Parliament Hill and Harry Potter

We finally had a sunny day in London yesterday, which was so great. This city really is unbelievable with decent weather! Jordan had read about a place called Parliament Hill, so we decided to venture out there. No, Parliament Hill is not where the Parliament buildings are... don't feel bad if you thought that because I did too at first. :)

I am "borrowing" this explanation of Parliament Hill from Wikipedia, so please don't turn me in for copyright violations: "Once known as Traitor's Hill, it acquired its current name during the English Civil War when it was occupied by troops loyal to the English Parliament. The hill is not, as the name might suggest, home to the House of Parliament; they are located several miles south of the hill, in Westminster, though it does have a good view of them." So, in other words, it's a big park on a hill outside the city with a great view! :)

The pictures really don't do the view or the great weather yesterday any justice! If you're curious, the tallest and farthest tower on the right of the picture is located a few minutes away from where we live.

I know the whole point of going to Parliament Hill is to see the view of the city, but I honestly liked the view when you turned around better. Whoops. :) The park was in a really cute part of town, called Hampstead, with cute little houses and shops everywhere.

For some reason, I fell in love with this fence. It looked straight out of a fairy tale to me... well, except the muddy path next to it...

So I found out that one of the tube stations (and major train stations) a few blocks from where we live is where some major scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed. I also found out that Jordan had never seen ANY Harry Potter movies and really didn't even know much about the story. Before I go any further, I want to make very clear that yes, I like Harry Potter and have read a couple of the books and seen a few of the movies; but no, I am not that person who dresses up as a wizard to go watch the movies when they come out in the theater! So I figured, come on, we're in England... Jordan NEEDS to see Harry Potter! So the past couple nights we have had a Harry Potter movie marathon. :)

Here is one of the buildings right next to the train station that is shown in the movies. Keep in mind, this is right down the street from us! Don't judge me, I "borrowed" this picture as well because there is construction on this building right now and it's hard to get a good picture of it! Isn't it amazing?! They are actually reconstructing it to be hotels and condos. We read on the sign next to the building that the penthouse condos start at 10 million pounds, which right now equates to about 15 million dollars! 

This is the most popular scene from the movie at the train station that you'll probably remember if you've seen it or read the story. It is when Harry and Ron board the train at Platform 9 3/4. Believe it or not, they actually have this sign up to show people where it was filmed. :)

We both realized yesterday how cool it is to actually be living here and doing these little mini adventures that you wouldn't know to do (or have time to do) as a tourist. We have loved getting to see and experience the different areas of London, and can't wait to see more!

On a more important note, we FINALLY found a burrito place today. :) I have been completely baffled because, honestly, there is EVERY type of food you could possibly think of here native to every country in the world... but no Mexican restaurants! Well, okay, there are obviously Mexican restaurants but you really have to search them out. Needless to say, the burrito was GLORIOUS and well worth the 25 minute walk in the rain to find it. I will go to extreme measures when it comes to food, and thankfully, Jordan supports me 100% in this. That's the key to a good marriage, right?! :)