Wine & Dine: Pairing Fine Food with Fine Wine in Fine Countries; Thursday, 4th Period [08/15].

[chef_chocobro]

"We shall continue our globe-hopping around to various different wine regions of the world this week," Ignis said, perhaps stating the obvious because, yes, very good, Ignis, that was rather the whole idea behind the class, "with a voyage to New Zealand, for a consideration of their impressive and burgeoning wine culture. Because while wine has been cultivated in this small Pacific island nation for some time, it is only in the last quarter century and change that it has been gaining some worldwide recognition, especially in their sauvignon blancs and pinot noirs, growing from just shy of 100 wineries only thirty years ago to nearly seven times that much today.

"Today, we will be visiting Waiheke Island specifically, and visiting Mudbrick, a fairly recent family winery with a heavy emphasis on their food as well as their wine, on an estate that should cater nicely to everyone's particular inclinations. Their selections are considerable, their restaurant impressive, and I'm sure we'll have quite a pleasant time with it."

The Olympics... Kinda - Thursday, 3rd Period

[needsacatchphrase]

Class looked to be in some kind of warehouse, maybe, today, with a sick DJ setup, and, for some reason, a rack of hobby horses. Probably nothing to worry about. Just perfectly normal stuff for the Olympics. Maybe.

"So, today we're combining two events for you to try out," Jane said, mostly just amused at this combination. You had to learn to be! "That would be breakdancing and equestrian. But we couldn't really get horses for this, so we improvised a little bit."

No dancing horses here. Even if that would have been super cool.

Let's be real, the horses probably would've been better at it. "Both of these involve a number of stylised moves, often to music, so it seems a clear choice to combine them." No, Cara, it didn't.

"So, everyone grab a 'horse' and pick a song to dance to with them," Jane added. It was clearly just that easy, right? Right.

Plants: Thursday First Period

[mylandmyrules]

The class had once again been told to meet at Portalocity for today's outing. "We're going to visit my home," Nell said. "Or at least my home away from Fandom. It's called Soulwood and, well, let's step through and I'll show you."

The portal let them out in a strand of immense trees through which a very large farmhouse could be seen across an open stretch of mowed grass and gardens. As Nell set foot on the land it almost seemed to rise up to meet her. A gentle breeze sprang up, rustling the leaves on the trees, and a hushed expectant feeling fell upon the land. Nell reached out to touch the closest tree and the nearest branch bent in to brush against her gently.

She slipped off her shoes and dug her toes into the ground sending her mind questing across her land, noting the new dens of the animals, the small herd of deer across in the glen, the stream down the hill being visited by a family of rabbits, and most importantly, the lack of any other human anywhere on or next to her land.

Nell let out a soft sigh as she pulled her focus back to the class. "Welcome to Soulwood. It's about a hundred and fifty acres of woods bordering the flatland by the house where my gardens are. Let's go take a look."

Library, Thursday 8/15

[noonedecidesmyfate]

When Belle arrived at the library today it was in a state of disarray.

There was popcorn scattered on the floor, ice cream wrappers all over the place, and empty soda bottles in piles.

And, for some reason, a stack of books about haunted hotels on the desk.

Belle was trying to ignore the mess but also wondering what she'd missed. Mainly she was intrigued by the topmost book in the stack which featured something called the Hollywood Tower Hotel.