtie on my wrist so I could get it tattooed. We rounded the corner,
and saw a girl hug him and how gracious he was. We saw his body guards get
defensive (understandable) we saw a group have him hold up a banner in Italian
for their photo and slowly we approached. I took out my tiny sharpie and hid it
up my sweater sleeve and when it came time I walked up to him and this is what
happened:
 |
| It was so cool! |
 |
| BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE! |
The Body guard: That Is NOT appropriate-
Matt Smith (cutting him off): Yeah, sure. Fantastic.
Takes my wrist, starts to write his signature because the
body guard won’t stop, then realizes:
Matt: Oh, um, that’s not a bow tie, right I’ll just add this
(puts a tiny bow) right, that works?
Me: YES! It’s perfect
Body guard: you have 10 second to take this photo
Matt: Of course
Huge smiles, he touches my shoulder and I die
Body guard: You better never wash that hand
Matt (before I could answer): It’s alright, she has a tattoo
appointment it’s going to be alright, she’s all set!
 |
| He really does! |
AND THAT IS HOW I GOT MY MATT SMITH TATTOO!!
 |
| Isn't is amazing? |
I basically went out into the freezing London air with my
arm exposed so that I wouldn’t mess up the sharpie and got it tattooed! And I
love it, so much. Because here’s what that tattoo is:
 |
| Very true, and I try to remember it always |
Everything that ever taught me how to be a person. To be the
person I want to be. Doctor Who taught me true humanity, it taught me how to
live in pain and with pain. How to run and how to stop running. How to never
seek revenge but instead seek peace. People don’t realize that I am able to let
go of bad things, pain, and sickness because Doctor Who taught me how. And I am
eternally grateful for that, I live by the motto:
 |
| They put fog on my feet! |
This tattoo forever cements my choice to live for hope,
love, peace, reflection, and joy. I’m a whovian and I am proud to be. And being
at the 50th was the best experience I can ever recall. It’s hard to
explain but even while I was there I knew I was a part of something fantastic,
something major that will never occur again. I was with people who understood
me, in a community of appreciation for hope. I was home, and if you don’t have
something in your life that evokes that so strongly in you, you can’t
understand what I mean.
I went back again on Saturday and took a picture with the
Tardis, bought the 11th Doctors
50th anniversary bow tie
and coat, met the special effects team who put fog on my feet! And just took
in the end of my journey. I had been hoping for this for a long time, but like
Amelia Pond I was fine being the “Girl Who Waited.”
 |
| 50th coat! |
 |
| The 3 of us at Harrods! |
Kate and I met back up at Harrods, to do dinner in the Tea
Room, where my mother and nana once ate. I brought a picture of the three of us
to try and include my mom; and my sister asked me to officially be her Maid of
Honor. Things we will one day tell her children about. Then we walked to the
London Eye, took our spin around the night in London and I (barely) stemmed off
a panic attack as I have a fear of barrier heights. (Only my Uncle George seems
to understand this)
 |
| I couldn't see Peter Pan, but he's there somewhere! |
 |
| Kate! Get away from that glass! |
We finished the night off with classic “Fish and Chips” in a
pub, while Kate tried a pint and just
enjoyed all that we had experienced. My
sister and I have never traveled together before, not without my mom there to
make sure we paused for every family photo. It was nice to just get time with
her, see Westminster with her, but also to be adults. You know I took the tube,
transferring stops, and getting to the Excel on my own, taking in the 50th
on my own; while Kate explored London more and we met up at Harrods. That’s
what adult siblings do, and it was nice to just be at the point in our lives.
 |
| West Minster! |
 |
| It comes in pints? I'm getting one! |
But sadly London had to come to an end and after being
attacked by the receptionist at our hotel who was high, tried to steal our
things, and was a nightmare- we got into a cab with a delightful cabbie who
offered to take us to get coffee so we wouldn’t be cold waiting for our 4:45 am
bus to the airport, and he wouldn’t charge us for the time. Yeah, we were
lucky! We got on our flight, after they totally disregarded that my bag was too
large technically, and we headed to Bulgaria so I could share my new home with
my sister and we could celebrate Thanksgiving!
To be continued in another post...(da-da-dum)
 |
| Goodbyes are so hard :( |
Tonight’s song is"A Thousand Years" and yes these are videos with Doctor Who clippings. But see I would have waited a thousand years for the Doctor to save me, for the Doctor to come and tell me it was ok to be angry, or it was ok to be afraid. I would have waited a thousand years for him to instill this humanity in me that spurs me on and pushed me to move to Bulgaria to try and help someone, anyone, achieve their dreams. Sometimes, you have to wait for hope.
Anna
The Doctor with Clara (which is brilliantly done)
The Doctor with Amy, the Girl Who Waited
No comments:
Post a Comment