Hogwarts Great Hall

Like everyone else in the world, we love Harry Potter.  (Honestly, I don't know anyone who dislikes the series but there may be naysayers out there.)  Yes, the books are better than the movies but the movies do an amazing job of capturing Rowling's magical world.  So, when we found out that Warner Brothers opened its Harry Potter backlot to the public last year, we had to go.  The tour took us through the most impressive of the backlot stages at Hogwarts, including the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room and boys' dormitory, Dumbledore's office, and the Potions classroom.  We walked through the the lifesize Diagon Alley, replete with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Ollivander's wand shop.  We gawked at every tiny detail on display --- most of which we would never even notice when watching the movies --- from the type of dishes used in the Great Hall to the substances found in the potions jars. We tried Butterbeer which, frankly, I found to taste a lot like a super sweet cream soda (yuck) but Patrick liked it.   We stood beneath the rainbow array of wand boxes and we walked across the bridge that Harry frequented.  We wandered around the amazing model of Hogwarts used to film most of the movie scenes and watched it light up inside as "night" stole over the set.

Did we love the studio tour?  Of course.  It was magical.

. . . keep reading the harry potter studio tour after the jump

Chewy and Abby with sunflowers

I am not ready for the summer to be gone.  I haven't fully accepted that we are in autumn, though the leaves are changing and dropping, and I've reluctantly traded in my sandals for shoes.  Patrick always talks about how he loves autumn crisp weather, apple cider, and Thanksgiving . . . but I start to get blue, realizing that winter is just around the corner.  Hurricane Sandy is bringing winter even sooner this year and temperatures in the South have precipitously dipped into the 50s, something that usually happens only in December (though we are very fortunate compared to the rest of the East Coast which is dealing with battering rains and snow.)

 Abby and Chewy with sunflowers

I also feel like we are halfway still in summer because the last six months have flown.  We have been back in the United States for just over a month but, in many ways, we both are still in travel mode.  We are hanging out at my parents' house until the closing of our new house and then we've got some renovation work planned, meaning that we're driving to Atlanta every weekend to deal with all of the house stuff.  I still carry my water bottle with me everywhere, Patrick's wearing his convertible pants, and our toiletries kits are always pre-packed, in case we need to make a rush trip out of town.  In the meantime, Baby M is growing like a weed and the baby that I unknowingly carried in Vienna has fast made his/her presence known in the last four months.

. . . keep reading chewy and abby among austrian sunflowers after the jump

Library of Selcuk at Ephesus

We were amongst the hundreds or thousands to walk the wide alleyways of Ephesus and Aphrodisias.  We stood on top of the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale and swam in the mineral pool used by the ancients.  We sweated under the unrelenting sun among statues of kings and emperors and sat on pillars carved thousands of years ago.  The apostle Paul came to Ephesus to establish a church and speak of Christianity at the amphitheatre at which we stood. 

And, today, we walk through the decrepitude, oohing and aahing, in the same way that we savor the leftovers from a five star restaurant.  We marvel at the fragments of grandeur of what once must have been three of the most beautiful cities in the world.

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