Interesting tidbit about the Midwest...and actually, the West...and the South...and really, anywhere except New Jersey--people are intrigued and slightly confounded (but excited, usually!) by visitors. When we stop someplace, people want to know where we are from. Sometimes they guess.
For example, one man in Chicago stopped and asked us if we were from Germany. Um?
In California, Dave's family was surprised and I think a little disappointed that I did not have the "Joisey" accent.
In New Orleans, a bunch of guys at a bar were unconvinced that I was not from Texas or some place because of my belt.
I suppose "The East" is as exotic to the rest of the country as it is for those of us in Jersey. Of course, when we say the East, we mean Asia; whereas, they mean us.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Dinner with a Disguntled Sicilian
While we were staying in California with Dave and Jan, we took a weekend trip to the Wine Country and down the California coast to Half Moon Bay. I'll cover that in another post, but I felt that dinner needed its very own post.
It was Dave's mom's birthday, so the four of us met with her, Dave's aunt and uncle, his brother and cousin and all nine of us went to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Now, I have never been to one before and when we got there it was pretty cool. It had an old British phone booth and velvet upholstered chairs in five different colors, a Catholic shrine screen... basically nothing matched and I loved it.
We were told we couldn't make a reservation (apparently, too many large parties had already reserved?) so we waited for a full hour before being seated. This wasn't really a problem because we sat in the cozily dark bar area and nursed some drinks, but by the time the buzzer went off, we were hungry and ready to go.
When the hostess brought us up to our table, though, it was set up in a hallway. No kidding! For some reason, they had put a bunch of tables together in the upstairs hallway, by the stairs. The room on the other end of the hallway was empty through our entire meal, but for some reason, they crammed us into a space barely wide enough for the tables themselves. The waitress couldn't even get to us, we had to hand drinks and food and the like down the table.
Well, Dave's uncle was having none of that. I thought it was very strange and a bit of an inconvenience, but when it comes to customer service issues, I am perhaps a bit too deferential. Uncle Vic is no shrinking violet, though and he complained to the waitress (and made sure to assure the poor girl that it wasn't her fault). She went to get her manager and Uncle Vic told him exactly what he thought of us being stuffed into a hallway.
The manager apologized and then comped the ENTIRE meal. The whole thing! I never would have had the gumption to speak up, but hey. Gets results, man.
Anywhooser,we got a free meal. So, I learned something. Eat with a disgruntled Sicilian and you get your meal free!
Thanks Uncle Vic!
(Also, thanks for letting us stay in your fifth wheel for the night, it was lovely.)
It was Dave's mom's birthday, so the four of us met with her, Dave's aunt and uncle, his brother and cousin and all nine of us went to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Now, I have never been to one before and when we got there it was pretty cool. It had an old British phone booth and velvet upholstered chairs in five different colors, a Catholic shrine screen... basically nothing matched and I loved it.
We were told we couldn't make a reservation (apparently, too many large parties had already reserved?) so we waited for a full hour before being seated. This wasn't really a problem because we sat in the cozily dark bar area and nursed some drinks, but by the time the buzzer went off, we were hungry and ready to go.
When the hostess brought us up to our table, though, it was set up in a hallway. No kidding! For some reason, they had put a bunch of tables together in the upstairs hallway, by the stairs. The room on the other end of the hallway was empty through our entire meal, but for some reason, they crammed us into a space barely wide enough for the tables themselves. The waitress couldn't even get to us, we had to hand drinks and food and the like down the table.
Well, Dave's uncle was having none of that. I thought it was very strange and a bit of an inconvenience, but when it comes to customer service issues, I am perhaps a bit too deferential. Uncle Vic is no shrinking violet, though and he complained to the waitress (and made sure to assure the poor girl that it wasn't her fault). She went to get her manager and Uncle Vic told him exactly what he thought of us being stuffed into a hallway.
The manager apologized and then comped the ENTIRE meal. The whole thing! I never would have had the gumption to speak up, but hey. Gets results, man.
Anywhooser,we got a free meal. So, I learned something. Eat with a disgruntled Sicilian and you get your meal free!
Thanks Uncle Vic!
(Also, thanks for letting us stay in your fifth wheel for the night, it was lovely.)
