The night passed as quickly as if I just closed and opened my eyes. We had a theater show at the Palace Theater - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and since this show has two parts, each about two and a half hours long, we didn't have much time to spare, so we just moved into town and managed to get something to eat. We kept our schedule to a minimum, Friday was one of those rainy and cold English days, so the weather was just right for the theater.

With our day already in the name of Harry Potter, we got off at Tottenham Court Road to visit the House of MinaLima gallery shop in Soho on our way to the theatre. This tiny shop is floor to ceiling full of artistic magic. Featuring Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts graphic designs and products, all designed by MinaLima.

Under this name are designers Miraphora Mina (a name worthy of a witch) and Eduardo Lima. They started working together in 2001 to create a graphic universe for the world of Harry Potter. The collaboration on all eight films for Warner Bros gave rise to the idea of establishing his own design studio, MinaLima, and this was established in 2009.

They came up with countless details that gave the Wizarding World visuals the right twist. In addition to all the graphic designs for Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, they also worked on the graphic designs for Sweeney Todd, The Golden Compass and The Enigma Code.

This place is a collection of treasures for every fan, because in it you can find, for example, notebooks with the cover of Hogwarts textbooks such as History of Magic, Potions or Defense Against the Dark Arts, but also a wallpaper with a family tree from the house of Sirius Black. We especially liked the special edition of all seven Harry Potter books with their unique interactive and playful illustrations.

On the way to MinaLima, I couldn't miss Denmark street in Tottenham Court Road, which is the location of detective Cormoran Strike's office in the crime novels. The filmmakers also managed to shoot footage for the series from the BBC workshop on this street. These are books published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith by J.K. Rowling and tried to create a modern character of a timeless detective who could be equal to Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes.

We also passed through Soho Square, where a wooden gazebo reminiscent of Hagrid's cottage caught our attention in its center. The park was founded in 1681, and various concerts are held in this gazebo during the summer. The square was originally named after King Charles II. - King's Square, whose statue stands here and during its construction in the 17th century, this part was one of the most fashionable places in London. Two original houses survive from that period, numbers 10 and 15. The area around Soho Square is considered the most prestigious and expensive address for the media. Several important film, television and sports companies are based here.

On the way from MinaLima, we wanted to see one recommended bookstore, but due to lack of time, we headed straight to the theater. It would be worth mentioning a few interesting facts about the show.

For those of you who don't know what Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is, it's the eighth Harry Potter story that was only published as a stage play by Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany. It is also the first story that takes place only on theater boards in London, on Broadway, in Melbourne, San Francisco, Hamburg, Toronto and Tokyo. They have been playing this show in London since 2016 until a break during the pandemic. In addition, it is the most awarded new play in the history of the theater.

The story takes place 19 years after Harry, Ron and Hermione saved the wizarding world. Their children go to Hogwarts High School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there an unexpected friendship develops between Harry's son Albus and Draco Malfoy's son Scorpius, who both find themselves in the Slytherin faculty. Their goal is to change the past to fix the future, but this will cause a mind-boggling race against time. There are spectacular spells and an epic battle to finally stop the dark forces that have the future hanging in the balance.

In order for the story to be told at full length, the show is played in two parts. You have to prepare for the whole afternoon and evening at the theater. The first part starts at two in the afternoon and lasts 2 hours and 45 minutes, with a two-hour break in between, during which you manage to have dinner and coffee, and the second part starts at seven and is 2 hours and 35 minutes. Only London's Palace Theater plays it in this length. You can see both shows in one day, or you can split it up and see it two days in a row.

We bought the cheapest tickets available which were £32 per person for both shows. Tickets for both shows range in price from £30 to £300, depending on which seats you choose. We were seated in the highest balcony at the very back, but nevertheless it was the best theater experience of our life so far, to the point where we began to think that in the near future we will invest in more expensive tickets for the front seats of the first balcony and see the show again.

For cheaper tickets, see this page for example. Discounted tickets are not always cheaper than those sold directly by the Palace Theatre. Check the price on both sites, for example today I found a £15 ticket to a show on the theater site and the tickets for September were even slightly cheaper on the theater site. Either do it like us, buy the cheapest tickets and when you like it invest in better places, after all, you don't want to pay 300 pounds for a theater show, but I would recommend saving money for better places - it's worth it!

Get ready for a thrilling experience full of live magic and spells. With the help of various special effects, stage design, demanding choreography, but especially the optical illusion, we felt several times like we were at a David Copperfield performance. For example, the actors moved live through the fireplace using Floo powder, traveled in time, levitated things in the air, brooms, books, howlers, people during a duel, but especially terrifying dementors floating up to the edge of the highest balcony. Wands fired spells like flamethrowers, after drinking all the juice, the characters changed into someone else right before our eyes, the mess on the table was cleaned up into neat piles with the help of a spell, and books from the library or people in the pictures talked. Everything with the help of cylons, ropes and excellent lighting gave space for the magic to really come alive and boggle many minds. Also thanks to this show, it's time to believe in magic.

Mischief managed!

Fotografie: Manuel Harlan - Palace Theatre

London. Live magic. Day three

Goodbye London . Day four and five

London . City of contrasts and wisteria hunting . Day two