It is over two weeks now since we came home from China. This is the worst jetlag I have ever experienced, ditto for John. We have tried getting out in the sunlight, not napping during the day, and staying awake as long as possible (and sometimes longer.) But none of it seems to work well. Last night I only woke up three times and was able to get back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. So perhaps things are improving.

Strangely, it seems ages since we were in China. There is always such a disconnect between waking up in one place on the globe and going to bed in a totally other place. I am always thinking, here I am in California getting ready for bed and this morning I got up in Beijing. Amazing. One day I’d like to take a slow trip on a ship across the ocean and let my body gently move into other time zones. Who knows? Perhaps that will be our next great adventure.

On Mother’s Day we go over to Jon and Ryan’s. Sarah comes too. I get lots of cards and a cute tote from Nathan that says “Beeba, Jon’s mom, Sarah’s mom I (a drawing of an eye) love (represented by a heart) U. I am very touched. We have a great brunch with mimosas, French toast, bacon, bagels and lox and pretzel rolls that Sarah has made. Later we play games until everyone conks out at about 2PM. I love being with my family!!!

Sophie’s daughter Amy and her family are moving from Singapore to the Bay Area. They have one week to find a house to rent and investigate schools. They manage to accomplish all this in the allotted time but not without some anguish along the way. Happily it all works out and they have the house that they want in Danville.

Sophie flew in from South Carolina to help out with their boys, Caleb and Gabriel, while Amy and Israel house hunted. It was a good opportunity for us to spend a little time together. We go to parks and out to lunch with the boys. On Sunday John and I host a barbecue for the Soong/Hansens and Jon and his family and Sarah. Amy was Jonathan’s friend when we lived in Hopkinton for several years starting in 1984.

The adults really hit it off. They spend a lot of time talking about their past, their adult experiences and also the present and the opportunities in the Bay Area. The little boys also have a great time. Caleb is anxious about meeting Nathan but Nathan is his usual charming self and in no time at all they are great friends. Gabriel is also more drawn to Nathan and wants to be part of the “big boys.” Poor little Sam is kind of the odd man out. He is just a little to young to keep up. I am sure that this will change as the age differences get less pronounced.

The visit is too short but Sophie and I look forward to many more visits in the future!

First I am so glad we took this tour. We saw so many things and got such good information. As I read through my entries, I do remember, though, how exhausting a lot of it was. To take this tour, you need to be in pretty good shape. Our group was fairly young by tour group standards. The age span was 25 to 83. A lot of people in the 60-70 range. Especially on the land portion of the trip, there was very little down time. We were pretty much on the go from 8 in the morning until after dinner or later each day. There was a lot of walking, stairs and hauling oneself on and off the bus. The cruise section had a much slower pace.

Some of the more wonderful things that we saw were the amazing buildings in Shanghai just across the river from the 19th century Bund, the acrobat show the first night at the hotel, the bell performance in Wuhan, the Yichang locks and the Three Rivers Gorge, the pandas, the Terra Cotta Army, the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. We also saw some pretty poor living standards and a lot of pollution. The country is an environmental disaster just coming to realize the problems that rapid industrialization has caused.

The one thing that really enhanced the whole trip was the people. From the children at the Yueyang school to the quiet, lovely people serving us on the boat, to the local guides, the program director and especially Jimmy, our guide the whole 12 days, everyone was helpful, pleasant and knowledgeable. I think I expected people to just toe the party line and spiel a lot of propaganda but although they are proud of their country, they acknowledge its problems. People this aware of their circumstances cannot help but aid in making a better future.

The accommodations were also great. Every hotel was 5 star and the cabin on the boat with a comfortable bed was fine. The internet on the boat was frustrating. The food was not as wonderful as I had hoped. Probably through experience, the cruise offered fewer Chinese dishes than I expected. Later we found out we could have requested authentic dishes. Breakfast at the hotels was always a great culinary adventure with dishes from around the world.

I think this will probably be the only trip we ever take to China. It is still hard to imagine doing a trip on our own. The language barrier seems too difficult and much of the country is definitely third world. Perhaps we are just too old now to contemplate such an adventure. But am I glad we did it? Yes, emphatically.

Happy May Day or Laborers Day as it is known to the Chinese.  As a special treat we are not leaving until 8AM.  I spend a few minutes taking pictures of Beijing from our hotel window. It is the second largest city in China (23 million people) after Shanghai (24 million people.) Both cities appear quite modern and Beijing has the advantage of having many smaller scale buildings so it doesn’t look so much like people being warehoused.

