"Have you seen Scooby?" I had barely walked through the gates of Universal Studios Hollywood for the very first time with my friend Jessica when three very familiar characters welcomed us in. Scooby Doo was one of my favourite cartoons growing up, and rewatching it always fills me with nineties nostalgia. Daphne (my favourite!), Fred and Velma gave us a royal welcome. They noticed that Jessica was wearing a t-shirt from the Madonna Inn, which isn't but certainly looks like the brainchild of Dolly Parton. Much as I would wish to, I probably won't be able to visit it this time around given its 3.5 hours by car distance from Santa Clara, but I'm nonetheless looking through their pictures and taking ideas for how I will decorate my house the day I'm a proud owner of one. At the mention of Madonna, we all decided to take a photo posing like Madonna in Vogue, and looking absolutely fabulous, if I say so myself. Hello Kitty was also just around the corner, and so it was the perfect opportunity to take some very adorable pictures with her.
My favourite part of the park is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As a huge fan of Harry Potter since the books first came out, I like nothing more than feeling as if I'm just casually walking around Hogwarts. I had been to the Wizarding World at Universal Studios in Florida twice before, and it was lovely to see the Hollywood version. I love the attention to every detail, the paintings in the queue to the Hogwarts castle ride, the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans at the Honeydukes shop, and the creaky stairs at the Three Broomsticks, where we had a delicious vegan lunch which included two of my favourites, corn on the cob and asparagus (who knew you would be able to find asparagus in a quick service restaurant in a theme park?!). As a Ravenclaw, I was sorry to see we weren't doing so well in the house points counter, but happy to find out at Ollivander's that my wand of choice would be an Oak one, suited for those who value truth and wisdom: "Oak people should trust in their natural intuition and understanding, using it for the benefit of all." You got it!
Hogwarts Castle
The Three Broomsticks, where we had lunch
The house points counter - Ravenclaws of the world unite!
All of the wands at Ollivander's