I live within a few minutes walk of King’s Cross rail station. A big transport hub in London – busses, tubes, trains.
It is also, of course, an infamous Harry Potter site. Since I arrived, friends have been asking me for a picture at platform 9 3/4. But King’s Cross, like many, many other London transport hubs, is in the midst of construction and renovation. London is hosting the 2012 Olympics, you see.
So despite the fact that I have taken a few trains from King’s Cross, I have yet to find the tourist photo spot. On top of that, most of the platforms are only accessible if you have a ticket to get through the ticket barriers.
So…no picture of me pushing a luggage trolley halfway through a wall. It’s probably under construction somewhere.
Last week I went to Scotland. And despite the fact that I froze for a solid week, I had a brilliant time. Except my camera started acting oddly in Linithgow Castle. Wouldn’t focus, didn’t zoom properly. And then.
Stopped opening entirely.
The lens will not come out. The only pictures I have of Blackness Castle were taken on my phone. Which is a shame, because the seaside view was stunning, and my cameraphone is ok, but not as good. The pictures tend toward blurriness. It also seems to be a pretty powerful battery drain.
I googled around, but I don’t have the time to mail my camera to anyone, despite the extended warranty I bought. Every few hours I turn it on, in hope. Besides a few half-hearted whirrs, my camera isn’t giving me anything. It’s my last week in the country and I can’t take pictures.
And today, as I walked by King’s Cross station, guess what I saw?
They’ve set up a new Platform 9 3/4, outside the station. Complete with half a trolley and a sign.
Great.
(Yes, I still have my phone. But while handing my camera to a complete stranger is nerve-wracking, giving up my phone is worse. Not to mention that most people had enough trouble sorting out how to take a picture on my fairly standard digital camera. This phone camera is pretty awkward.)