After our global breakfast (yum, curry and pretzel rolls) we board our Jimmy bus to Tiananmen Square (TS).  Apparently 500,000 people were at TS yesterday so we are really hoping that there will be many fewer today.  It doesn’t appear so as we arrive.  Jimmy steers our group through the security checkpoints.  His “cousins” do not make us queue up like the Chinese must.

 Jimmy talks about the buildings in the square.  There is Mao’s tomb, of course.  There is a line of maybe 10,000 people or so waiting to get in.  Jimmy admits that to the more educated people Mao is just a guy who did some good things and also a lot of horrific things but to a lot of people in China he is still godlike.  People are waving flags and wearing souvenir Mao hats. People are also very interested in us.

 
Although the people we see are curious about us because we are not Asian, they are more taken with one woman in our group who is tall and black and wears her hair in corn rows.  Lots of people want their picture taken with her.  We figure that as a group we could have made quite a bit if money selling the opportunity to have one’s picture with her.  It would have been an apt reversal on all the hawkers trying to make money from us.  
 
There are other buildings in TS.  The party building is there with a big picture of Mao adorning its outside.  There is a large picture of Sun Yat-sen.  I am surprised. But it is Chang Kai-shek that the Chinese dislike.  Sun Yat-sen allowed a two party system and helped found the modern Chinese state.  His picture is bigger than Mao’s.  Otherwise, Jimmy says, the banners in TS are just propaganda.
 
Jimmy also tells us that the nightly national news is a joke.  It is comprised of “Chinese life is great and getting better.  Foreigners lives suck. Be happy you are Chinese.”  We are still amazed when he says stuff like this.





 
We fight our way through the crowds to the Forbidden City.  We look at some buildings.  Jimmy’s people are wearing down from the effort of negotiating their way while constantly being jostled by the throngs of Chinese.  Even a Happy Room stop fails to perk us up.




 
Our fabulous bus driver, Xiao, is waiting for us at the end of the Forbidden City walk.  Time for lunch!
 
Today’s lunch does not involve the frantic Susan, yay! It is buffet style. We shuffle among the foods. People say it is the worst lunch yet as they fill their plates with spaghetti and other western foods.
 
After lunch we tour the summer palace grounds and look at some of the Olympic venue.






 Everyone is tired and many like we, have to get their suitcases out in the hallway by 11PM tonight.  We have a surprisingly good buffet dinner with Kathy and Brad, say goodbye, and pack up for the long trip home tomorrow.

We wake up to another beautiful day, blue skies and low humidity.  Today is our Great Wall day and the group is excited.  After a breakfast of congee for John and curried vegetables and lentils for me we are ready to hit the road.  I also must mention that the crunchy, spicy pickled vegetables and the pretzel rolls are welcome additions to breakfast.  We are going global.
 
As it turns out, even though we leave for the Great Wall before 7AM, we are not the only ones on the road. Beijing is a city of 5 million cars plus all the visitor’s cars for this middle day of the three day holiday.  We arrive shortly after 8 AM.  After making sure that our needs have been taken care of in the 4star Happy Room (bathroom), we have a group photo and then we are off to the Wall.

 
There are A LOT of Chinese people here as well as assorted tour groups.  The most popular site for Chinese here at the Badaling Hills section of the Wall is the direction that takes them to a rock with an inscription by Mao. We are advised to go in the other direction. We still have a lot of company but it
is not like the surging mass of humanity going in the other direction.


The Wall is very steep.  John and I are really glad we have brought along our hiking poles.  My hip is killing me and it is difficult to climb the stairs and the steeply sloped areas.  But we persevere.  We climb to a couple of towers and then John goes a little further. We take endless pictures. The wild cherries are in bloom in the mountains.  All in all it is a great experience.

Making our way back down is a scary prospect. It would be easy to lose control and go careening down the  Wall but we return safely, find a quiet spot for some green tea, and do a little shopping at the Friendship Store.  I buy two beautiful silk overblouses.

 
Time for Jimmy folks to get back on the bus!  We make our way very slowly through unbelievable traffic to a restaurant for lunch.  But first a quick sales pitch for jade since this is a restaurant and giant jade store.  Lunch is the frantic Susan again but is enhanced by 112 proof Chinese fire water.  We then wander around the jade store pursued by eager sales associates.


