Super Jeep FTW

Our last day in Iceland was mostly dedicated to another day-long tour. This time we were headed south, and had booked something a little more off the beaten trail. Literally. We would be traveling in what is called a "Super Jeep," basically an SUV that has been given giant tires which allow for off-roading and trekking down bumpy rows inaccessible to standard motor vehicles. The tours allow for, at most, 6 people and we ended up with our own car and private tour guide. Aren't we fancy?

Me and the Super Jeep

We got picked up right on time at 8:45 and headed out of the city. Our first stop was to a waterfall called Uridafoss, which has the largest volume of water of any waterfall in Iceland. In order to access it, you need to go down a bumpy gravel road and there's no way our bus from yesterday could have handled it. Score one for the Super Jeep! Unfortunately, it was really cold and rainy (about 45 degrees) so after a quick photo-op we ran back to the car and headed to our next stop.

The upper falls of Uridafoss

Chris and I shivering in front of the falls. I don't think Kent even got out of the car for this one. He is a delicate flower.

The next part of our tour was one of the most interesting. After traveling on the highway we turned onto a deserted gravel back road that wound its way around the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. You'll probably recognize the name (but don't try to get me to say it) as it was the volcano that erupted last year and shut down air traffic to most of Europe due to the ash. While driving to the volcano we went through miles and miles of green farmland which had been completely covered with a huge ash cloud for months. In an example of Icelandic ingenuity, firemen from all over the country (as well as other farmers) all came together to help clean up the mess, from public and private areas.

Fording the river on the way to Eyjafjallajokull (the water is all glacial melt from the volcano)

I jumped out of the car for a quick shot of our driver being badass.

Scenery on the way to the volcano (the waterfalls are melting from the....)

.....glacial cap!

But back to the road! It would have been impossible to navigate without our huge tires, in fact we passed a few regular rental cars that had become mired in the river shallows, dips, and gravel because they weren't equipped for it. Suckers. We circled around the volcano (and passed many beautiful waterfalls) and drove as close to the base as was safe to get pictures. It's not possible to get too close, as the volcano is surrounded by loose sand which can swallow cars and people. On top of the volcano, or at least as far up as was possible to see due to the mist and clouds, there is a huge glacier. Later that afternoon we would circle around to the other side of the volcano and actually touch the glacier!

The front of Eyjafjallajokull

After taking our pics and staring in slack-jawed wonder for a few minutes, we headed back down the same treacherous road and visited another waterfall, Seljalandsfoss. This one falls from an impressive height and has a rocky steep path around the back, where you can look out into the lowlands from the base. It was a little scary, but my rock-scrambling skills from hiking in Las Vegas came in handy and we navigated it without too much trouble.

Seljalandsfoss

That's actually me standing on a rock directly behind the waterfall. It was wet, but awesome!

From the waterfall, we drove toward a black sand beach on the Arctic Sea. One of the coolest moments of the whole trip: we were driving down a gravel road when all of a sudden our driver just veers off onto the sand and starts off-roading. For some of you that may not seem too exciting, but trust me, it was awesome. On the beach was the skeleton of an old US Navy airplane that had crash-landed. We also saw some whale bones that had been on the beach for many years. The black beach itself was very cool, but I have to say my favorite part of the experience was just driving right off the road and across the sand. We felt invincible!

Black sand beach.

Goobers.

Looking towards the glacier (our next stop) from the black sand beach.

Down the road from the beach (and by down the road I mean about 30 minutes) it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to another impassable gravel road to the glacier tongue Solheimajokull. This glacier comes down from the top of the volcano and you literally walk right up to it and take tours, walk, snowmobile, or be a little lame like us and just touch it. In our defense, the whole thing is a huge piece of ice and y'all know how much trouble I have on solid ground. But touching an actual glacier is probably my favorite thing of the day.

In front of the glacial tongue.

The glacier!

Looking across the glacier.

Our final stop was another waterfall (you basically can't walk anywhere in Iceland without tripping over a waterfall), Skogarfoss. This was the tallest one of the day, and I was able to walk right down to the base of the poll where the water hits. I was doing really well too until a sudden gust of wind blew the spray all over me, but hey, that's why God invented waterproof jackets. Besides, I had a two hour drive back to Reykjavik and my pants totally dried by the time we got back. Heh.

