9th Post - January Overview

Finally, here are my recommendations for January, hope you enjoy them and find them interesting to watch, listen and eat. In the meantime, January has a lot to offer especially in London, so head this month and take in all the best new events, exhibitions and best events in the capital.

Southbank Centre Winter Festival:

Alongside its array of festive shows and performances the Southbank Centre will be celebrating the coldest season with a fistful of fun pop-ups and activities. The annual Christmas market will be bigger and better than ever, there'll be a Scandinavian Lodge courtesy of Rekorderlig Cider, the Christmas Tree Café will be serving treats for all ages and thrills come courtesy of the Festive Flyer ride. The Southbank Centre Express will be providing bankside train rides, and you can tell all your friends to get lost in the Christmas Tree Maze.

 

 

Hogwarts in the Snow:

 

Turns out the magic is real. Exploring the Warner Bros Studio Tour it soon became clear that the 4,000-strong team behind the Harry Potter films always preferred to create the sets, spells, characters, costumes, creatures and wizardry, and only turned to CGI when that proved impossible. Even a muggle would be impressed by the attention to detail. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be bowed to by Buckbeak (and only felt slightly betrayed when I spotted the ginger wig labelled ‘Ron Weasley’).

The sets have undergone a festive makeover. During filming, snow was created by covering shredded plastic in dendritic salt for that realistic underfoot crunch; the temporary snowdrift currently covering part of Diagon Alley is deep enough to stop TFL running buses. The Great Hall is lined with Christmas trees topped by ‘malevolent fairies’, and its long tables bear giant plum puddings and crackers in house colours. The Gryffindor common room and dormitories have been festooned with tinsel. Meanwhile, at the Burrow, the Weasley’s Christmas dinner appears to be preparing itself, knives, irons and scrubbing brushes working away unassisted. Out in the backlot, where the exterior sets are housed, I tried butter beer, a fizzy butterscotch mix topped with thick foam, and had a sit down in Mr Weasley’s enchanted Ford Anglia.

 

 

But, if you feel like relaxing this month then put your feet up and enjoy Glamour magazine, full of celebrity gossip, style and secrets!! Hope you all enjoy my recommendations and have a great time in January... See you in February, when I'll be sharing style secrets, and places to go to on Valentines day as well as places to go and things to do to get you 'in the know' for 2015!!!