 
Jimmy people! Back on the bus!  (to be continued when we get back from today’s activities – visiting Tiananmen Square with a billion other people for May Day!)
 
Continuing with our Great Wall day – After lunch we battle traffic to the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs. Jimmy tells us that there were 14 Ming emperors and that 13 of them are buried here.  We walk down a shaded lane guarded by massive stone sculptures of officials, soldiers, and all kinds of animals, real and imagined.  We take time to pet the head of the giant turtle which will bring our family good luck and longevity.



 
Needless to say we are a little tired from the days exertions and wish we could go collapse in our room but due to the horrendous traffic, there is no time to do anything but hurry into the shower before the next activity which is a Peking duck dinner.
 
Most of the Jimmy group is going and we take the bus down embassy row and through really upscale shopping districts to the restaurant.  While some of the dishes are real losers, the Peking duck is great.  We eat all of it (probably the only table to do so.). Towards the end of the meal it is suggested that we use the Happy Room and the woman sitting next to me comments that she is glad that there are more Western toilets here.  I mention that I have been using the squat toilets. Well, this starts a big conversation about how one accomplishes this.  It seems that two of the women had tried it but did not even face the correct direction.  I said I looked it up on the Internet and then practiced at home.  So I told them what to do.  I am now the squat toilet celebrity.  (I ran into one of the women the next day who proudly told me that my method works!)

 
So with my place in history secure, we board the bus back to the hotel.

We are up early this morning and go down to breakfast.  John continues to have his bowl of congee and I find a tasty steamed bun and some egg with fresh vegetable which is seasoned with soy sauce.  
 
We meet to get on the bus at 7:45 AM.  We are trying to beat the crowds to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  Today is the first day of a three day holiday in China.  That means millions of Chinese will hit the road to visit all their favorite tourist sites.  We reach the site around opening time but it is already very busy.

 
The Terra Cotta Warriors (TCW) are in a very large building.  The building was built around their actual burial site.  They are there to protect the first Xin emperor in his afterlife.

 The TCW are modeled after real people. Each one of their faces is different.

 There are archers, foot soldiers, officers and generals as well as horses to ride and pull armaments.

 
We also look at two other excavations and a building containing two half size bronze carriages pulled by four jade horses.  It is great but the crowds are enormous and more than a little overwhelming.


 
Leaving the TCW, we make our way through the drizzly weather to the airport.  We find out that our flight has been delayed. Ultimately it is delayed two and a half hours.  Instead of getting in around 4 PM, it is past 6 before we arrive in Beijing. Then there is the purported one hour ride to the restaurant for dinner which, due to the holiday traffic, is much longer.  On the plus side, a freshening breeze and rain earlier in the day has washed the air clean and we are treated to low humidity and bright blue skies. Jimmy cannot keep from marveling over this.  Beijing is rarely this unsmoggy.
 
John and I and Brad and Kathy decide that we cannot endure another frantic lazy Susan dinner and catch a cab from the group restaurant to the hotel.  We settle into the bar and have drinks and appetizers quietly.  It has been a busy and exhausting day and we are happy for a little solitude before bed.

 
The boat has docked in Chongqing and we are off very early.  We are going to the zoo here and taking a look at an art institute followed by a flight to Xian.

 
We arrive at the zoo before 9 AM and it is not too crowded yet.  The people are out doing their morning exercises.  They do a variety of tai chi, dances with fans, and just plain calisthenics.  And look who else is just waking up! Giant pandas!  Also the smaller red pandas.  We take endless photos of the pandas who totally cooperate by walking around and settling in for a big breakfast of bamboo.





 
After getting our panda fix, we climb a hill to an art institute.  An artist and professor from the institute explains different types of Chinese art.  There is a gallery and a buying opportunity.  We buy four small paintings representing the seasons.  At least we know this is genuine.

 
Now we go to a local restaurant for a Chinese lunch served lazy Susan style.  We Westerners have not quite got the protocol down pat.  People are trying to serve themselves while others are trying to turn the lazy Susan to get the next dish. It makes for a messy affair.  There are a couple of tasty dishes but mostly it is just bland. We are then exhorted to use the washroom before we head for the airport.  We are reminded so often to use the washroom at opportune moments that I feel like I am five years old.  On a brighter note, I am totally competent at the whole squatting thing now.  It is better than waiting endlessly for the one western toilet.
 