This is the closest I dared use my camera, but I really walked right up to where the spray is coming from. Look at me, I'm an adrenaline junkie!

One of the most surreal moments of the day came during the ride back to Reykjavik. We were all kind of tired, wet, and starting to get a bit grumpy, so the tour guide switched on the radio. The first song? Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." I'm not sure I've ever experienced that amount of cognitive dissonance before: here we were, driving past volcanoes and glaciers in a country halfway across the world and we were all singing (including the tour guide) about throwing our hands in the air sometimes. And then as soon as the English dance song ended, the radio hosts start chattering in Icelandic. Weird. But fun!

Some final notes on Iceland: it's pretty much the ideal summer getaway. The temperature is cool (we did get up to 55 on the last day and the sky eventually cleared) and everyone speaks English. The people couldn't be nicer, and since it's so small, even Reykjavik, nothing ever gets really crowded and you have plenty of yummy restaurants. You can also get up close and personal with the sights; there's not a lot of fences or restraints between you and the waterfalls and geysers. Our tour guide told us that Icelanders believe in Darwinism: if you are dumb enough to get so close to the edge, you're asking to get hurt. You get some low-slung ropes to establish the limits of what's safe, but after that you are pretty much on your own and expected to use your judgment. Since Icelanders are so practical, it's not very hard for them. Tourists however...well, we didn't see anyone fall off a waterfall, but some people did get drenched by the geysers.

We're already thinking ahead to our next Iceland trip (we didn't get to see the Northern Lights or the northern fjords) but now it's onwards and downwards to Amsterdam.

The Golden Circle

For our second day in Iceland, we embarked on the famous "Golden Circle" tour. This is the most popular day-long tour in Iceland and one almost every tourist who comes here goes on it.

But before we get to that...

Some notes on Reykjavik (pronounced rake-ya-vek) and Iceland in general. First, everyone here speaks English. Education through the college level is free so the country has 99.98% literacy rate and 60% hold university degrees. That means there are about 2 people in the country who can't read. Heh. The average Icelander graduates college able to speak 4 languages and English is taught to everyone in school from the age of 10 (the other languages they learn are Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language and usually German, plus Icelandic of course). The popularity of English makes it very easy to visit here; if you have a question you can just ask anyone, and all menus and stores have English translations. There are even more English books in the shops than Icelandic!

Second, the people here are very nice and also very good looking. They make them tall and gorgeous here and the kids have the blondest hair I have ever seen!

Third, the food is not as bad as you've heard. While restaurants bill fare such as puffin, whale, and putrefied shark (don't ask) as "traditional" Icelandic fare, it's more of a scam to get tourists in. As our tour guide put it, "you don't see Icelanders sitting down to that at dinner." They're traditional in that they were eaten a long time ago, when Iceland was almost a third world country, but these days, the food is as various as it is in the US. People here are crazy about Thai, Italian, and steakhouses, and the food is generally hearty with a lot of seafood (fishing is the number one industry here). For example, at lunch yesterday we had a typical Icelandic meal of delicious lamb stew with veggies and some rolls. The stew was yummy and hit the spot on a chilly (summer) day.

Ok, so back to the tour. After a quick stop at the bakery across the street from our apartment for some breakfast, we were picked up by the mini-bus (which seats about 18 people) and met our driven Odinn. He was about our age, very knowledgeable, and didn't mind my asking questions and us cracking jokes the entire time. In fact, if we come back, we'll probably get him to give us some private tours. After driving around the city and grabbing our other tour members (we had a full bus) we headed out into the countryside.

As I described previously, the land around the city and airport is basically all lava fields--covered in dense, porous black rock. But once we went further north, we drove through the highlands which reminded me a lot of Scotland. Green and brown mountains jut into the sky, but after about 30 minutes they gave way to the lowlands, where all of Iceland's farms are located.

Thousands of years ago, the lowlands were actually the ocean floor and there's a clear break from the highlands and the lowlands where you can see where the ancient coast was.

Iceland is the largest volcanic island in the world and has over 200 volcanoes, 10 of which are characterized as very active. It's also located on the continental divide between North America and Eurasia so it has a lot of seismic activity. Apparently every 100 years or so they experience an earthquake measuring about 9 on the Richter scale. But all the structures in the country are built to specifically withstand such a quake, and during the most recent earthquake the only injury was a broken toe.

