The flights over were for the most part uneventful. Sadie was a bit disappointed that they didn't serve pancakes. She slept 4 hours and Emily & Erik got significantly less shut eye. We arrived on time and were quickly taken to our hotel where we went straight to bed. We got up at 7 AM and left for our first city tour at 9. The two highlights for the day were Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The afternoon was spent at the hotel with a cultural experience at the swimming pool and also a walk down to the local Wu-Mart.
A few pictures to illustrate the last two days:
There isn't much about traveling that Sadie doesn't enjoy. Even waiting at the gate isn't all that tedious, especially when a new Pez dispenser is involved.
We didn't have a window seat so Sadie spent the time perusing the duty free catalog.
In preparation for their big trip to the Great Wall Erik & Sadie practice posing in front of the mural at Beijing customs.
Gugong, or the Forbidden City. It was a clear, brisk day & apparently we benefited from the fact that it is not currently tourist season (this is a small crowd).
Sadie inspects the teeth of a low hanging dragon. We both were led to believe dragons had sharper, fang like teeth, but this depiction seems contrary to that myth.
Back at the hotel Sadie kills a little time while the room is being cleaned. It is truly amazing how life with a 4 1/2 year-old girl seems to be in shades of pink & purple.
We thought it would be fun to go swimming at the hotel. Turns out that getting into an indoor pool in this hotel requires a process nothing short of the disinfection needed for mad cow's disease. First, the basics of changing & a shower. Then the required use of one-size-fits-all-hotel-provided flip flops. Then wading through ankle deep disinfecting water (which was ice cold). And finally walking to a small mat next to the swimming pool in the hotel-provided flip flops that could only then be removed in order to get into the pool. Erik tried a short cut removal at a lounge chair but was quickly instructed to move over to the mat. Erik was a bit concerned they were also going to require a full body hair removal. Imagine what it took to get into the Water Cube.
Coming up next: After much anticipation & practice, the Great Wall photo shot.
6 comments:
Hey guys! We remember Erik in front of that mural in 2006. We've already read this post 10 times. (And I'm sure we'll be back many more to read again. Hopefully we don't crash your site meter!) Molly loved the photo w/ the dragon statue. Sadie, Molly wants to know if you had noodles to eat for lunch? Take care and get some rest! --thebigwoods
Yippee you are there. Love the photo of Emily and Sadie in the plane! Especially the expression of the guy behind Emily. Priceless. Enjoy this special time with Sadie. Henry day is right around the corner.
Tracy and Muriel
ps - this is so cool - it takes me back almost 3 years ago when we did this all for the first time.
Hi guys! Yay - you're finally there! Looks like you're having a wonderful time in Beijing. It is so fun to follow along on your journey! Checking your blog is Ava's new favorite thing to do. She is super envious that Sadie got to go swimming and see a dragon! Take care and have a wonderful time... we can't wait to meet Henry!
Loved all the photos! Especially the dragon. Nice to see the Hanna Andersson leggings made the trip - one must be comfortable when traveling!
It's 930am on Saturday here so that makes it 1030pm in China. Just wanted to say that we're thinking about you guys so much! --Sara
Hello there! Glad to see you made to China safely. We wish you a wonderful trip and we'll be thinking of you guys as you become a family of four! How exciting and congratulations!
Kari, Dave & Lily
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