Yes yes, we know – it’s be a while since we’ve updated. Our apologies.
Since last you saw us, riding our bikes, we have become quite the traveling duo. First, there was the weekend trip to Hangzhou – a place Marco Polo once named the most beautiful place on earth. Easy does it Marco… But the scenery was indeed beautiful, and our trip up a mountain to a Buddhist monastery was all that it promised: Beauty, peace, serenity and melon-on-a-stick. At the foot of the mountain is a stunning lake (West Lake, for those of you following along on Google Earth) that offered wonderful, mist-laden vistas and some equally great people watching. Granted apart from the lake and the monastery, the city itself left a bit to be desired – but that could be because what we desired was to find the railway station, and what we got instead was a WALK down a busy highway…sans sidewalk. Where are those iPhone navigation apps when you need them?
But we made it back, safe, sound and dusty. And invigorated by our adventure, the following weekend we jumped on the chance to head to Beijing for 5 days. You’ll find posted on our flicker page (links to the right folks) our treasure trove of pictures, courtesy of John’s never-ending photographic talent. We managed to capture all the sights and sounds, from a walk through Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City, to a hike up the Great Wall. And yes, we do mean “hike up” not “leisurely walk along” – because in case you didn’t know (we did not), the Great Wall is most often a vertical climb upwards. Combine 45-degree steps, with approximately the population of a small town in New England…and you’ve got quite the afternoon.
Our trip was made possible by our wonderful guide, Jenny, who complemented each excursion with history lessons, demystifying so many aspects of Chinese culture and architecture. For example, when Hannah asked with great interest and sincerity what the gold characters above the doorway to an ancient Buddhist temple meant, Jenny looked at her with the wisdom of the ages and said “they mean BUDDHIST TEMPLE.’"
Here are some highlights, but for the full experience – see our Flickr stream.
Now…what shall we do THIS weekend?