In this picture you can really see the transition from the highlands to the lowlands, and can also see how the highlands were once the coastal cliffs!

The country is powered with geothermal power, where they drill into pockets of pressurized steam down deep in the earth. One geothermal station produces enough electricity to power the entire country and is so automated it only requires two people to run it. Based on this information I have decided Iceland is the perfect place to wait out the zombie apocalypse. It also experiences 21 hours of sunlight in the summer (it finally got dark here around 11 at night) and all the food is organic, free-range, and has no preservatives. It may be a bit more expensive, but it is yummy!

Our first stop on the tour was a volcanic crater, Kerid. It has a lake at the bottom and is actually an implosion crater, formed when the volcano expelled its magma and then collapsed as the empty chamber could not support the weight of the cone. It's quite impressive and has been the site of several concerts utilizing a floating stage on the lake at the bottom.

Just take a few steps back...a few more...a few more...oops, too far!

After the crater and a quick pit stop, we traveled to a waterfall whose name I cannot remember or even hope to spell or pronounce. While not as large as the second waterfall on the tour, this one was still lovely and has the first salmon steps built in Iceland. The river didn't have any natural salmon, but it was stocked for sports fishermen and salmon steps were built to help the salmon get up the falls to spawn.

Salmon steps! For the lazy-ass salmon who can't be bothered to swim up the waterfall. Honestly. What is the world coming to?

Once we had experienced a warm-up waterfall, we were ready for the real thing. The Gulfoss waterfall (translated to Golden Falls) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland and is stunning. The falls have two main levels and the water falls into a crevice where it then winds its way down a canyon. If I remember our guide correctly, the falls, crevice, and canyon were formed during 5 days when a glacier quickly melted and then flooded the area; basically, the freezing water carved through the rock like a hot knife through butter. It's called the Golden Falls because when the sun hits the water at just the right angle the minerals in the water reflect and turn gold.

Soaking in the nature...

Our next stop (we had a lot of them, huh?) was to the spouting geysers! The largest is called Geysir and was actually the first geyser known to the western world. Turns out all the others are named after it. But it doesn't spout that often, so the real highlight is the geyser Strokkur which spouts every 3-7 minutes. This ended up being a lot more impressive than we were expecting, and Chris has said it was his favorite thing about Iceland. Right before the geyser pops, the water level starts to surge, more steam erupts, and a beautiful blue bubble appears which than spouts water up about 50 feet. Also around the geysers are bubbling pools and steam vents. All very cool in a geothermal kind of way.

Waiting for the geyser to pop...

BOOM!

Out last stop was at Thingvellir National Park which houses the continental divide between North America and Eurasia. Cliffs jut up on either side of a valley where the tectonic plates overlap. It also happens to the be the sight of the first parliament, where medieval clan leaders from Iceland would gather once a year to agree on common laws, hold their courts of justice, and deal out punishment. The cliff backdrop acted as a kind of amphitheater allowing for natural amplification of voices.

The continental divide; one side North America and one side Eurasia

Looking out over the National Park

From there it was back on the bus and back to Reykjavik! We got dropped off right outside our apartment and after a little time to drop off our stuff we walked to dinner at a place called Harry's, rated the number one restaurant in Reykjavik on the Trip Advisor website. It was pretty good, an Asian fusion place, with the main thing in its favor is that it was reasonably priced. Food in Iceland is very expensive, so finding a meal for under $20 (about 2500 kronar) is a pretty big accomplishment.

Coming up next: our Southern Spectacular tour in a super jeep where we go off-roading, touch a glacier, and see more waterfalls!

There and Back Again

Almost 3 weeks to the day from when I left, I return safe if not completely sound (but more on that later). I've been to some places I never imagined I would actually travel (Iceland, Estonia...) and some that have been on my list for quite a while (Amsterdam, Russia). It seems strange to be back among the familiar when the different and unusual became the norm. But I have a ton of stories to share, not to mention the pictures. Over a 1000 in fact!

As a wise woman once said "let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...."

I suppose a good first step is to introduce the travelers. There's me, of course. Everyone's favorite accident-prone, sassy ginger. Also coming on the trip were Chris and Kent, a couple that is no stranger to world travel. Several years ago we all went on a trip to the Mediterranean and discovered that we travel really well together. Chris and I have known each other since freshman year of college at William and Mary, and he and Kent have been together almost 9 years. Which means Kent has been my friend for just about that length of time.