After lunch we head for the airport. We are flying to Xian this afternoon.  On this trip we are spending a lot of time on buses, planes, and at airports.  We arrive in Xian around 4 PM. The idea is that we will get to the hotel by 5 and then have two hours of downtime before our Tang Dynasty dinner and show.  After walking a mile to the bus, a road is closed and traffic is terrible.  We are late arriving at the hotel and our luggage is even later.  We end up going out to dinner in our smelly zoo clothes.

 
Now about the show and dinner. This is billed as an authentic dinner and show representing the Tang Dynasty.  Truly it is just a tourist trap.  The food is awful. We have one course that looks like  Mrs. Paul’s fish and shrimp TV dinner.  It is uniformly breaded and fried piece of fish and one shrimp plus a fried potato thingy.  Seeing as how the Tangs were making people miserable between 600 and 900 AD, the chances of their having potatoes is non-existent.  Beef in aluminum foil with buttered broccoli is also served.  This is followed up by orange jello with some tapioca pearls in the bottom.  We are surprised that the Tang Dynasty dinner and show did not serve us their namesake drink of the astronauts.
 
The entertainment begins. A woman sings the American song, Red River Valley in Chinese as well as some other Tang favorites.  The band looks bored.  Then there is a bunch of dancing and singing in elaborate costume mostly reminiscent of a Las Vegas revue.  Lots of women dancing and a few guys. It was okay.  




 
Finally the show ends and we are released to our hotel room which now has our luggage. We unpack and then repack since our luggage is being picked up before 6:30AM for our flight to Beijing tomorrow.

April 27, 2013. Shibaozhai Pagoda
 
Today we disembark for a walk to the Shibaozhai Pagoda.We run the usually hawker gauntlet almost the entire mile to the rickety bridge that crosses to the temple.  There are a lot of people here and it is hot.  The weather is getting warmer daily.

 
The bridge is a wood planked pedestrian suspension bridge. It rocks and undulates underfoot.  It is difficult to keep one’s balance.  We walk around the temple grounds. The pagoda itself is merely a staircase up to the mountain.  Although originally constructed during the Ming Dynasty, the current pagoda has been reconstructed due to having been hit by lightning.  We decide to pass up the nine story climb to the top and stroll around the quieter and shadier grounds.



 
On the way back we are once again assaulted by the souvenir people and do end up buying a picture of three fish.  We are happy to get back to the cool and quiet of the boat.  It seems like a good time for a gin and tonic.  Lunch today is Chinese food! It seems more authentic than most of our other Chinese dinners.
 
In the afternoon we watch some vegetable carving and get our disembarkation instructions.  Then there is dinner and packing. Tomorrow we leave the boat, visit the zoo and then fly to Xian.  

Sleeping last night was difficult. Passing through the locks is a noisy, smelly business. It takes about 3 1/2 hours so there is not much sleep between midnight and 3:30 AM.  This morning as we look out the air and the water seem somewhat cleaner. We only see pollution when we pass by a town high up the cliffs. These are towns that were relocated up the hill when they flooded the dam. We are told that there is such a volume of water in the Yangtze that it only took 10 days to fill up the dammed part.

 
This morning we are taking small excursion boats into the lesser Three Gorges area. We leave from Wushan. After the construction of the dam the original Wushan was flooded and the new Wushan was built on the hills above it.  Our guides, who are Wushan natives, have mixed feelings about it.  One guide is pleased because she was able to get an apartment that is more spacious and has indoor plumbing.  Our male guide remembers sadly how beautiful the gorges used to be and how he hiked the trails into the mountains as a child.  Wushan itself is a typical sprawling city of high rises now.



 
There are three gorges here, the Dragon Gate, the Misty and the Emerald.  The guides keep remarking on how the air is clean here.  It actually is so much better than the air on the Yangtze. We see various scenic spots including a hanging coffin which is a burial site chiseled out high in the rock over 2000 years ago.  Apparently the ancient people had an inkling that if they buried their ancestors in the ground that some day the burial sites would all be flooded.  For a society that venerates its ancestors, this issue continues to be a concern.




 
Later in the day we have a talk by Daniel about modern day China.  He is amazingly frank and admits that even 5 years ago he would have been in serious trouble for saying some of the things he says.  These comments concern the environmental destruction, the corruption in the government, and the lack of freedom.  He talks about  how communism doesn’t work well due to lack of incentive to achieve anything.  He points out the brave people who have tried and succeeded to change things.  He also says that the Internet has changed China because the government can no longer hide the truth from the people.  Even though the government blocks some sites, people have a way of getting around those blocks.
 
