Let me catch you up from the last post.
I stayed up all of Sunday night packing just so; Leah completed hers much earlier. LaxMan zipped us to the airport at record speed an we qued for Starbucks at 5 AM to "feen-up" for Atlanta. We thought SPOT was lost, so I photographed a flying ear of corn to prove we had been to ATL.
Fifteen hours in flight is not for the faint. Order special meals and see your new friends look with disdain. Four meals and six movies later we were in Shanghai. We were waived through both customs and immigration; it pays not to dye one's hair, I appear benign. Shanghai has wonderful free luggage carts. We tossed our 100+ pounds on a cart and hopped the Maglev train to the subway. The Maglev travels at 420 km/hr; we were zipping. I tried to get a night sleeper to Beijing, but all were booked. Into the Astor House for Tuesday night.
The Astor House was built in the 1850s. Wide plank wooden floors are on most levels, it was the site of the first Shanghai stock Exchange. After rejecting the first room, the boy in the kilt hauled our stuff to the penthouse floor. We had cabbage, bock choy, and grilled meat (both fowl and mammal). Persimmons and dragon fruit were purchased for breakfast. Had we been less jet lagged or more adventurous we could have consumed street grilled meat and scallions on a stick.
Wednesday we boarded the D32, a high speed train to Beijing. Although the train made five stops, the transit was only ten hours. Every passenger received a single bottle of water with ticket, the remaining meals were purchased from trolleys. Hot water was available for tea. A loop cartoon of Kapu and the spirit of Chinese Olympic glory looped every 20 minutes on the monitor. FYI, the Pandas are always the heroes
The Astor House was built in the 1850s. Wide plank wooden floors are on most levels, it was the site of the first Shanghai stock Exchange. After rejecting the first room, the boy in the kilt hauled our stuff to the penthouse floor. We had cabbage, bock choy, and grilled meat (both fowl and mammal). Persimmons and dragon fruit were purchased for breakfast. Had we been less jet lagged or more adventurous we could have consumed street grilled meat and scallions on a stick.
Wednesday we boarded the D32, a high speed train to Beijing. Although the train made five stops, the transit was only ten hours. Every passenger received a single bottle of water with ticket, the remaining meals were purchased from trolleys. Hot water was available for tea. A loop cartoon of Kapu and the spirit of Chinese Olympic glory looped every 20 minutes on the monitor. FYI, the Pandas are always the heroes
No comments:
Post a Comment