The first stop on the epic Scandinavian and Baltic vacation seems at first glance a bit random. "Iceland?" you ask. "Why Iceland?" Turns out the cheapest way to fly to Amsterdam (where our cruise ship was docked) was to take IcelandAir. And to promote tourism, the airline provides for free multi-day layovers to give people a chance to visit Iceland. So there you go. When someone offers you the chance to spend a couple days in Iceland you don't say no.

Things, however, didn't get off to a great start. There were thunderstorms the evening we flew out of Dulles and our flight was delayed 30 minutes. There was a bit of a silver-lining though; we lucked out when checking in and were able to select first class seats without an extra charge--it was just the style of first class seats and not the first class service, but it definitely made for a more comfortable flight. I managed to get probably about 4 hours of sleep on the plane (which is pretty good for me) so I wasn't quite the walking dead when we arrived.

Unfortunately when I roused myself from sleep and stretched in my seat I noticed something was amiss. My gold and garnet pendant (which most people know I wear ALL THE TIME) was missing. The clasp had been slipping every so often, but I never imagined it would actually fall off the chain. After landing a frantic search ensued, with Chris, Kent, my seat-mate, and almost the entire flight crew pitching in with no luck. I reported it to the Reykjavik police and to Dulles, but it wasn't ever found. My vacation had claimed its first casualty. But I was determined to not let it ruin my good time--after all, it was my fault. If I loved it so much I never should have worn it. Live and learn, right?

After giving up the search on the plane, we walked through the small airport to the small baggage check and the small ground transportation area. Our plan was to grab the bus to the Blue Lagoon spa, but alas, we had just missed it and the next one wasn't coming for an hour. For the record, it was 7:30 in the morning in Iceland which meant our bodies thought it was 3:30 in the morning back at home. So we splurged on a cab and had our first view of the Iceland countryside.

In short: it was rugged, wild, and rocky. The entire island is volcanic and the ground is littered with black aerated rock. There aren't really any trees to speak of, but there are green scrubby plants covering the rocks. There are also beautiful blue lakes and mountains with huge geothermal steam vents. Oh, and active volcanoes. Including the one that erupted last year and made it impossible to travel to and from Europe for several weeks. The Blue Lagoon was only about 20 minutes from the airport, and the cab dropped us off at the main entrance. Well, I should say the walkway to the main entrance. We, along with our luggage, had to to wind our way through the path between huge piles of volcanic rock. It was pretty cool.

Steam vents on the way to the Blue Lagoon.

Blue Lagoon from afar

This path either leads to the Blue Lagoon....or Mordor.

But then we hit a snag. The spa itself didn't open until 9:00--but they offered a buffet breakfast starting at 6:30. We had made a reservation and made it there right on time--but the main entrance was locked tight with nobody around. Since it had taken us awhile to lug our luggage to the door we didn't relish the thought of heading back. Kent to the rescue! He wandered off around the building, found the kitchen entrance, and walked around until he found an employee to come let us in. Success!

I should point out that this was so typical Kent. While Chris and I became completely befuddled by a snag in our carefully thought out plan, Kent just surges ahead with a brilliant and totally unconventional idea that saves the day. After we were let in the door and made our way to the restaurant, we ate some yummy food (seriously--some of the best bacon I have ever had) and got a moment to decompress.

An hour later the spa opened and after stowing our luggage in a locker, we changed into our swimsuits and got into the lagoon. The water originates more than 6000 feet underground where it is infused with minerals and all other kinds of good stuff. The pump it up into the lagoon and it's like being in this milky warm hot tub (but without the bubbles). They have boxes of salt scrub that you can run on your face and then wash off, and then we also purchased an algae mask. So basically our faces felt awesome. After floating around the lagoon for a few hours (and getting a drink at the swim-up bar, natch) we headed to the relaxation room to lounge in some anti-gravity chairs. You recline on your back with your legs at a 90 degree angle above you. It takes all stress off your back and feels so good that we all fell asleep for about an hour. But hey, we needed it, right?

Blue Lagoon at dawn.

Right before opening....

Kent and I take advantage of the salt scrub.

I claim Iceland in the name of Maggiedom.