Friday, July 15, 2011
A Day of Gods and Men
Last night we arrived in Colorado Springs around midnight and gratefully collapsed into the soft and comfortable guest bed at Tom's cousin Amy's house. Hurray for mooching across America! This morning we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with Amy and Cafall (Cay-fall), their adorable Corgi puppy before heading over to the Garden of the Gods. The original plan was to bike our way around, since the small loop is between 3-4 miles and we thought that was probably do-able, even with the lower levels of oxygen.
Yeah....no. It was 95 degrees out, and just biking up the entrance road was enough to wipe us out. Plus, Tom's bike handles were a bit loose and they flipped upside down on him. We took this as a sign that it was just not to be, and coasted back down the hill, then walked our bikes back to our car in the parking lot. Beaten, but not vanquished, we decided to drive in and do the short little hikes inside the park.
It was a nice drive, and an even nicer walk. The heat was bad, but not bad enough to kill my enjoyment of the place, especially after I spotted a brush jay. Going to these places kind of makes me feel closer to my dad in a way and I wanted to get a picture of the bird, but some boy scouts chased it away. Le sigh.
I love the story of where the name came from, so I am going to share it with you- Back in 1859, two surveyors were scouting the area and, upon finding the rock formations, one of them suggested that it would be a good place to open a beer garden. The other responded, "A beer garden?! Why, this is a place fit to be a garden for the gods!"
The name stuck. =)
The formations really are beautiful, and it is fascinating to see them jutting up out of the ground, completely different from the other rock in the area.
For lunch, Amy made us home-made enchiladas (yummy!) and then when Casey came home from work, we headed to the movie theatre to wait in line to see the end. Yes, I went and waited in line for two hours to ensure that I got a good seat for the last movie of Harry Potter.
I wore my favorite Potter-themed t-shirt from Sam and Fuzzy and got a bunch of compliments.
I was highly anticipating the awesome-ness of Neville and Mrs. Weasley and was not disappointed!
As if that wasn't nerdy enough, on the way to the theatre we stopped so I could pick up the latest George R.R. Martin novel. Squee!
Tomorrow Tom and I are heading 14,000 feet up to the top of Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway.
Yeah....no. It was 95 degrees out, and just biking up the entrance road was enough to wipe us out. Plus, Tom's bike handles were a bit loose and they flipped upside down on him. We took this as a sign that it was just not to be, and coasted back down the hill, then walked our bikes back to our car in the parking lot. Beaten, but not vanquished, we decided to drive in and do the short little hikes inside the park.
I love the story of where the name came from, so I am going to share it with you- Back in 1859, two surveyors were scouting the area and, upon finding the rock formations, one of them suggested that it would be a good place to open a beer garden. The other responded, "A beer garden?! Why, this is a place fit to be a garden for the gods!"
The name stuck. =)
The formations really are beautiful, and it is fascinating to see them jutting up out of the ground, completely different from the other rock in the area.
For lunch, Amy made us home-made enchiladas (yummy!) and then when Casey came home from work, we headed to the movie theatre to wait in line to see the end. Yes, I went and waited in line for two hours to ensure that I got a good seat for the last movie of Harry Potter.
I wore my favorite Potter-themed t-shirt from Sam and Fuzzy and got a bunch of compliments.
As if that wasn't nerdy enough, on the way to the theatre we stopped so I could pick up the latest George R.R. Martin novel. Squee!
Tomorrow Tom and I are heading 14,000 feet up to the top of Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
How the West was.... (Everything I ever wanted from the West!)
Wow, I can't believe we've only been on the road for a week. It feels longer than that, only because we have seen SO MUCH in the past week. America is chock-a-block full of amazing sights.
Today, the morning was dedicated to State Parks and National Memorials. We packed our tent up and headed out to take a scenic drive through Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop. At first, it didn't seem very populated. Lots of beautiful views and amazing scenery, but no Wildlife. We drove past a prairie dog warren, which was cute but we had already fed those little guys up close and personal, so it was kind of eh.
But then. Oh man. We met up with a herd of burros coming the other direction on the road.
The burros were expecting to get fed, so they were super friendly.
No, seriously. Super friendly.
After we ran into the first herd of burros, it became an animal extravaganza! More burros on the road, including some super-friendly types that decided they wanted to come for a ride with us in the car; pronghorn herds that meandered across the road, waiting on the word from the alpha male to move along so that we could continue our drive; and of course last (and abso-positively not least) the bison!