In the end he concludes by telling us how fortunate we are that we have the freedom and resources to travel around the world because meeting new people and seeing new cultures is the best way to bring peace and understanding around the globe. He says that just like Americans he wants a good life for himself and his children.  It is all quite touching.
 
Later there is a mediocre dinner and a crew show.  The show is cute and our tireless, quiet serving persons show a wide variety of talent.  On to Shibaozhai Pagoda in the morning and the last day of the cruise portion of the trip.

It is a very gray day when we get up today.  It is not the weather. It is the pollution. During breakfast we pass a town with factories and coal powered plants lining the river. Run off from these industries pour into the river. I step outside. The smell is overpowering.  This afternoon’s activity is to go see the outside of the dam. I am opting out. I am afraid to breathe the air outside. I think I shall shelter in place and let John go and take pictures. I schedule a foot massage for the afternoon.

 
Our first activity of the day is a lecture on the Three Gorges Dam. Daniel Peng, the program director, is pretty frank about the hazards and risks in building such an enormous project.  He also says there has been an ongoing debate as to whether the costs associated with the dam are worth it. We have been surprised about how frank all the tour guides have been.  Daniel even refers to some of the Mao era as a disaster.
 
Next up, tea ceremony.   The different types of tea are explained to us, the last one is called dark tea and it comes in a solid block. They carve it into shapes and put it in their tea pots.  The tea ceremony is a lot of rinsing and waving one’s teacup around.

I have a bunch of pictures of the boat going through the Yichang lock. Since they are between the tea ceremony and the Three Gorges Dam pictures, I guess we must have done it sometime today.

The ship sails into a lock where there are already two boats waiting. We are then joined by two other barges. I am surprised that they could fit all these boats in such a small space. We start off very low in the lock and as the lock fills we are raised quite a distance.

Afterwards we sail out into a very different looking area. The air and the water are much cleaner. There is terrain and some beauty to the area.

We have lunch and most people head off to see the dam.

I opt to stay behind for a little quiet time and a foot massage.  One of the other women has been raving about how good it feels.  Mandy, my masseuse, starts by washing my feet in rose petals.  Then she starts squishing just above my knees.  It hurts so much that I have to tell her to stop.  She rubs and slaps my feet. She digs her fingers into every sensitive spot on my foot .  This is probably the most painful thing that I have ever agreed to.  I lie on the table trying not to writhe in pain and watch the clock praying for the 45 minutes to go by quickly.  Finally it is over.  I now have little bruises on my feet and legs.
 
John and the others come back while I am sitting in the bar consoling myself with a glass of wine and a dish of peanuts. We are really glad that we ended up buying the wine package. A lot of the wine is about $20 a glass.  I know we have made good use of the package. We listen to a talk on what’s coming up tomorrow, have a pleasant though tasteless dinner, watch our companions lose at bingo, and retire on the early side.
 
Tonight the boat will traverse the 5 locks of the Three Gorges Dam.

After a fairly good night’s sleep on the boat, we make our way down to breakfast at around 7:15.  It is the usual type of breakfast fare, eggs, bacon, cereal, pancakes, German deli breakfast and a small table with some Chinese items.  I am guessing that they have learned that old people from the U.S are not very adventurous eaters.  I try a steamed bun. The thing I like best though is a spicy noodle dish from the German breakfast items.  There are two tables of Germans here.  A couple of people from our Jimmy group join us after a while and we feel obliged to talk to them.  Some other guy from St. Louis sits down.  After finding out we are from California he opines that CA is losing population to FL and TX because of our high taxes.  I know that is not true.  I say I guess it depends on how much you value your quality of life and that we are happy to pay more to live in California given the weather, insect situation and recreational opportunities.  People are such dicks about California sometimes.  I do not go around insulting their states although in most cases it would be easy to do so.
 
Around 9 AM we listen to a lecture about boat safety and facilities.  Then we set off for our day’s activity which is a visit to an elementary school in Yueyang which is supported by Viking.  The city of Yueyang (only three million people) is pretty dismal looking.  There is a lot of heavy industry revolving around coal.  China generates a lot of electricity using coal.  Smog is a big result.