At that point we got our stuff, changed, and were able to get the bus back to downtown Reykjavik. But since it's us nothing is ever simple. Turns out today was Iceland's annual "Cultural Day" where the entire downtown area is closed to automobile traffic. This meant the bus couldn't take us to our hotel and we had to (again) lug our luggage from the bus depot. It took about 10 minutes, but thankfully the sidewalks were relatively even and there was only one hill. We arrived without incident and checked in to our hotel, which was actually an apartment so we have a lot of space. And after all, it isn't a real vacation until the three of us have to lug our bags through a European city.

The interior of our Reykjavik apartment.

By this point we were of course exhausted, but hey, how many times are you in Iceland? So we rallied and went wandering around the city. It was pretty easy since all the roads are closed to traffic and we went in and out of shops, around to the Parliament building and the new Harpa building, a theater and convention center with some interesting architecture. There was also a beautiful waterfront area with mountains right across the bay.

Wandering the street festival in Reykjavik...

Me and Kent and the gay polar bear.

People gather on a grassy lawn for the upcoming concerts.

We headed back to our apartment and while Chris and Kent went back out to see the fireworks at 11:00 (when it still wasn't fully dark) I tucked myself into bed and got some shut-eye. The next day would dawn early and would be jam-packed as we were taking the typical Icelandic tour called The Golden Circle. Geysers, waterfalls, and mountains...oh my!

Where in the World is Maggie?

Did you hear? That I'm going on (another) epic vacation? Cuz I am, you know, just in case you hadn't heard.

People keep asking me where I am going. And since there are a lot of places I figured I would cut out the middle man (me) and just post an itinerary. This way you can follow my trip like the crazy stalkers you are.

Seriously though, I am super excited. This is a trip that has been more than a year in the making and the fact that it is actually here is kind of hard to wrap my head around. Maybe when I am sitting on the plane tomorrow night it will actually hit home....

Friday, August 19: depart from Dulles at 8:40pm

Saturday, August 20-Monday, August 22: Reykajavik, Iceland

Monday, August 22-Friday, August 26: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Friday, August 26: Board the Celebrity Constellation for cruise (I've listed our ports below, all other days are days at sea)

Sunday, August 28: Outside Berlin, Germany

Tuesday, August 30: Stockholm, Sweden

Wednesday, August 31: Helsinki, Finland

Thursday and Friday, September 1 and 2: St. Petersburg, Russia

Saturday, September 3: Tallin, Estonia

Monday, September 5: Copenhagen, Denmark

Wednesday, September 7: back to Amsterdam

Thursday, September 8: come home!

Monday, September 12: back to work (cue sad trombone)

So I'll see you all in September and try not to miss me too much!

Take the Canoli

We must have been crazy. It seemed like a good idea in theory: we're only 4 hours from New York City by bus, so going up for the day seemed easy peasy. But when you take the 6:30 am bus up and the 10:00 pm bus back, you are looking at a long day.

But let me back up. There's a little thing called Harry Potter: The Exhibition. Basically, it has tons of costumes, props, wands, and other delights used during all the Harry Potter films. The exhibition has been making a slow tour of North America since 2009, but has only been in 5 cities, none of which are particularly close to DC. I always figured the exhibition would come here, after all, DC is the home of the Smithsonian and lots of Potter nerds. I kept waiting for them to announce a DC date but alas, the latest news from the website indicated that the show was leaving North America and heading out for international stops in September.

What's a girl to do?! I had to see all that Potter paraphernalia! There was only one choice. Hop the bus to NYC and make a day of it.

I am a big fan of the Bolt bus--for about $20 each way you get a ride up to NYC from downtown DC and for the most part, it's a smooth easy ride. Notice I said "for the most part." But more on that later.

Fellow Potter pundit Chris was up for the adventure, so we got up at the crack of dawn and convinced Kent to drop us off at Union Station at 6 in the morning. Kent's price: a doily. Yeah, I know. Apparently they are good for sidetables. Anyway...

Things got off to a poor start. The bus was about 20 minutes late, but when it did arrive our driver was in a REALLY bad mood. But here's the thing. One man's horribly bitchy is another man's delightfully bitchy, and Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the bus driver yell at those who didn't have their shit together. When she calls boarding group A and you come up there with your boarding group C ticket...bitch, please. This driver was having none of that. And when two latecomers tried to board the bus without having their tickets already loaded on their phones...we thought their asses were going to get left. And frankly, I wouldn't have had a problem with that.