We were about to leave the park without having encountered a single American buffalo, when we decided to stop at the Visitor's Center to get some postcards. Inside, a very friendly and genteel employee was informing folks that the entire herd was just over the hill and if we took the dirt trail across the way, we could see them lounging and grazing in the sun.
He was completely right. It was a breath-taking sight to come over the rise and see the massive herd of bison spread out beneath us. It was evocative of when herds of these giant animals roamed the American prairie, and I had a little pang that those days are gone, and this is the closest I will ever come to seeing something like that.
But this was everything I had hoped my first up-close view of the American buffalo would be. The majority of the parks 1300 buffalo seemed to be gathered on the big sunny field below us and little family groups were ambling back and forth across the road we were driving on.
We got some truly amazing shots, both of the herd and up close. Take a gander!
I love South Dakota. I kind of wish we had stayed longer and explored the parks more, but we had set kind of a time schedule for ourselves. Next time, though. Next time.
After the park, we swung back north to take in Mount Rushmore, which was just as large and presidential as I had hoped it would be. Not much to say about the monument, honestly. It was just as it is always pictured, and I get the feeling that it would be far more impressive if I could have seen it up close in order to truly appreciate the magnitude.
But, we got our obligatory tourist shot, bought some nifty souvenirs and then headed out again because we had a seven hour drive through Wyoming and Colorado to look forward to. We did have a little time to kill, so we decided to go a little bit farther north to Rapid City.
Rapid City is known as the city of presidents. Not only is it about a half hour from Rushmore, but they have almost life-size statues of 42 Presidents on their street corners. They are missing Barack Obama and someone else, but since they have George W, Bill, Bush Senior and the other more recent ones that I know, it must be someone farther back in the annals of history that I can't remember because he didn't do anything noteworthy enough to receive a highlight in 8th grade Social Studies.
It's going to bother me until I puzzle it out, though, so once I have done my homework, I'll let you know.
After meeting with (almost) all the Presidents, we started the drive south toward Colorado Springs and Tom's cousin Amy's house. I wanted one more stop, though, at the Cosmos Mystery Area. It is one of those silly Roadside America attractions where the gravity of the Earth is supposedly skewed and the physics that govern our universe are all a-tangle.
Tom cynically proclaimed it all an optical illusion built upon a ferrite hill that is just slightly more gravitationally significant than the surrounding landscape, thus creating some oddities in the vegetation, but to that I say PFAH! I believe in magic, and weird gravity wells and I refuse to let his craaaaazy science talk convince me otherwise!
Either way, it is a diverting and amusing little attraction.
After I had dragged Tom through another one of my silly side-trips, we began the long trek through Wyoming.
There is nothing there. No, seriously. Wyoming is empty. It is fields and sky for as far as the eye can see, broken by the occasional herd of cows. Moo.
At one point we drove into the leading edge of a prairie storm and we raced to try and get ahead of it. Scary, but also fodder for some really amazing photos.
We decided that we would stop in Cheyenne, the capital, in order to bathroom break, eat, and trade drivers since Tom had been going through all of Wyoming and needed a break. Folks, Cheyenne is not a city. Do not let its status as a "capital city" fool you. It is a very large town. The population of Cheyenne is lower than its altitude. It is barely 4 miles across. But it had a Subway that was open and a gas station and so I thank you Cheyenne, for... you know... existing.
I drove the rest of the way through Colorado to Amy's house, through wet, dark highways, trying not to be killed by the people doing 90 because the speed limit is 75.
Wyoming: Despite the fact that there is nothing in you, I love you. You are beautiful and I promise that I will come and visit again someday for something more than a long-ass drive down a back highway somewhere.
But for now, there is Colorado. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!
(George Dubya approves this message)
Today, the morning was dedicated to State Parks and National Memorials. We packed our tent up and headed out to take a scenic drive through Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop. At first, it didn't seem very populated. Lots of beautiful views and amazing scenery, but no Wildlife. We drove past a prairie dog warren, which was cute but we had already fed those little guys up close and personal, so it was kind of eh.
But then. Oh man. We met up with a herd of burros coming the other direction on the road.