 
I am expecting a nice modern school but the school is rundown and ugly.  The children line our path saying “Welcome to our school” in English.  It is kind of weird.  Then some girls do dances.  Lastly we visit a classroom where 68 students are crammed into a little classroom.  They are very excited to see us.  I don’t think they are faking it.  They read some English for us.  John is the example of the tallest American in Jimmy’s group. Later they ask us to sign their books. John gives out a business card which they want him to autograph.  I show some kids the pictures I have on my camera.  They are all excited.  It turns out to be quite a nice visit.




 
 
This afternoon we are only on the boat which is nice. We can relax. We fall into a stuporous jetlag sleep and wake up with our hearts racing and nerves ajangle.  This kind of nap is worse than not sleeping at all.



 
We head down to hear a lecture on the Yangtze or long river as it is known in Chinese. We learn a lot about the importance of this river, the third longest in the world.  A new project that the Chinese are working on is a diversion of water from the wet south to the dry north.  The idea of people drinking this water full of effluent is disturbing. The water is so dirty that when the locals wash their clothes in it, they have to take the clothes home and wash them a final time in the unsafe to drink tap water.  Although the pictures in the talk have blue skies, the sky here is an opaque whitish gray.
 
After a pretty much tasteless Chinese dinner, we watch a show with native costumes.  We decide to go to bed on the early side, hopeful that our ill-advised nap has not cost us the night’s sleep.

April 23,  2013. Wuhan, China
At breakfast this morning I try a pretty ugly dish.  I think it may be marinated egg made into a pancake and wrapped up.  I do not really know why I selected it.  I was waiting for a scrambled egg and it seemed so forlorn sitting there on a plate.  John tells me it is yuba skin and it is delicious!  It tastes exactly like moo shu.  While I am standing there I also take a scoop of a wood ear and celery dish which is also very tasty.
 
Around 8:30 AM we board the bus for a trip to the airport. It’s a gray, drizzly day so there is not much to see out the windows.   Jimmy teaches us some Chinese and tells us about the optional excursions from the boat. We figure we might as well do everything since we will probably not be back in China.  Once at the airport there is quite a bit of hurrying up and waiting.  Then our flight is delayed due to the bad weather but ultimately we take off only about one half hour late.

 
The flight is fine although we are squeezed in like sardines. Landing in Wuhan, we are amazed to realize that we have never heard of this city of 9 million people.  It is bigger than New York or Los Angeles! We drive past giant people warehouses.  There are skyscrapers of tiny apartments with tiny balconies. Jimmy has told us that the apartments are of a regulation size of about 600 sq. ft. containing two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room and a balcony so people can get some light and air in their dwelling. Rosalind, our local guide, tells us that in Wuhan there are no elevators unless the building is taller than 8 floors. There is also no heat. Only apartments north of the Yangtze have heat even though it gets below freezing in the winter. Weird central planning!

 
We ride on the bus for about an hour and reach the Hubei Provincial Museum where we visit the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng.  The tomb was discovered in 1978 fully intact.  There are four chambers. One is for the Marquis and his concubines. Another is for 14 sacrificed girls age 14 to 26. The third is for armaments. And the last contains an amazing set of bells.

 We are treated to a concert on a replica of the bell set. Each bell can play two different tones. It takes several people to play the bells. The players also include two zithers, a sort of mouth organ and a flute.  They play traditional music and also the Ode to Joy.

 
Finally we get to the boat. Our room is fine but not nearly as luxurious as the Regent staterooms.  We take a trip down to the bar and meet up with some fellow Californians. We decide to get the drinks package. We make good use of it.  We have dinner with our new friends, Brad and Kathy, as well as two interesting British couples. It is all very convivial.  Oddly there are no Asian entrees at dinner but our fish is quite tasty.  We finish up in the lounge with Irish coffees and a little dancing. It has been a very enjoyable evening.

Since I am using my iPad the pictures will have to be inserted once I am home.

Our trip to Shanghai although long goes very smoothly. Between meals, movies and a stop at Narita Airport, time goes by fairly quickly. Only downside is John’s inedible entree. He selects the Eastern meal and ends up with stringy, dry beef. Weirdly none of the components in his meal have the least resemblance to the description on the menu.

We are met at the Pudong Airport by a representative of Viking River Cruises. By the time we get to the hotel it is after midnight. We cannot even calculate how many hours we have been awake. We are told to be ready to go at 8AM. We are also warned not to drink the water and to use the bathroom facilities at the hotel since Chinese people prefer squat toilets and western people do not. So it seems that one must strike a careful balance between becoming dehydrated or squatting.

