The Shire in all its glory, and real. Reading the book or watching the movie is one thing, but there’s nothing like standing in the middle of everything. All around little hobbit houses, gardens, the Green Dragon Tavern, the lake, wow. All that comes with a guided tour though, and our guide did a good job as a shepherd to move his sheep through the set. A herd of excited freaks, shoved from foto to foto until the free drink at the tavern was revealed and everybody started to get theirs (in time, before we had to go again to reach te bus back). All in all: Unforgettable, perfect illusion, must see. Just too much others there, too (in German we have a fitting term for it: Massenabfertigung) – a pity because it’s a magical place.