After we ran into the first herd of burros, it became an animal extravaganza! More burros on the road, including some super-friendly types that decided they wanted to come for a ride with us in the car; pronghorn herds that meandered across the road, waiting on the word from the alpha male to move along so that we could continue our drive; and of course last (and abso-positively not least) the bison!
We were about to leave the park without having encountered a single American buffalo, when we decided to stop at the Visitor's Center to get some postcards. Inside, a very friendly and genteel employee was informing folks that the entire herd was just over the hill and if we took the dirt trail across the way, we could see them lounging and grazing in the sun.
He was completely right. It was a breath-taking sight to come over the rise and see the massive herd of bison spread out beneath us. It was evocative of when herds of these giant animals roamed the American prairie, and I had a little pang that those days are gone, and this is the closest I will ever come to seeing something like that.
But this was everything I had hoped my first up-close view of the American buffalo would be. The majority of the parks 1300 buffalo seemed to be gathered on the big sunny field below us and little family groups were ambling back and forth across the road we were driving on.
We got some truly amazing shots, both of the herd and up close. Take a gander!
I love South Dakota. I kind of wish we had stayed longer and explored the parks more, but we had set kind of a time schedule for ourselves. Next time, though. Next time.
But, we got our obligatory tourist shot, bought some nifty souvenirs and then headed out again because we had a seven hour drive through Wyoming and Colorado to look forward to. We did have a little time to kill, so we decided to go a little bit farther north to Rapid City.
It's going to bother me until I puzzle it out, though, so once I have done my homework, I'll let you know.
After meeting with (almost) all the Presidents, we started the drive south toward Colorado Springs and Tom's cousin Amy's house. I wanted one more stop, though, at the Cosmos Mystery Area. It is one of those silly Roadside America attractions where the gravity of the Earth is supposedly skewed and the physics that govern our universe are all a-tangle.
Tom cynically proclaimed it all an optical illusion built upon a ferrite hill that is just slightly more gravitationally significant than the surrounding landscape, thus creating some oddities in the vegetation, but to that I say PFAH! I believe in magic, and weird gravity wells and I refuse to let his craaaaazy science talk convince me otherwise!
Either way, it is a diverting and amusing little attraction.
After I had dragged Tom through another one of my silly side-trips, we began the long trek through Wyoming.
There is nothing there. No, seriously. Wyoming is empty. It is fields and sky for as far as the eye can see, broken by the occasional herd of cows. Moo.
At one point we drove into the leading edge of a prairie storm and we raced to try and get ahead of it. Scary, but also fodder for some really amazing photos.
We decided that we would stop in Cheyenne, the capital, in order to bathroom break, eat, and trade drivers since Tom had been going through all of Wyoming and needed a break. Folks, Cheyenne is not a city. Do not let its status as a "capital city" fool you. It is a very large town. The population of Cheyenne is lower than its altitude. It is barely 4 miles across. But it had a Subway that was open and a gas station and so I thank you Cheyenne, for... you know... existing.
I drove the rest of the way through Colorado to Amy's house, through wet, dark highways, trying not to be killed by the people doing 90 because the speed limit is 75.
Wyoming: Despite the fact that there is nothing in you, I love you. You are beautiful and I promise that I will come and visit again someday for something more than a long-ass drive down a back highway somewhere.
But for now, there is Colorado. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!
(George Dubya approves this message)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Gangsters, Rivers, Prairie Dogs and Photo Shoots: South Dakota!
South Dakota is awesome you guys. Like, so awesome and there is so much here! We didn't get to do nearly the amount of things we could have done or that I wanted to do! I will need to come back here someday for sure.
We woke up early and re-stoked our campfire so that we could cook breakfast before our first stop of the day at Devil's Gulch. One needs a hearty breakfast if one is going to be following the footsteps (or hoofprints) of the one of the country's most famous gangsters!
The legend goes that Jesse James urged his horse to leap the 20 feet from one side to the other of Devil's Gulch to escape the lawman's posse that was after him. Twenty feet doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are standing on the creaky, rusty bridge they have going over the spot where he jumped, you truly appreciate the magnitude of that jump.
Also, according to the literature in the little photo-copied brochure the nice old man at the tiny visitor's center gave us, the spot beneath the jump is known as the Bottomless Pit. One time, a 600-foot plumb line was dropped into and never hit bottom!