We are herded onto a bus with our tour guide Jimmy. He is very enthusiastic about his country. Shanghai is a giant city with 24 million people. It is clean and there are lots of flowers and shrubbery. The first place we go is to the Yuyuan Gardens. It is in the traditional section of Shanghai and was once a private residence. We are accosted by souvenir sellers who are very much in one’s face. It is like running a gauntlet back and forth from the buses.

The garden and house are lovely and Jimmy fills us in on much of the cultural background. We learn about ways to keep evil spirits out of your house and that the evil spirits cannot bend their joints. John confides to me that he is feeling a bit like a stiff evil spirit himself. I imagine legions of zombies not being able to lift their legs over the high thresholds. There is much significance in every piece of decoration.

After running the hawker gauntlet back to the bus, we proceed to a silk rug factory. Here we will have a tour (sales pitch) and lunch at a Mongolian BBQ. We are also told to use the restrooms here. We women troupe in only to find squat toilets. I am the only adventurous pee-er. There are going to be a lot of uncomfortable women today! (side note: also no toilet paper.)

The Mongolian BBQ is fun although not as good as St. George. We get giant bottles of beer. There are a lot of unadventurous eaters in our group. I think this has not been a total success for them.

Back on the bus! Jimmy thinks we should have some fresh air and a walk. We go to a promenade with the Bund on one side and the ultra modern Pudong section on the other. The new buildings, all erected since the 90′s are amazing. Jimmy gives a brief history lesson about the colonial period and the Opium Wars. Back on the bus!

Now it is time for a visit to the Shanghai Museum. The group is fading. People are falling asleep as we drive to the next venue. The Shanghai museum has lots of bronze, pottery, coins etc. from ancient times to the last century. John and I concentrate on the pottery. We are so exhausted that we cannot imagine trying to look at the whole place. After shuffling around for an hour we find a bench and just sit. We have noticed many of our group doing the same thing. It is a shame we cannot really appreciate the museum. Finally we head back to the hotel.

We have about an hour and a half before it is time to be organized for dinner. John and I fall asleep immediately. I have set the alarm so we can wake up for dinner. One couple misses the bus because they fell asleep without an alarm.

We are having a traditional dinner at a banquet hall tonight followed by an acrobat show. We sit with some of our “Jimmy” group who seem nice. We have a lot of dishes which are served on a lazy Susan. Most of the group at our table eat almost nothing. John and I and maybe one or two others can have most of everything especially if it contains fish. There is some luscious pork belly that nobody is eating. We want to eat the whole plateful but decorum demands otherwise. The Shanghai style food is bland and sweet for the most part. We use chopsticks. Everyone else uses a fork. We have giant beers again. I am the only women who has a beer. Sigh.

Back on the bus! Thank God the acrobat show is at our hotel and we can just go upstairs and pass out afterwards. The show is great. The acrobats are amazing. They can contort themselves in all sorts of ways. The woman next to me snores gently. John is falling asleep and I find that I am being startled awake by applause. Finally it is over and we go to our room to and pass out.

Tomorrow we go to the airport and fly to Wuhan, see a museum and board the boat. Jimmy says the pace on the boat will be a bit slower. We hope so. Luggage out in the hall by 7 AM and then, back on the bus to the airport.

Well, sure and begorrah we are celebrating Passover this year on St. Patrick’s Day. We are a little early but we Pilats have a long tradition of making the holiday calendar fit our calendars. Nobody minds. While John is busy preparing the meal, I have a craft project for Nathan and Sam. Actually it turns out that everyone ends up making one of the 10 plague puppets. Who knew that cattle disease could be so cute!

Soon after our puppets are completed it is time to light the candles and gather around the table.

Over the past few years our seder has been a bit abbreviated so that Nathan and Sam don’t get too bored but this year they are great participants. Nathan carries the water for the washing of the hands.
It was so exciting this year because Nathan was able to read the four questions! He did a really great job.
We have a great seder and Nathan has a momento to take home along with his afikoman money. He has worked hard to decorate his placemat. It looks great. Happy Passover!

John and I go over to Nathan’s house on his birthday to wish him happy birthday and bring along a few presents. We have been away since the beginning of January and it is so good to see Nathan and Sam again. It is hard to believe that Nathan is already seven. It seems like he was just a baby not too long ago.

One of the gifts we give him is an encyclopedia of Star War characters. He goes through it page by page telling me about each one.

Both boys are enthralled by the Star Wars saga. So far they have seen Epsodes IV, V, and VI.

