It's Like We Know What We Are Doing

Thursday, September 4th Our flight home was scheduled for 10a.  Considering the traffic in Beijing, we knew we had to give ourselves extra time to get to the airport.  So we started counting backwards.  Our math took us away from our hotel at 6a.  Which means we are up around 5a.  And of course, I was up once an hour since about 2a.  Because I was petrified I'd oversleep. In our wine-based haze from last night, Danielle and I did do 90% of our packing before falling asleep.  So I didn't have to do much this morning.  Shower, light packing, I was done.  This is always recommended. Because every key should have a Gumby keychain. Yesterday, when coming back from the Summer Palace, I went to set up a car service from our hotel to the airport this morning.  The front desk person explained it was actually cheaper if we just called a cab.  As we discovered the other day, the price for a taxi is based on the kilometers dri...

Wednesday, September 3rd (continued) We have a tradition on our trip.  The tradition wasn't really even acknowledged until recently.  It just was something that happened.  At the end of a long (or short) trip, we have to schedule a good dinner.   Lima , Paris , Toronto ,  Buenos Aires , we go to a nice meal.  After Adele spent a week sleeping under the stars in Mongolia, she was ready for some pampering.  Maybe she was a bit of a "princess" (according to her...these are NOT my words), but she was ready for a bottle of wine and some good eats.  Danielle and I were along for the ride.  Hey don't get me wrong, we weren't going unwillingly.  We were also ready for some wine and good eats. Adele found TRB (Temple Restaurant Beijing) in a search for the final meal.  The European chef formerly at Daniel Boulud opened a much more Western-style restaurant.  Trip Advisor (at the time) had TRB listed as the number one restaurant ...

Wednesday, September 3rd You guys, something very important happened today.  Something VERY important.  The sun is shining.  It’s not just a little orb in the sky being slyly hidden by smog and haze.  It is a gigantic fireball lighting the city.  It has been rainy and hazy and gross every day since we’ve been here.  We all have a bit of a pep in our step today because the sun is actually visible.  Or as much of a pep as I can accomplish as my body is still nearly crippled from our hike up the Great Wall . I’ve come to the realization that I’m not going to be able to see everything here.  There is SO MUCH that will be missed.  We want to see the buildings that housed the Olympics.  Not going to happen.  We wanted to see the CCTV building.  Not going to happen.  Peking Duck.  Nope.  Dim Sum.  Nothing.  But I’ve started to resign myself to the fact that this isn’t going to happen.  We’re he...

Tuesday, September 2 Holy lord, I can barely move.  I knew it would be bad after the hike from yesterday.  But...I can barely move.  We set our alarms and the moment I gained consciousness, I could feel the epic ache setting in.  It wasn't just the calves and the thighs and the ankles, but it also included the shoulders and arms.  Why??  Because my arms flailed about wildly yesterday to help keep my balance on the Great Wall.  The flailing about was apparently wilder than I had expected, cause...owwwww... We actually planned today as our "low-key day."  We knew there would be pain after the hike.  And we were also saying goodbye one one of the crew, so part of the day would be spent getting ready for the airport.  There was no way we could have accomplished much today. Our hotel's restaurant was upstairs.  And I could feel every step up and down.  It was nearly enough to forego breakfast.  Nearly.  The ra...