Travels part 2

On my travels I snapped over 200 photos. Since it isn't feasible to share all here, you will have to survive with these peeks into other worlds. Hopefully they will be enough to wet your appetite so that these destinations go on your bucket list. I firmly believe everyone should have one of these lists. Of course I am a list maker by nature and even when everything on the list doesn't get done, I still feel a wonderful rush and sense of accomplishment for the items that get crossed off. Even though I can now cross off the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I wouldn't mind putting it back on the list:)
After we walked under the sign from yesterday's post, we were in the village of Hogsmeade complete with a Butter Beer Keg, wonky chimneys, and the turrets of Hogwart's rising over the rooftops in the distance.
I have been asked what Butter Beer tastes like. I really enjoyed it even though I found it very very sweet. Imagine butterscotch candy in liquid form topped with this wonderfully buttery sweet cream to represent the foam of a beer. It was terrific on a hot day:) They also sold Pumpkin Juice and as a lover of just about everything pumpkin, I had to try that too. It tasted like pumpkin pie in juice form. I liked it but again too sweet to drink a lot of.

While we stood in line at the castle for the BIG ride we were walked through various parts of the castle. The first being the greenhouse where they took their classes for Herbology, I believe. This is a picture of Caged Mandrakes. When you look closely you can see their little eyes just above the soil. As I said yesterday, I relished in the attention to detail of the whole experience.

Here we waited in a portrait hall with 30-40 foot ceilings. There were even openings to other places...who knows where they lead. There were 4 (digital) portraits of the Namesakes of the four Houses that carried on a running dialogue as you stood in line. There were many areas where there were moving pictures and you had to pay attention or miss something.

Here is a close up of one of the store fronts. This is SPINTWITCHES Sporting Needs. I took this close up for the snitch that hangs in front of the shop. Their window display had the trunk that contained all the balls and it was jumping around as the balls tried to escape. The bookstore had moving pictures of Lockhart in little frames along with copies of all of his books. The music shop had music sheets flying around behind it's windows. You couldn't go into all of these shops but they were so much fun to study.

My next adventure was to the town of Winter Park, Fl.
It was the first time in probably 20+ years that I had been completely alone while somewhere else. I was very intimidated at first but was prepared with a list of places to see thanks to QA member Pat Schaer. I began at the Morse Museum where the majority of Tiffany glass is displayed. You would think it would be easy to be alone when surrounded by so much beauty but I really love to share experiences. I wish my mom had been with me so we could ooh and aah together over all the shiny stuff:) We tease that we are like magpies. A couple of times I found myself jumping into others' experience by commenting on something we were all looking at. I knew I needed to stop that, feel and see the art around me, and learn to be alone in the moment. Eventually I just stared at each peace in amazement. The quality and creativity of this artist in that time was just stunning. I didn't realize how prolific he was and the variety of mediums he pursued. I was on creativity overload when I walked out the door.

Lunch was at a terrific Turkish restaurant named Bosphorous in the downtown area. I had never had Turkish food before and I was not disappointed. The Chicken Adana came with julienned carrots, pickled beets and red cabbage, and dilled onions. I truly enjoy savory dishes like this. I have never walked into a restaurant and been asked, "table for one?"....a little daunting but the food made up for that!

Then I was off for a boat tour around the lakes of Winter Park. Yes, I said lakeS. I wondered how that would work and soon found out they are connected by these quaint canals where you feel like you are on a jungle cruise.

Of course all the lakes are bordered by glorious mansions. Love the boat house with this mansion below.

Here is a picture of one of the canals and one of the 'boat' garages that line the canals.

The landscaping of the house below is so exotic feeling...can I just move into the boat/guest house?????

I can't even imagine vacationing somewhere like this let alone living there everyday....but it is fun to dream:) Can I add that to my bucket list?

Stay tuned for tomorrows travels to a sculpture garden........