The next day we go over for the party. There are a lot of little boys and girls here! The boys play raucously and the girls play quietly in a group. Sam and a little girl from Iceland who is also younger than the others hide behind a chair. Auntie Leigh has made a special Star Wars cake for the occasion.

Sam also enjoys hanging with the adults and trying the various hors d’oeuvres.

Finally it is time for the cake to be lighted, the candles blown out and a spirited rendition of Happy Birthday to be sung. Happy Birthday, Nathan!

We continue our stay in Marco through the end of February. Mid-month we play in the tournament at the Y. Like last year, we lose our mixed doubles matches. But we play better and are happy with our result.

Towards the end of the month, Jonathan comes for a visit. We all play a lot of tennis. At the end of his stay I hurt my hip. I am writing this on March 18 and it is still not better. The doctor says I need to stay off it, use ice and take ibuprofen. I am not happy with the inactivity.

One night Peg, Jon, John and I go bar hopping. Bar hopping in Marco works like this. You start at the first place at 5:30 PM and you finish at the second place by 8:30 PM. After all, Marco midnight is 9 PM!

Jonathan, John and I usually hop in the pool after being out on the courts. One day Jonathan and I jumped in without taking the pool temp first. Too late we find out that it is only 71 degrees! But as the weather warms up the pool does too. The manatees seem to be enjoying the warmer temperatures in the canal.

Ted’s sister, Nancy, and husband, Jesus, invite us over for a traditional Spanish dinner. It is an evening of good food and conversation.

Jonathan leaves for home on February 25 and we follow soon after on March 1. It’s been fun but we have been away a long time! We are eager to get home and see all the family again.

We are spending most of January and February in Marco Island, Florida. It is a chance to enjoy warm weather, play tennis and visit with my sister, Peg. Both Sarah and Jon will visit while we are here – Sarah in January and Jon in February.

We move into our rental on January 5. It’s kind of out-dated and could use a real sprucing up but it is two blocks from Peg and 2 blocks from the YMCA where we play tennis. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms and is adequate for our needs.

The first couple of weeks we play a lot of tennis and get acclimated to our new surroundings. I twist my knee and have to bow out of the tennis round robins. But John and I still go out for a hit in the afternoons and I limp around the court.

The highlight of January is Sarah’s visit. She wants to play tennis every afternoon. We oblige. We have family dinners with Peg and Ted and with Ted’s sister and her husband. We visit the Edison home in Ft. Myers. It is a great 10 days.

Next thing to really look forward to? Jonathan’s visit on February 18!!

Eileen and Jim are in the Bay Area for the holidays and to spend time with family especially new arrival, Eli. Part of the time they are here, they are staying in a houseboat in Sausalito. Sausalito has a large houseboat community – some houseboats are pretty forlorn while others are quite upscale.

We have a great lunch at the restaurant, Fish. The fish is fresh and good and the surroundings rustic. Long lines stretch from the counter where ordering is done. Then you grab a picnic table and enjoy.

After lunch we take a walk around the houseboat community. It is a pretty cold and raw day so we take along coffee and tea to help stay warm.

We have a great day visiting with our friends. Here are some pictures of the houseboats of Sausalito.

Being a very ecumenical household, we glom our celebrations together taking in everyone’s favorite way of celebrating. Pilat Eve is always an event that we all look forward to. At Pilat Eve the emphasis is on tasty hors d’oeuvres, potato latke making, opening presents and having fun.

John gets things rolling by setting up his frying station on the back patio. His latkes are really delicious. And Nathan has provided a new menorah for this year made from his December Kiwi Crate.

Of course the buffet table is laden with all sorts of holiday treats. This year we have chicken liver mousse, bean and cheese dip, meatballs, dukkah, cookies and more!

Now it is time to open presents. We exchange gifts on Pilat Eve with Jon and his family. On Christmas morning John, Sarah and I open presents.

On Christmas morning we have our traditional breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, capers, onions, and lox. This year John, Sarah and I recall our great trip to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic by including a breakfast beer from the Schneider Brewery in Munich. Hmm, I think the beer may be a perfect addition to our traditional Christmas breakfast.

Later we go to Jonathan’s for Christmas dinner. He and Ryan have prepared a feast which includes a standing rib roast and all the trimmings. It is really good! After a really exciting day, John reads Vader and Son to Nathan and Sam. Sarah has given the book to the boys for Christmas and it is a real hit.