Category: travel Page 5 of 15

Giving in to the Ring

On January 19, 2012

I caved. I succumbed to peer pressure and an annoying curiosity. I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.Over the years, I’ve proudly announced to anyone who would listen that I have never seen any of the Star Wars films nor any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have no logic behind the Star Wars resistance except that it seems to really bug a lot of people. For Lord of the Rings, I actually had good reasoning. When I was in high school I read the Lord of the Rings series as well as The Hobbit and I loved them. I was transported into other worlds and I loved how Tolkien’s words translated into how I pictured the characters. Once you see a movie, it is my experience that any preconceptions you had for characters’ appearances and voices go out the window.

Several months ago I saw a preview for the movie version of “The Hobbit.” It looked so good! And, I realized that I had officially forgotten enough of the book that watching it might be okay. Furthermore, I had forgotten enough of the Lord of the Rings trilogy that watching the movies might be an option for me.

Several years ago – it will be four years come this February – I actually went to Hobbiton while on my honeymoon in New Zealand. Picture me during the tour of Hobbiton, surrounded by Lord of the Rings freaks and trying not to let on that I had no clue what anyone was talking about. Fortunately, the tour was actually pretty awesome. One thing our tour guide told us that really impressed me was the level of care Peter Jackson took to be true to the book. That was such a vote in his favor! There have been plenty of things I have avoided (Harry Potter) simply because I get so indignant over how people refer to the book versus the movie or to related books.

I’m digressing.

Wonder Boy and I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. I am pretty sure this was a dream come true for Wonder Boy. Normally he has to watch his geek movies when I am otherwise occupied. Some reactions to the film:

It’s long. I think I got bed sores on my butt from sitting still for so long. But overall it was pretty good!
While I have certainly not sought it out, I know quite a bit about the Lord of the Rings movies. I did not know Orlando Bloom was in them. He looks so different! Make-up job well done.
In part because I was able to watch the movie from the vantage point of having been in Hobbiton, I have such a huge respect for the movie trickery done in terms of making the actors all look such different heights.
I heart Ian McKellan.
I was distracted at several parts during the film thinking about the merchandising that must have occurred afterwards. You know people have replicas of that ring as their wedding bands.

Here’s the one additional takeaway I had. Seeing a much-hyped movie, a movie that some cult-like following, long after its release can be dangerous. I have been told by countless people how this movie is awesome. I think it was hyped up too much. I mean, I thought it was good, but not awesome.

Here are some photos of Wonder Boy and I in Hobbiton:

My reaction to going to Hobbiton.

Wonder Boy’s reaction to visiting Hobbiton.

This is Hobbiton. The Hobbiton scenes were filmed on a farm and the family who owns the farm is allowed to maintain the structures but not the decorations and things from the movie, hence the white-washed buildings.

Wonder Boy and I in Bag End. We are clearly taller than Hobbits.

The tree from the party scene.

Enjoying Motor City

By Kate

On January 11, 2012

In travel

I arrived in Detroit tonight, while the auto show is happening. Unfortunately I don’t appreciate the cars. I do, however, like the view from my hotel room on the 43rd floor!

Days 27 and 28 of My 30 Days of Fun

By Kate

On September 30, 2011

In travel, work

On vacation my mom lent me The Disappeared by Kim Echlin. It’s about the genocides in Cambodia, which I didn’t realize when I started reading it. A lot of the storyline is taking place in Phnom Phen, which is somewhere I’ve been. It’s so surreal to be reading about a place thousands of miles away and to know you’ve been to the place being referenced.

Over lunch the other day I was talking with a co-worker about her recent trip to Paris. I love talking about travel. Love it. I’m not one of those people who is all gaga for Paris but I love it in the way I love any town in another place. It’s fun to be in other cultures. It ignited my travel bug. This year Wonder Boy gets to pick our travel destination. He better get on it because I’m getting antsy!

