All aboard!

The A to Z of Harry Potter Film Locations tour departs tonight 7pm AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

Do you have your ticket for the Hogwarts Express?

Have you signalled for the Knight Bus?

Is your broom in tip-top condition?

Or have you managed to convince a thestral or hippogriff to carry you?

What ever your mode of transport, I look forward to having you join me on this crazy tour around the UK and beyond.  And I look forward to reading your own A-Z craziness

Until tonight, happy travels!

Ros

P.S. I'm also stitching up a storm over at Fangirl Stitches, completing two different A-Z cross stitch projects - one Pokémon themed, the other Supernatural!

P.P.S. I had meant to get this up last night but I only managed to get my home internet connected today.  Still better late than never!

A to Z Blog Challenge - Theme Reveal

Today is the theme reveal for the A to Z Blog Challenge.

My theme is "Filming Locations of the Harry Potter Movies".

In 2011-2013 I lived and worked in the United Kingdom.  I wanted to travel and see as much of the country as I could, however I didn't know where to start.  Then my mother bought me a ticket to a walking tour of London, based on the Harry Potter filming locations.  This set the idea in motion, and I decided that I would base my travels around the UK on these 8 movies.  I knew they'd been filmed in a variety of locations and a travel theme would give purpose and direction to my exploring, as well as motivate me to get out there and see the place!

The filming locations of Harry Potter - I don't think I'll get all of them into the 26 days

Over the two years, I managed to visit just about every filming location I could find out about.  There were a couple of places that were too out of the way, too random, or closed for too much of the year, however I think I did a pretty good job of covering them.  I relied heavily on blogs and books for information.  Since the release of the extra-special-extended-editions of the movies, and a couple of official behind-the-scenes books, I've been pretty pleased to discover how accurate my travels (and sources) were, although I have found one or two discrepancies!

For those interested, the books I used were Harry Potter On Location and the Harry Potter Places series.

Over the month's challenge, I'm going to talk about a different place each day, linked (however tenuously) to the letter of the alphabet.  More importantly, I'm going to share my photos and screenshots so you can see the location's link for yourself.

A side note: because I am from Australia, and travelled in the UK, I will be referring to the first film by its proper name "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and not by the altered title it was given for the American release.

I'm also going to be writing a second blog over at Fangirl Stitches, which is linked to my Etsy store of the same name.  Over there I'm going to be stitching not one but two of the cross stitch alphabets available from my store.  If you're into craft, geekiness, or geeky crafts, please drop by!

Happy travels

Ros

Welcome!

I've set up this blog primarily for the A to Z Blog Challenge.

You see, I have another blog - Fangirl Stitches.  This blog was set up for my Etsy Shop.  I design and sell cross stitch patterns.  And stitch them, hence the need for a blog to show off my progress.

I took part in the A-Z Blog Challenge last year, where I stitched and shared a couple of my A-Z cross stitch charts. 

I've decided to take part in the A-Z Blog Challenge again this year, but I wanted to do something a bit different.  I wanted to share some of my travel adventures.  But I didn't think that fitted so well under the Fangirl Stitches banner - I thought that should be kept separate, kept for cross-stitch/shop related business.

So I've started this blog instead.  I was originally intending it to be just for the A-Z Blog Challenge, but then thought that actually it would be a good place to share a lot of my travel stories and adventures.  I've had a few already, and I plan on having a lot more - I'm only 31 after all.

Flying hawks and owls in the UK

So stay tuned.  The A-Z Blog Challenge starts on the 1st April, with the theme reveal date on the 21st March.

I'm also going to be stitching A-Z style over at my Fangirl Stitches Blog, so feel free to head over there and check that out too.

Happy travels,

Ros