Hobbiton
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Today we swam with hobbits! Oh no wait, umm, today we saw the location of the movie set for Hobbiton and Bag End. It was actually really cool even though most of the set has been restored to its original location- there are still some hobbit holes left, sans doors or decorations, but the party tree and the lake are there and lots of sheep. So many sheep. No actual hobbits, though. Or dolphins. Or bears. And we were actually in the town of Matamata, which has embraced the hobbit theme wholeheartedly- there is even a Hobbit Hole Internet Caffe (sic), though I am not there at the moment- I was too tall to enter.
I was expecting a much cheesier tour but I was pleased with how professional they are and interesting. And I was surprised by how green it was- I thought they enhanced that in the movies, but it really was tat green, and it's not even summer yet. I took loads of pictures, probably more than most people would ever care to see, but I can't upload them today, so stay tuned.
Here is an interesting fact I learned from the Silmarillion last night- the dwarves were created by the Valar Aule, and Illuvatar could have ordered Aule to destroy them but he was merciful and let them live. There's more to the story but I have to get going for now.