You’ve seen the movies, now go to Toronto, Ontario to see the play.

I am, of course, talking about the upcoming production at Toronto’s Prince of Wales Theatre production of the Lord of the Rings. If you are wondering how the giant fantasy epic that author J.R.R. Tolkein filled 1000 pages and Peter Jackson filled three long movies, can possibly be presented on stage, you are not alone.

Reviewers, while acknowledging that the stage brings with it some inherent limitations when attempting to perform such a huge tale, have compared it to some of Shakespeare’s great battle productions, with action simultaneously occurring from one end of the giant stage to another.

In fact, director and adapter, Matthew Warchus agrees with the Shakespeare analogy. He likens the production to “a Shakespearean play and a Cirque de Soleil show sort of woven together,”

Then there is the problem of what to call such a vast production like this. Producer, Kevin Wallace is adamant that The Lord of the Rings is not a musical. “It is a hybrid production, because this is not any of those things singularlyit is all of those things.”

The Lord of the Rings already holds the distinction of being the most expensive theater production ever, running up a cost of more than $24 million. It makes full use of the Prince of Wales Theatre’s revolving stage, has a cast of 55, an orchestra of 18 and 17 elevators. NPR News reported that, “tree roots from the proscenium arch envelop the auditorium, actors fly and appear on stilts 10 feet high. There’s even a massive spider puppet.

Initially the producers wanted to open in London, but couldn’t find a large enough theater, but the Prince of Wales Theatre in Toronto was ideal. Lord of the Rings is scheduled to cross over the Atlantic in the Fall to open in London, and will not appear on Broadway for years.

COPYRIGHT© 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Think budget travel equals boring travel? Think again!
Learn the Guerrilla Traveler’s insider secrets to budget adventure travel to the world’s most exciting places
and experience the coolest travel adventures without spending a bundle. Charles Brown is a former attorney who now spends his time indulging his passion for travel and shares the unique travel destinations and adventure travel bargains he uncovers on his blog, Guerrilla Traveler - Adventure on a Budget, http://www.guerrillatraveler.blogspot.com

Queen Maeve’s Tomb sits high above the town of Sligo, Ireland on a low mountain named Knocknarea (”Mountain of the Moon”). Legend states that it is good luck to bring a stone up the mountain to place on the large cairn, but that it is bad luck to remove a stone. This would explain it’s formidable height.

From the center of town, the mountain looks anything but daunting. It looks like another one of those beautiful hills that Ireland’s Northwest is so well known for. Look a little closer however, and you’ll notice a bump on the top of this relatively flat-topped hill. This bump is of course, the tomb of Queen Maeve herself.

In Celtic mythology, Queen Maeve was known as the Warrior Queen of Connacht. Unfortunately, the queen had a reputation of being quite unkind, having murdered her own sister Eithne with the intent to covet Eithne’s husband. She also seems to have made her way through a number of husbands, disposing of each by murder. She figures prominently in “T

Put on your fedora, pick up your bullwhip and set off for adventure where your travel may find you digging up buried treasures that have been lost for centuries.

OK, real archaeologists aren’t like Indiana Jones, but it is fun to imagine yourself unraveling ancient secrets that have eluded modern man for ages; especially if you can get a chance to be part of an archeological expedition.

Many archeological teams are looking for volunteers to spend their vacations helping dig up the past, whether you are helping to excavate a medieval castle, a temple in a South East Asia jungle, or even the tomb of an Egyptian king.

If this sounds like the adventure vacation you have been looking for all your life, here are a few resources to check out before you go:

• One excellent site is www.archaeolink.com, where you will find an exhaustive list of archeolical tours and volunteering opportunities for vacations all over the world.

• K. Kris Hirst, who writes the Archaeology section of About.com has written a very good article on archaeological volunteering that you should check out at www.archaeology.about.com.

• Gorpaway.com, who always does adventure travel right, has a huge list of archaeology vacations and tours. While it does seem that most of Gorp’s tours are in North America, it also has tours available in Mexico, South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Check out their list at www.gorpaway.com.

• Another article you should check out is by Richard Collins in familyadventuretravel.com. He points out that:
  The real adventure in archaeology, however, is doing it. There is no substitute for the thrill of discovery–of actually touching history and feeling it come alive in your hands. Finding even the most mundane of artifacts, such as a simple stone tool that may have last been held by human hands perhaps a thousand years ago, is an absolutely unparalleled experience.
  Be sure to check out his excellent article at A Vacation You Can Really Dig - Archaeological Tourism.

OK I hope we are really clear that real archaeology is not like Hollywood makes it look in the movies. It’s a safe bet you won’t be finding secret passages or hidden tombs, and you definitely won’t be chased across the world by treasure-hunting Nazis.
But your archaeological vacation will have its own kind of adventure that you won’t ever forget. So go out and touch history.
COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Think budget travel equals boring travel? Think again! Learn the Guerrilla Traveler’s insider secrets to budget adventure travel to the world’s most exciting places and experience the coolest travel adventures without spending a bundle. Charles Brown is a former attorney who now spends his time indulging his passion
for travel and shares the unique travel destinations and adventure travel bargains he uncovers on his blog, Guerrilla Traveler - Adventure on a Budget, http://www.guerrillatraveler.blogspot.com