Beijing
WE'RE HERE!! Ok, so first off, it's surreal to finally be here. Every so often, I mumble a holy-cow-I'm-here chuckle.
Our early am flight to Dulles was short and Jimbo did a fine job of dropping us off at btv. The flight was looooooong, but not as bad as I had thought. Luggage went fine, United was fine, meeting up with most of group in Dulles, check-ins/outs, all hunky dokey. Many hours later...The Beijing airport is huge, but clean and easy to get around. We managed, with our group, to get to the front where we met our guide who is either Fan, her Chinese name meaning "sailing" since her father has been in the navy, or her English name of Candy. She says she picked it because it's sweet. She is a sweet, adorable, small, gorgeous young woman with a little baby of her own. She will be our National guide staying with us for the entire 16 days. On the bus over to our hotel, she held a mic and gave us info, a small packet and a run-down of the money, some words, our children, itinerary, etc. We made it to our hotel which is very nice. We had about an hour to get ready to meet for dinner at 6:00pm, when our bodies are telling us it's 6am. Lynne and I each got in a shower (aahhhhhh), settled our in-room safe and met up for a group dinner that was just down the sidewalk. For our agency, many of our meals are included, so it's nice to not worry about it. Our guide was raised in Beijing and she's knows the area well and the meal was yummy. Duck (yum), chicken, beef, rice, celery with onions (yum), broc, and peeled mandarin oranges, which we all avoided since we were told to not eat raw food we haven't seen peeled. All was served family-style.
We were done with our group activities and I managed to get a Skype call into Seth before he headed off to school with Grandma and Papa Tom. I love being able to see him. He's adorable, and I don't think it's the lack of sleep. Soo happy the Skype is going to work out. We have a connection cable for free here, so we're at least set for a couple days.
Lynne thankfully talked a slightly dizzy, sleep deprived me into walking down the streets of Beijing. I'm so glad. It was amazing to absorb the city. It's NYCish - lots of lights, people out, shops and very exciting. I also feel very safe and the people are very friendly. We went into shops and hit the outdoor food market. Funky, very funky, items with vendors screaming for your attention. Love it, love it. The weather is perfect for walking, a slight sprinkle, but just so great.
Hey, whaddya know, I'm kinda sleepy. I'm knocking out and I'll write more tomorrow. Great wall and forbidden city. (We can see the rooftops of the Forbidden City out our hotel window.)
WE'RE HERE!! Ok, so first off, it's surreal to finally be here. Every so often, I mumble a holy-cow-I'm-here chuckle.
Our early am flight to Dulles was short and Jimbo did a fine job of dropping us off at btv. The flight was looooooong, but not as bad as I had thought. Luggage went fine, United was fine, meeting up with most of group in Dulles, check-ins/outs, all hunky dokey. Many hours later...The Beijing airport is huge, but clean and easy to get around. We managed, with our group, to get to the front where we met our guide who is either Fan, her Chinese name meaning "sailing" since her father has been in the navy, or her English name of Candy. She says she picked it because it's sweet. She is a sweet, adorable, small, gorgeous young woman with a little baby of her own. She will be our National guide staying with us for the entire 16 days. On the bus over to our hotel, she held a mic and gave us info, a small packet and a run-down of the money, some words, our children, itinerary, etc. We made it to our hotel which is very nice. We had about an hour to get ready to meet for dinner at 6:00pm, when our bodies are telling us it's 6am. Lynne and I each got in a shower (aahhhhhh), settled our in-room safe and met up for a group dinner that was just down the sidewalk. For our agency, many of our meals are included, so it's nice to not worry about it. Our guide was raised in Beijing and she's knows the area well and the meal was yummy. Duck (yum), chicken, beef, rice, celery with onions (yum), broc, and peeled mandarin oranges, which we all avoided since we were told to not eat raw food we haven't seen peeled. All was served family-style.
We were done with our group activities and I managed to get a Skype call into Seth before he headed off to school with Grandma and Papa Tom. I love being able to see him. He's adorable, and I don't think it's the lack of sleep. Soo happy the Skype is going to work out. We have a connection cable for free here, so we're at least set for a couple days.
Lynne thankfully talked a slightly dizzy, sleep deprived me into walking down the streets of Beijing. I'm so glad. It was amazing to absorb the city. It's NYCish - lots of lights, people out, shops and very exciting. I also feel very safe and the people are very friendly. We went into shops and hit the outdoor food market. Funky, very funky, items with vendors screaming for your attention. Love it, love it. The weather is perfect for walking, a slight sprinkle, but just so great.
Hey, whaddya know, I'm kinda sleepy. I'm knocking out and I'll write more tomorrow. Great wall and forbidden city. (We can see the rooftops of the Forbidden City out our hotel window.)
I love the photos. Keep them coming. Have an amazing time at the Great Wall tomorrow. Love you guys!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got there safely and the Skype is working! That is what we intend to use to talk to our son when we are there in 4 weeks!
ReplyDeleteKeep the information coming!
Diana A (BabyMakes2 on RQ)
So glad you have each other on this terrific adventure. Seth was PERFECT at our house and his. "it's so worth it" he says. How sweet can he be?
ReplyDelete