— Cee Neuner
YAY, another Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge!
For this challenge, self decided to focus on paths.
Two of these pictures were taken at River Mill, County Down, Northern Ireland.
The last picture was taken at Belfast’s Botanic Garden.
Quentin is about to jump into the canal to retrieve a magic button that he and Julia need desperately: it’s the only thing that will get them back to Fillory.
Witnessing the deed is a dragon expert, a fetching young woman from Australia named Poppy.
“They hardly ever eat people,” Poppy said. “I mean like twice a century. That we know of.”
— The Magician King, p. 174
You’ll notice self’s reading pace has picked up. She really loves Quentin and Julia’s backstory. Today, despite watching a bit of the Belfast Marathon, and going to the Botanic Gardens, she managed to spend a good bit of time reading.
Stay tuned.
Bushboy’s Last Photo on the Card allows self to share one more photo from the Titanic Belfast Museum, which she visited yesterday. It was an unexpectedly emotional experience.
There is a very swank hotel next to the museum. Yesterday afternoon, the hotel’s formal dining room was all decked out for a wedding reception. In the lobby were lovingly restored photographs of the ship at launch. You’d think the associations would keep people from wanting to get married there, but the opposite seems to be the case.
This ship’s model was on the second floor, away from the crowds. (The museum got very, very crowded mid-afternoon, at which point self put on her mask. People were staring. But self would rather be safe than sorry.)
The Magician King, p. 114:
LOL
It’s been a long time since self has read a book about magic, perhaps not since The Infernal Devices. The magic in Lev Grossman’s universe is great.
Posting this for Travel with Intent’s Six-Word Saturday challenge.
It was rainy and cold in Belfast today, but — what an experience it was to visit the Titanic Museum on the same dock where the 11-story-high cruise ship was built. Self has visited the Seacity Museum in Southampton, which told the moving story of the large number of Southampton employees who sank with the ship (most of the Titanic staff were from that southern English city). But Belfast was where the Titanic was built, and the shipbuilding process is meticulously described, as is the history of Harlan & Wolff, the company that produced, in total, 1401 great ships (The Titanic was number 403; according to our tour guide, the builders knew their shipbuilding process was sound. The fault did not lie with them or their engineers. In fact, the man who designed her went down with the ship, as did eight of his engineers. In contrast, the man who owned the cruise line cravenly jumped into one of the 20 lifeboats — imagine, only 20 lifeboats for 2800 people! — ahead of the women and children, and survived). What a fascinating story.
The Titanic launched in April 1912. The museum opened in April 2012 (making this month the museum’s 10-year anniversary)
Self has been moving at glacial pace through The Magician King. Honestly she thought she’d be done with this book by LAST WEEK. But the weather in Belfast today was too nice, so self spent a lot of time walking around.
This is such a cool city. Not to mention, her hotel is a landmark. A sign out front says it is “the most bombed hotel in Europe.” What, you mean during World War II? self asked someone. No, came the answer. During the Troubles. But, remarkably, despite the bombings, IT NEVER SHUT DOWN
(Self asked a waitress in the Piano Lounge about how the hotel was affected by lockdown. It shut down completely, for the first time since its founding)
Back to The Magician King!
In a previous section, Eliot told Quentin that he had sent along an “animal” for Quentin’s journey to Outer Island.
On p. 61, readers finally learn WHAT THAT ANIMAL IS.
Self actually laughed out loud in that part.
This is a momentous journey for Quentin, as Outer Island is full of Fenwicks who, we are given to understand, are very shady people. Not only that, Julia is along for the ride (Does the Quentin/Julia ship have legs? To go by what transpires on the ship, unfortunately, no)
It is SUCH a beautiful day in Belfast. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Seems a crime not to be out there on the street.
Self is cooling her heels for a bit. Walked for three hours this morning. Aimless walking. Stopped for carrot cake at Waterstone’s. Picked up more books. Tried to read a bit more of The Magician King. Came to a part with Quentin and Julia.
Is this a legitimate ship? Or is this just Lev Grossman being coy? Since she’s come so late to the party, she’s sure there are spoilers galore on goodreads. But she’s avoided them, so far.
The wind had caught her black hair and was whipping it wildly around her face. She looked outrageously beautiful. It might have been a trick of the light, but her skin had a silvery, unearthly quality, as if it would shock him if he touched it. If they were ever going to fall in love with each other, it was going to happen on this ship.
— The Magician King, p. 53
Julia’s eyes turned completely black more than a few pages ago. That means: no pupils. Or: all pupils. Must be quite a sight. The change happened when she was casting an ‘attack’ spell. The others were in a state of complete confusion and dismay (something BIG happened) and Julia was the only one who had the presence of mind to start using her magic to go on the attack. What else is magic for? Of course you have to go on the attack!
Stay tuned.
Weather today in Belfast is brilliantly gorgeous. There’s not a cloud in the sky. Amazing.
Self walked around, returned to her hotel just to dump her books (she ordered five books while she was in River Mill) and dashed out again. The best way to get one’s sea legs in an unfamiliar city is to walk, walk without a plan. She’s already seen a number of things. And signed up for an all-day Game of Thrones tour (Don’t @ self. Even though she is over her Gendrya obsession, come on: the Dark Hedges? the Giant Causeway? This might be her only chance!)
Posting this for Skywatch Friday.
Stay tuned.
Kanlaon 