Magic, Movies & Mayhem

For three days, in the steamy heat of Orlando, we became brave explorers. At the Magic Kingdom, we hurtled through space on Space Mountain, then up the wet Splash Mountain and down the Big Thunder Mountain. We met 999 ghosts and ghouls at The Haunted Mansion. We visited the Swiss Family Robinson’s tree house, and flew with Peter Pan. We spun madly on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, took a cruise into the Jungle, and sang with the Pirates of the Caribbean (yo ho ho, it’s a pirate’s life for me!) We took a brief trip down memory lane into It’s a Small World [Mr G’s fave ride when he was a wee lil five year old!]

That was day one. Over the next two days we headed to Universal Studios for more adventures. We survived the Incredible Hulk Coaster – twice. We visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we took a forbidden journey through Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione. We visited Olivander’s for wands. We rode the Chinese Fireball and the Norwegian Ridgeback in the dragon challenge. At this point, we need refreshment, so we stopped at Three Broomsticks for a cooling Butterbeer for him, and lemonade for me. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were created so realistically, it felt like we were actually there.

There was the Men in Black training event, where we had to shoot aliens (just like in the movie.) I got twice the number of points as Mr G, and passed! We got absolutely soaking wet on the Ripsaw Falls and the Jurassic Park River Adventure – but thankfully the Florida sun dried us up in no time at all. We flew with The Simpsons through Krustyland (I accidently knocked out one of Mr G’s contacts just before this ride started, so he only saw half of it through one eye…)

If I had to pick one, my favourite would have to be the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios. On this rollercoaster, you pick a song at the beginning to accompany your ride. The ride starts with a slow, 90 degree vertical climb before plunging into twist and turns. The songs accompany the ride perfectly (I chose Evanescense for the first ride, Gloria Gaynor for the second) and having music pounding in your ears as you’re thrown around and upside down by this ride just makes the whole thing more unforgettable.

On the last night, we were mesmerized by La Nouba at Cirque du Soleil, a fitting end to our magical stay here.

We must have been bone tired after all those adventures, because the next day we slept in and nearly missed our flight to Boston. We made it with just a few minutes to spare, and fortunately the flight was delayed!

We arrived in Boston on Friday afternoon and after a quick meal, headed to Cambridge to see Harvard. It was a short cab ride away and we stepped out of the cab and into the most beautiful campus. The university is a stunning 375 years old, and the part of Harvard Yard which is open to the public is like a beautiful park, dotted with old large trees, surrounded by majestic red brick buildings. The lawn was scattered with students sitting under the trees, reading, chatting, sleeping. John Harvard was overlooking the yard, dressed in his summer clothes. It felt a little weird, walking around a campus as a tourist, rather than a student. After soaking up the atmosphere, we had some homemade ice cream and caught a movie (The Help – highly recommended!) and headed back to the hotel.

The next day we walked all over Boston. Or at least it felt that way. We had brunch in Back Bay before heading to Trinity Church (Mr G wanted to see it because it appeared in the movie National Treasure…) The amazing stained glass windows at the church were well worth the trip. Then we followed the “Freedom Trail” to the North End which took us to some important sites of the American independence movement. We visited Beacon Hill, the Old North Church, and the State House. It was a living, breathing history lesson.

In the evening, we decided to head to Chinatown for dinner. Chinatown is next to the theatre district in Boston and since we had no other plans for the evening, we decided to try and find a show. The first theatre we stopped at (Wang Theatre) had tickets available for Chris Tucker’s stand-up tour! Perfect.

Now we are on a train from Boston to New York. Since today is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, I really didn’t want to take a flight. It’s a 4 hour train journey (plenty of time to write a long blog!) Anyway, Mr G is telling me that I should leave something for him to write, so I’ll end it here J

Mrs G