The ride up was mostly without incident and we arrived at 33rd and 7th (near Herald Square--and Macy's!) around 11:00. By this time we were starving, so we decided to just strike out for Time's Square (where the HP Exhibition was stationed) and just stop to eat at some random place along the way. We ended up wandering into a place called Ben's Kosher Deli which had some amazing looking traditional jewish food in addition to your typical sandwiches and such. They also had the biggest potato pancakes I have ever seen.

After lunch, we joined the tourist throng in Times Square to kill time (and on the way walked past Parsons School of Design of Project Runway fame) until it was 1:00 and time for the exhibition.

And you thought I was a shitty driver.

I'm not going to take the time to list everything in the exhibition (for a nice little tour check out the wiki page), but let me just say it was infinitely cool and made for a remarkable experience where you could get up close and personal with the props and really appreciate the detail that went into every aspect of the movies. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed, but here are a couple of fun bits of trivia (pulled from my observance and the audio tour):

1) everyone in the movies is smaller than you imagine. Seriously. Emma Watson is like 5 feet tall. Also, the adults are all way skinnier than I imagined. They just seem so much larger than life on screen!

2) Despite being complete CGI creations, the filmmakers made incredibly detailed mock-ups of the house elves, Buckbeak, and the Hungarian Horntail. For Buckbeak, every feather on that thing was hand-dyed and hand-glued. Pretty impressive for something that would never even be on screen. And I also can't help but think it was a big waste of money.

3) Voldemort's robes were green, not black.

4) You would not believe the detail and easter eggs contained in every textbook, newspaper, or really anything printed that appeared on screen. There were even some things that I never even saw in the movie--like study guides for the O.W.L.S, but even those were amazingly detailed. Basically anything paper = amazing.

After exiting to the gift shop (duh) and breaking my baked goods embargo for a slice of cake from the Cake Boss bakery annex at the exhibition place, we hit the subway and headed for the Natural History Museum. Turns out Chris and I are both big planetarium buffs and our college friend Alyssa just so happens to work at the museum. Although she was out of town and we didn't get to hang with her (bummer) she had set tickets aside for us at will call and we got free admission to the museum and all the special exhibits. Dinosaur bones and planetarium, woot!

Raaaawr! T-Rex doesn't give a shit, T-Rex is HUNGRY! But T-Rex hates push-ups.

After getting our fill of the secrets of the universe, we met up with another William and Mary grad, Sarah. The museum is located on the upper west side which is rife with amazing restaurants, bars, and cafes. Next time I go to NYC for the weekend, I am definitely going to try to stay in that area--if just for the food alone. We grabbed some drinks at a great divey bar called Prohibition and then walked down a newish Italian place called Celeste. We managed to avoid the dinner rush (and over an hour wait) and indulged in some homemade pasta, pizza, and yummy bread. Make a note for the care and feeding of your Maggie: carbs are always a good thing.

But then! We had to get dessert, right? So we walked around the corner (dodging the raindrops that had started to plop down) and went to Cafe Lalo which is famous for its amazing desserts. It's also famous for being in the movie You've Got Mail. Remember that scene where Meg Ryan's character is waiting in the little cafe for the guy that she met on the internet (and doesn't know is Tom Hanks) and she's got a copy of Pride and Prejudice with a rose in it? Yeah, that's the place. And it's just as romantic (and delicious) as it looks in the movie.

And they have like 25 types of cake. ROCK.

By this point we had managed to stretch out the evening and it was nearly 9:00. As our bus departed as 10, we cabbed back to 33rd and 7th Avenue and said hail and farewell to Sarah.

Since the ride up to NYC was pleasant, we never imagined that the ride back would be anything but the same. Oh, boy were we wrong. First, the seats were some of the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. I'm not sure what made these so different from the seats on the way up, but it was literally impossible to find a comfortable position. Second, the driver kept the temperature at around 65 degrees (not exaggerating--I could see the digital thermostat). Even after I went up there and begged him to warm it up--no dice. Finally, the woman in front of us spent a lot of time chatting on her phone.

