Top Ten Tuesday #200

Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these. I got to see Hamilton last week (I know, I know, I’ve mentioned it 20000 times and will be doing so more, not sorry!) and it was AMAZING. The entire cast was incredible, the costumes, the staging, the music (obviously), the lighting, everything was just brilliant and me and all three of my friends walked out of the show after it finished thinking that a) there was no way that show was almost three hours long, it went by so fast and b) that we all wanted to see it again. If you’re in London and can afford it, I definitely recommend going, because it’s one of the best theatre shows I’ve ever seen.

This week is coming a little bit down to earth after the whirlwind of last week, but I am going to see Samantha Shannon at her Glasgow event for Priory on Thursday (Happy Birthday Priory, it’s out today!)  which I am super excited for. Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, it’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday (my 200th!), courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week, we’re talking Places Mentioned In Books That We’d Like To Visit, but since my list of those hasn’t really changed much since we did the same topic either last year or the year before, I’ve decided to change it, and share the Places Mentioned In Books That I Have Visited. So here we go:

1. Kings Cross Station, London-Harry Potter-JK Rowling

Yup, I go into the same station that Harry Potter got the Hogwarts Express from every time I go to London, so I can’t say it’s all that exciting going there now, but I do know that people come in from all over the world just to see Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, which is pretty cool!

2. Six of Crows-Amsterdam-Leigh Bardugo

Okay, so Ketterdam isn’t real, but Amsterdam is, and I know that Leigh Bardugo largely based Ketterdam off the Dutch city, so I’m counting it! I wandered the canals, imagining Kaz and the rest of Dregs doing the same thing, plotting their next scheme!

3. Seven Dials, London-The Bone Season-Samantha Shannon

Yes, my friend and I did go to Seven Dials on our sightseeing tour of London last Thursday, just because it’s mentioned in Samantha Shannon’s books. It’s not the most obvious tourist spot, but the Dials are very pretty and it was a nice place to sit and rest our worn out feet!

4. The Empire State Building, New York-Percy Jackson series-Rick Riordan

When I went to New York in 2012, my family took a trip to the Empire State Building. We only went up to the 86th floor observatory, as it cost another $20 each to go to the top, but still when I was in the lift, I was tempted to see if I could find the button that would lead me to the 600th floor and Mount Olympus.

5. 221B Baker Street-Sherlock Holmes-Arthur Conan Doyle

Yup, I’ve been to visit the “real” 221B Baker Street (it’s actually around 237-41 Baker Street, but they paid to use the 221B address), where there is a museum of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia. I will admit, that I’ve only been in the gift shop because there’s always been such large queues when I’ve been there, but one day I will go into the actual museum.

6. Paris-Enchantee-Gita Trelease

Whilst I haven’t been to 18th Century pre-Revolution Paris, I have been to 21st Century Paris, and it was just as glorious as described in Gita Trelease’s wonderful new fantasy, though I have yet to witness the magnificence of Versailles.

7. Aberdour Castle,Scotland-Outlander-Diana Gabaldon

Aberdour Castle doubles as the fictional monastery where Claire and Murtagh take Jamie to recover from his ordeal at Wentworth in the TV series and I visited there with my friend Nicola a few years ago, it’s completely gorgeous!

8. Oxford, England-The Bone Season-Samantha Shannon

The real Oxford is not quite as dark as the Sheol I prison camp that it becomes in Samantha Shannon’s bestselling dystopian series! It’s quite a beautiful city, with some lovely landmarks to enjoy, like the Bodleian Library.

9. Edinburgh, Scotland-City of Ghosts & The Song Rising-Victoria Schwab and Samantha Shannon

I’ve been to pretty much all of the locations featured on the map in the front of City of Ghosts, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile, Greyfriars Kirk (yup my friends and I went to scout out Tom Riddle’s grave!), Grassmarket, South Bridge and Blackwell’s. In fact, the only places I haven’t been are Arthur’s Seat, Mary King’s Close (which I’m hoping to visit this year) and The Lane’s End. I’ve also been to the Edinburgh Vaults, a location mentioned in the third book in Samantha Shannon’s Bone Season series.

10. Santorini, Greece-The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants-Ann Brashares

My friend Hannah and I visited the island that is featured in The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants when we went on holiday to Greece for my 21st birthday, almost two years ago now. It was just as beautiful as described, although I understand now why she needed a donkey to get up all those steps, we were very out of breath walking up from the harbour!

So there we go, Places Mentioned In Books That I Have Visited! Have you been to any of these? Would you like to go? Let me know in the comments!

I will be back next Tuesday with a new TTT, Characters In Books That I’d Like To Switch Places With, which should be a fun one. Meanwhile, I’ve got a few things in the pipeline for this week, a recap of the Samantha Shannon event on Friday, a review of my current book, Hamilton and Peggy: A Revolutionary Friendship and potentially a review of A Curse So Dark and Lonely depending on when I finish it, so stay tuned for those.