The Harry Potter World Premiere

Yesterday (Sunday), Tooley and I took the train to London to go to the world premiere of the newest Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." (Well, not really the actual premiere, just where the stars walk down the red carpet). We arrived in London around noon, and browsed through some of our favorite shops on Oxford Street...H&M, River Island, and Topshop. We had lunch at Subway, which was a nice treat because I haven't had Subway since I left the U.S.! Then, we checked into our hostel and made our way to Leicester Square, where the premiere was held. Leicester Square is an open square surrounded by three movie theaters, the Half Price ticket booth for West End (Broadway) shows, and fun restaurants. The Square was PACKED...the papers this morning said there were about 7,000 fans at the premiere. The middle part of the Square and the section leading into the Odeon Theater had big plastic walls up for photographers to take pictures. Unfortunately, it meant the rest of us could only see the inside of the wall on a big screen that was set up outside. All of the fans were lined up and down the road, and Tooley and I got next to the entrance of the blocked off area, where we would be able to see the stars get out of the cars and walk inside the walled area. We got to see ALL of the Harry Potter stars, except Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) and Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), who were either filming or out of the country. We didn't see J.K. Rowling, either, so figured they snuck her in the back entrance. We didn't get very good pictures of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), because they whisked him into the main press area for interviews and autographs. Emma Watson (Hermione), signed a few autographs and walked in behind him. Rob Lowe snuck in very quietly with his kids, and he's VERY cute in person! Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), and Katie Leung (Cho Chang) were so close to me that I could have reached out and touched them. My favorite star spotting of the night was...Madonna! Her daughter, Lourdes, is a huge Harry Potter fan so she brought her to the premiere. Madonna is gorgeous, and very thin! Claudia Schiffer arrived right behind Madonna, and looked stunning. Lots of famous English movie and TV stars also came, but Tooley and I didn't recognize many of them. I was surprised that no one arrived in a limo - just minivans or nice cars! Tooley and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans, so getting to see all of the stars in person was definitely one of the coolest things ever! After the premiere, I ate at my favorite restaurant, Wagamama's, and Tooley and I walked around the city. London is such an amazing city...I just love it! We woke up EARLY this morning to catch the train back to Stratford because Tooley had to work today. Enjoy the pictures!

The back of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)'s head...they whisked him in so fast, it was hard to get a good shot!

Rupert Grint aka Ron Weasley

Robbie Coltrane aka Hagrid

Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy

Mr. Filch

Bonnie Wright aka Ginny Weasley

Katie Leung aka Cho Chang (Harry's girlfriend)

Maggie Smith aka Professor McGonagall

Madonna and Lourdes...WOW!

Claudia Schiffer

I love London!