Notes from the terminal ward

Good morning everybody! Just to let you know. This was your blog post from the fuuuuuttttuuure. ‘

I’m writing this on fumes, so even though it’s 6 a.m. where you’re at, it’s almost 7 p.m. on Saturday here and we are going to bed.

Highlights from the day:

– we started it with a very Western breakfast (and I ate as though I was prepping for a race. We got a chance to visit with the families traveling with us and get to know each other a bit better while ate sausage, bacon and something called a ‘Deep Fried Dough Roll’ (which was fabulous, btw).

Our first stop for the day was Tiananmen Square. The size of this space is hard to describe and the pictures don’t do it justice. When we walked through there were probably 200,000 people in the square at that moment. It’s a very expansive place that has some incredibly large political buildings ringing it. At one side is the longest road in China (I forget the name, but it’s in all the pictures) and runs for 60 miles. The space and length of that road was amazing too.

We then walked through the Forbidden city which was incredible to see. There’s a bit of history there (with the majority of the buildings clocking in aroung 600 years old). There’s lots of dragons and lots of iconic imagery that you’ve seen in photos of Beijing. Our guide, Sherry, said that there it sits on 150 acres and there’s 9999.5 buildings there.

Lunch was incredible. The food here is just awesome. It’s unlike anything we’ve had at home. I kind of felt like Anthony Bourdain checking out some of the local food. Most of the wait staff will hover over you waiting for you to need something and are more than willing to swoop in should you have a request.

The afternoon we visited the government factory shop for Pearls. No, Jeff Grabb, we didn’t buy up our pearl supply. But, it was interesting to hear how pearls are made and look around a bit; we did think of you, though .

We also got to see the summer palace, but it’s been a very hazy Friday day here and so pictures across the lake were a bit difficult. I did get some neat pictures of the dragon boats that took people across, Aidan (in fact, I’ve got a ton of pictures today of dragons).

We also got to do some tea tasting (and picked up some tea for friends and for home). Finally we stopped at a silk factory and heard and were demonstrated to how silk is made and how its used a lot like cotton is in the states. Comforters are made internally of silk.

After the duck we had for dinner (which was incredible), it’s back to the hotel. Tomorrow is church at 9:30 a.m.

It’s hard to believe that we are less than 48 hours out from Brendan. Things will begin to settle back down to “normal” a bit with him. The Internet has picked up a little bit here now that I’ve figured out how to get on. But, for now, sleep beckons. Hope you have a great Saturday, ours was awesome and busy.