Yesterday I had fun at lunchtime watching co-workers watch what I was eating. I had instant Kraft macaroni and cheese and some vegetarian chicken nuggets. Everyone with a child under the age of five was like, “Seriously?” But it was delicious.

Catching up On Some Fun

By Kate

On September 25, 2011

In family / friends, travel

I’ve been on a family vacation the past week on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. I could easily say that I continued my 30 Days of Fun with 7 days of beach, but I’ll try to be more specific…

Day 15: Drinks at the Thirsty Monk and continuing our tradition of eating Indian food in different town by visiting Kathmandu Cafe.
Day 16: My dad did a great job of finding the perfect vacation house for all of us. Because we weren’t vacationing in the heat of summer, having a hottub was a wonderful addition to the rental and it made it so we could (literally) jump right in to vacation on our first night at the beach!
Day 17: My one sister and her husband were unable to join us on vacation because she us pregnant and on bed rest. My mom printed out some photos of the two of them and we took them out with us for Mexican food and drinks at an Irish pub on Sunday night. It was a goofy but fun way to include the whole family on vacation.
Day 18: On Monday the whole clan was eating some Thai takeout and a dog appeared on the deck behind the glass door. Her tag said she was Honey Dew and listed a phone number. Between my sister and I, we got Honey Dew back to her owners and it was a great feeling. Plus, the fact that it was such a cute, sweet dog didn’t hurt.
Day 19: My brother and my sister and her beyonce cooked us all dinner on Tuesday. They made one of my favorite foods, macaroni and cheese, and it was wonderful to have food being made for me while I got drunk with my parents and Wonder Boy while sitting in he hottub. If only there were a way to incorporate that luxury into everyday life…
Day 20: Wonder Boy and I served a fabulous dinner of flaming cheese, macaroni and cheese, fancy hot dogs and blueberry vodka and lemonade drinks. Dinner was delicious, but more importantly, we completely pulled off cooking it together as a team. Sometimes that can be hard to do and still get the final product out on the table on time but we did great.
Day 21: My family went out to eat and the Charleston restaurant specialized in seafood, leaving Wonder Boy and I a little stuck. Fortunately, we were surprised by being served some delicious Gnudi, a new food for me. Gnudi is like Gnocchi made with ricotta cheese and it is so good I want to marry it.
Day 22: On our last day of vacation we all set out to make the best of what was predicted to be a day with some terrible weather. We went on a four-hour kayaking trip and ended up doing the whole thing in sunshine. When we came home we had some intermittent rain but really enjoyed the best weather of our vacation. Reading while floating around in the sun on a raft and drinking beer is the right way to do vacation.
Day 23: Last night Wonder Boy and I made the best of our 11 hour trip home by end-of-vacation gorging on Starbucks, Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. None of that was nearly as good as being greeted at the door buy Biggie and Addy.

This is a spiny sea urchin that my mom and siblings found on the beach. Beautiful.

Getting Back to Nature

By Kate

On August 9, 2011

In photography, travel

This past weekend Wonder Boy and I went camping with Frank the Tank’s family in Pennsylvania. By all accounts, I shouldn’t have come back well-rested. We tent camped and it rained at least a little every night and poured two of the nights. The shower situation was goofy. The bathhouse had two shower stalls but you had to press a button many feet outside of the stall to turn on your water. The water came on full blast but then only lasted for about 2 minutes so if you needed longer than that you had to streak across the room and press the button again. One of the pluses of the park in which we camped the lake where you could go swimming and fishing. Rain rendered the lake icy cold.

Despite all of that, or potentially because of it, I had a wonderful time.

There is something nice about getting so far removed from your routine that you can’t help but forget about looming tasks and chores. We hiked, roasted marshmallows, popped popcorn over the fire and got to see bears. Yes, bears.

Seeing the bears was a little because they were foraging for garbage. It’s great that they are able to get plenty to eat, but unfortunate that it has to happen at a cost to their more natural foraging and hunting instincts.