WHO TALKS ON THEIR PHONE AT MIDNIGHT? I had earplugs in and I could hear her. I finally stood up, leaned over, and asked her (politely) to keep her voice down. That kind of shut her up. Bitch.

I can't remember ever wanting to lie down in my own bed as much. But finally, after 4.5 hours of hell, we made it back to Union Station. A quick cab ride and ride in my car later, I was finally home.

A super fun day, but maybe just a bit too long. Next time I will be taking an earlier bus home. I think Harry would understand.

Chocolate Party

Two things I like most in the world: chocolate and parties. So what happens when you combine the two? AWESOMENESS.

My friend from law school, Kristine, is a hard as nails criminal law attorney down in the Newport News area by day. But by night she sells Dove Chocolate products at parties. So basically you get a bunch of your friends together, you sit around, and she gives you samples of chocolate: chocolate truffles, covered nuts, martinis (yes, chocolate martinis), mousse, fondue, etc. etc.

I can't really think of a better idea for a party. It's funny though, by the end I experienced something I never thought could happen. I was chocolated out. But when you are eating such rich stuff, a little can go a long way.

I know, I know, you want me to stop babbling and get to the good stuff. Pictures!

Those chocolate martinis might have been my favorite thing. YUM.

Here is the party and fondue aftermath. It was kind of like a pack of wild dogs got to it...but that's what happens when you put a bunch of chocolate fondue in front of some ladies on a Sunday morning. CHOCOLATE RIOT.

Rednecks Love Ke$ha!

....except they actually don't. As I discovered, much to my chagrin, while indulging in my favorite sport (karaoke) at the Macado's in Radford, Virginia last weekend.

Ok, so here's the story. My friend Carl was (until recently) a DJ in the Radford area and also an employee at the Radford college bookstore. We first met about 7 years ago (holy shit it's been that long?) when we both worked at the William and Mary bookstore when I was law school. Since then I have moved to DC and he moved to Radford. Unfortunately it had been a long time since we saw each other, but when I went down to Blacksburg to visit Andi and Jeff we were able to meet up. And it wasn't a moment too soon, because Carl got a sweetass job at a college bookstore in a small town in West Virginia and was leaving literally the next day.

Of course I had to put in an appearance at his Saturday night karaoke. Especially since Carl credits with me with introducing him to karaoke during our Williamsburg days, it seemed to make sense for me to be there for his last Radford karaoke night. But! This was my first experience with karaoke in a real redneck bar. Sure, I had been to Rock It Grill in Alexandria a lot, but come on, this is northern Virginia. Radford is the real thing. I was not surprised by the amount of country music (duh) but I was a bit taken aback by the prevalence of angry 90s grunge. Who knew people in Radford were so angsty. I mean, if I loved there I would be probably go crazy and start throwing chairs, but I figured all those folks were used to it. Maybe the grunge rock was a way for them to express their rage in a healthy manner.

This one guy, he would sit at a table by himself with headphones in his ears. At first I thought he just didn't want to hear anyone else sing, but Carl explained that he was actually listening to the song he was planning to sing to make sure he got everything right. Seriously? This is karaoke at Macado's, not American Idol. Chill, dude.

Carl and I brought the house down with some duets (Summer Nights and Fat Bottomed Girls), and I kicked things off with a rendition of Alone by Heart that wasn't too shabby, but yeah. Ke$ha. Carl requested that I do Your Love Is My Drug, so I got up there and to break the ice I made the Glee joke. You know, "this one is by Ke dollar sign ha." I swear, you could hear crickets chirping. So then I started the song, and yeeeeeeeeeeah. Let's just say this was not the crowd for Ke$ha. I'm not sure if I was just sucking at the song or they had never heard it or what. But it was not good. Probably one of my #1 most awkward karaoke moments EVER. And that's saying a lot. I mean, I once did I Touch Myself.

So the moral of the story is: when you go to a redneck bar, go for the classics rather than the latest pop hit. And apparently you can't go wrong if you channel your inner angry white suburban white boy.

All was well.

Last night, I attended the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. This blog post is about the experience of watching the movie and what it meant to me. If you aren't a fan of Harry Potter, 1) why are we friends and 2) this is clearly not the blog for you. Just stop reading, go in the corner, and look at your life, look at your choices. Seriously. Communist.

