“Oh, it so smooth, and heavy. ”
He was talking about my credit card. You see, after the museum I was still hungry. I don’t eat a lot at home, but I eat even less on trips. Something about spending money on food on a trip just bugs me. However, at the moment, I was willing to spend $11 on something to eat.
I got out my phone and took advantage of the street wifi. For some reason it couldn’t find anything. It was beginning to rain harder, and I decided to just head to the theater. I was an hour and a half early but that was ok. I put my phone away and looked up. Directly in front of me was a informational/directional sign that listed nine top places to go, with arrows pointing the direction. An arrow pointed straight ahead, with the words “The Embassy Theater” written next to it.
New Zealand signs: 2; my phone: nullus ( for those that don’t know Latin, nullus means nothing).
I walked down the street, rain falling, wind blowing. It wasn’t chilly now, just rainy. As I approached the large intersection, I saw the posters for “The Hobbit” that I’d seen the day before when Andrew drove me around. I hadn’t realized that it was the theater at that time. I have to say though, there aren’t really many billboards. One with the new Will Ferrell sequel but honestly there aren’t more than that – and that one is tastefully done in one spot in the city.
I crossed the street with a crowd and then crossed one more time. I went past the theater instead of going in. It looked open and empty. Some people were standing and looking at a few movie posters inside. I could also see carpeted stairs leading up and a large opening in the middle of the level with two giant maroon doors trimmed with gold. Turning back to the sidewalk, I saw there was a small chalkboard sign out front of the theater’s neighbor. I took a deep breath, and walked into a cafe.
Industrial is a good word for the cafe. There was a boat for a counter, metal tables and chairs to match. The chairs had red plastic backs and seating while the tables were black legs with turquoise tops. Some native art was drawn on the tables as well. The walls had an artist’s set of works, line drawings called, ” People, Places, and Spaceships”. With Michael Jackson playing on the speakers, I looked up above, and saw a giant piece of carved art above the counter. I took a photo because it had skulls in it.
I walked up and ordered a veggie flatbread and a hot chocolate. I handed the guy my card and he about died. He seemed a little too excited about it, honestly. People always react to my credit card; it’s made of metal, a shiny almost holographic blue, and not the same kind of plastic coating that most cards are made of. It’s a great travel card – that’s why I got it. He had short brown hair, seemed about 30, black t-shirt, and his voice had a bit of swag to it that made me think he might be a bit extra feminine. I giggled at him as he petted my card and showed it to the chick making my hot chocolate.
He handed me my sandwich, and I walked over to table by the door. I pulled out my sketchbook and pen. First I wrote a few things down in my travel journal. It has a picture of a sailboat on it. I got a pack of three of them from my favorite online store, Modcloth. One has an octopus, and another has waves. I left those two at home this trip. I just needed one.
The chick called that the hot chocolate was ready, and I went to get it. She had her fluffy curly hair up, and kept dancing around in her black dress and ankle boots. The place felt a bit hipster like home, but not as”wanna-be” as I’m used to. Not fancy hipster, just … Industrial . That’s really the only word for it.
After an hour of failed attempts at drawing, I packed up and went next door. The theater still seemed empty. Curious, and curiouser – oops, wrong movie. I walked up to the girl waiting at the register and handed her my phone with my reservation number. She looked bored but pleasant enough. She printed out my receipt for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”, at which point I asked her if there was anywhere to wait.
” You can sit upstairs at the bar and wait if you want. Or there’s a cafe down here. ”
A bar in the movie theater? Well ok then. I lifted my eyebrow. Damn, a cafe here? You mean I didn’t have to listen to Michael Jackson for the last hour?!
I headed up the winding palace-like stairs to the great unknown. At first, I looked to my left and saw the usual popcorn counter. Then to the right, was where I realized it was impossible for me to get lost here.
There were about, ten wizards, and fifty elves all wandering, sitting, or standing about. You don’t get this scene at home for a Tolkien movie, just long lines of nerds. The only thing I thought of was,
Where’s the hobbits and dwarves?!
There weren’t any lines, and there weren’t any signs designating the time. Just lots of places to sit or stand – just places to congregate casually and socialize. Very different than back home. No long lines around the dirty alley way today!
Now, I’d just had a hot chocolate, so tea nor coffee was desired. I decided to have some cider, but not hot cider, a more hard cider. Okay get your “whhaaaaaat???’s ” out. Done yet? No. Okay I’ll wait. .. Now done? Good.
Moving on, I found a seat in the back by the window and looked around. Finally found one hobbit- a girl dressed as frodo. So many, many elves. There were comfy leather chairs, and some velvet. Coffee tables and a couch, some wooden tables, and a Chinese room divider near me. The bartenders were bringing drinks out, some even brought out large Sundaes and other assorted food.
This is quite the theater. I thought. Then it occurred to me: This was where they did all the premieres. Fancy me.
A woman, an elf of course, came out and told her group they could go in now. I finished up the cider and walked out of the back room, towards the left entrance behind the popcorn counter. As I walked in, I was asked by a rather nice looking gentleman in a beanie, excellent beard, plaid long sleeve shirt, torn jeans, and a chain on his hip if I knew where I was going. Oh the accents…I pretended like I needed to know. He got a bit flustered trying to tell me. Must have been my awesome Santa Barbara hat my dear Aunt Kerry convinced me to buy.
I headed up the first set up of stairs on the right to row N, seat 37. I was on the end of the middle row. More people started coming in as I sat there looking around and taking some photos of the place.
The seats were super comfy, and everything was clean. I didn’t have to wait long before the previews. The theater didn’t fill up by then either. It was a large theater but I’ve been in ours back home for IMAX movies that fill up. There were maybe four previews and then the movie started. The seat in front of me was open, the four seats to my right were open, and the entire row to my left was open. Many more open seating as well all around. The audience was polite and quite. Can I come to New Zealand for all my movies???
I will not spoil the movie, so I’ll just skip ahead to leaving. I walked outside back into the rain and followed the crowd across the street to the bus stop. I checked the time, and I was within one minute of the next bus back to Eastbourne. I had wanted to go to this bar called “The Welsh Dragon” but I felt a migraine brewing. I also had to use the bathroom but wasn’t quite willing to try the public toilets yet.
While on the bus, I kept watching all the stops to make sure I wouldn’t miss mine. It’s hard to tell when you’re unfamiliar to the surroundings so I took some wild guesses and luckily I’m a brilliant person – or just lucky. There was a woman who answered a phone call on the bus. Her friend was checking up on her. Apparently she took the wrong bus, or so the old lady with too much perfume next to me told her. Poor girl.
When we rounded the corner of the mountain I saw a familiar beach and just as I was about to press the button, the man behind me did it. I had a long trek up the hill to my basement in the forest.
I’m going to be getting a lot of exercise this trip. I thought, catching my breath as I unlocked my door, and headed in for a quiet night.