I know objectively it might seem kind of silly. After all, it was just a movie, Harry Potter is just some books...but honestly, if that's the stance you take than I kind of feel sad for you. Because life is a whole lot more fun when you fully embrace the things you care about and take joy in the community they bring. I was at that movie last night with 10 great friends and while we were all looking forward to different things and had different expectations, it was the whole experience that made it something I will never forget.

Last night was special, and not just because it was a great movie and a fun time. Harry Potter has been part of my life now for about 10 years. I received the first three books for Christmas in 1999 when I was in my sophomore year of college. I remember hearing stirrings about the series before then, and the son of my choral director dressed up as Harry for Halloween (complete with a golden snitch tied to a stick that he could swing around and catch), but I didn't really know anything about it. As usual, it was my Stepmom who gifted me the books (she also got me hooked on the Wheel of Time series--again, as a Christmas present) and when I sat down to read them over the holiday break....that was it. I was a goner.

When the Goblet of Fire came out in the summer of 2000, I inhaled and it then had to settle in for the long wait for Order of the Phoenix. By that time in 2003, I was working at the William and Mary Bookstore and actually worked the midnight release party. I remember walking the store, seeing all the kids, students, and grownups in costume, listening to readings of the previous books and just feeling privileged to be a part of something that was fun, had real depth and resonance, and best of all: encouraged kids to read. As soon as we started handing out the books at midnight, kids all over the store plunked themselves down on the floor and started reading. As someone who spent most of my childhood summer split between the library and the pool (where I would read the books from the library) it was one of the most thrilling things I have ever seen.

Half-Blood Prince came out in July 2007, when I was studying for the Virginia State Bar examination. I had pre-ordered it from Amazon.com and spent the morning waiting for Felicia, our mail carrier. As soon as I saw her walking from the house next door, I ran out the door to meet her. That entire summer I took one day off from studying--the day I got my hands on that book. For Deathly Hallows, it was more of a party. A group of friends and I drove down to Richmond where a friend owned a bookstore and was having a midnight release party. We snagged our books, and I think I made it to 4:00 that morning before I had to get some sleep. The next day, I read the book in my condo--lying in bed, sitting in a chair, lying on the couch...just picture a montage of me reading in various places.

My point is that despite my life taking me from college, to law school, to the bar exam, to an actual job and my own home, there has always been Harry. And of course, there has always been the movies. It became a tradition in my family to go to the Harry Potter movies and since the Rileys all have red hair we definitely got some "it's the Weasleys!" comments. Half-Blood Prince was my first midnight show, and the mixture of excitement, exhaustion, and adrenaline was kind of addicting. Attending a midnight show of Deathly Hallows: Part 2 wasn't just a sure thing, it was a damn requirement.

Because in a lot of ways, it's an end. Sure we have Pottermore from JKR, and maybe some supplementary stuff coming in the next few years, but the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 movie represented the last of the things to look forward to, the last thing to speculate, argue, and dream about. No more countdowns to something new and no more attending midnight show. It definitely doesn't mean Harry Potter as a fandom is over--I fully intend to keep having those Harry Potter themed parties and discussing the books and movies with my friends. Harry will live on in conventions, fanfic, and fan art. There's really no limit to the creativity that people are capable of once you give them a little push...and JKR has done that and more.

So last night was fun, unforgettable, but also a little sad. After all, it was an end. I always try to keep my expectations low when going to a movie like this--as a huge fan of the source material, it sometimes feels that you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I was so nervous through the entire movie that my legs would occasionally shake and I had to let out deep calming breaths. I think the reason I was so tense was first, that it was great movie that made the stakes feel real, but also that I wanted to love it so much, I wanted everything I loved from the book to be there, and I was scared (yes, actually scared) that the filmmakers would, at least from my perspective, "mess it up."

I won't give any spoilers here...but let me just say that there was not one instance where I was disappointed. Everything I wanted was there. All the moments, all the words, everything. This movie used the most of JKR's actual text than any other, and it made a huge difference. It was just...perfect. I can't say if I will feel that way in a few years, after I have seen it endless times and analyzed it from every corner. But right here, right now, I can say that it was one of the best movie-going experiences I have ever had. But not just because it was a great film: because it meant something to me. I felt that the movie makers really respected the material and the fans. That they loved it as much as we did, and that it meant as much to their lives as it has to mine.

So in the end...all was well.