Of course, in reality, Jesse and his horse probably just raced around the Gulch, but the story is better the other way, and I am all about the story.
Fresh from our gangster adventure, we headed to Sioux Falls to see the river that gives the town its name. It was beautiful and rather refreshing to stand in the spray from the falls on a hot day. Once we left the Falls, I convinced Tom to stop at the Mitchell Corn Palace and it was everything I hoped it would be.
Corn and corny jokes and corn-themed souvenirs, oh my! But, honestly, that there, that is America, and it is what I love about America. They proudly proclaim that it is the only Corn Palace in the World! Know why it is the only Corn Palace in the world? Because it is lame! So lame! But that right there is what is so wonderful about it! They're like "Heck yeah, our corn palace is lame, but we love it and we embrace it and we invite you to come and join us in our wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I'm like, "Yes, absolutely, I will join you in your wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I do. And it is excellent.
Moving right along, we made our way to Chamberlain, SD, which is right on the Missouri River. The rest stop had a gorgeous panorama, and some interesting stuff about Lewis and Clark, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get to our next big destination: The Badlands.
Oh. My. God. The Badlands are simply breathtaking. Each new amazing sight on this trip makes me imagine that I will never see anything so amazing or beautiful again in my life, and then each time I am proved wrong. And I am so very very glad for that.
America the Beautiful indeed.
I can't do the Badlands justice in words, so here are some pictures.
On the way into the Badlands we stopped at a Prairie Dog ranch where we got to feed the prairie dogs and got some of the most adorable pictures and video ever taken, I think. No seriously, look.
Anyway, we ended the day in Custer State Park where we set our tent up in the dark and crashed out.
We woke up early and re-stoked our campfire so that we could cook breakfast before our first stop of the day at Devil's Gulch. One needs a hearty breakfast if one is going to be following the footsteps (or hoofprints) of the one of the country's most famous gangsters!
The legend goes that Jesse James urged his horse to leap the 20 feet from one side to the other of Devil's Gulch to escape the lawman's posse that was after him. Twenty feet doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are standing on the creaky, rusty bridge they have going over the spot where he jumped, you truly appreciate the magnitude of that jump.
Also, according to the literature in the little photo-copied brochure the nice old man at the tiny visitor's center gave us, the spot beneath the jump is known as the Bottomless Pit. One time, a 600-foot plumb line was dropped into and never hit bottom!
Fresh from our gangster adventure, we headed to Sioux Falls to see the river that gives the town its name. It was beautiful and rather refreshing to stand in the spray from the falls on a hot day. Once we left the Falls, I convinced Tom to stop at the Mitchell Corn Palace and it was everything I hoped it would be.
Corn and corny jokes and corn-themed souvenirs, oh my! But, honestly, that there, that is America, and it is what I love about America. They proudly proclaim that it is the only Corn Palace in the World! Know why it is the only Corn Palace in the world? Because it is lame! So lame! But that right there is what is so wonderful about it! They're like "Heck yeah, our corn palace is lame, but we love it and we embrace it and we invite you to come and join us in our wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I'm like, "Yes, absolutely, I will join you in your wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I do. And it is excellent.
Moving right along, we made our way to Chamberlain, SD, which is right on the Missouri River. The rest stop had a gorgeous panorama, and some interesting stuff about Lewis and Clark, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get to our next big destination: The Badlands.
Oh. My. God. The Badlands are simply breathtaking. Each new amazing sight on this trip makes me imagine that I will never see anything so amazing or beautiful again in my life, and then each time I am proved wrong. And I am so very very glad for that.
America the Beautiful indeed.
I can't do the Badlands justice in words, so here are some pictures.
On the way into the Badlands we stopped at a Prairie Dog ranch where we got to feed the prairie dogs and got some of the most adorable pictures and video ever taken, I think. No seriously, look.
Anyway, we ended the day in Custer State Park where we set our tent up in the dark and crashed out.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Minnesota: Closed due to Incompetence
On our way out of Wisconsin, we did indeed find us some cheese curds, and they were DELICIOUS. I wasn't sure what everyone meant when they talked about the squeak. It is an experience that is indescribable! Not indescribable in the way we use it to talk about beautiful sites or whatever. But seriously, biting into a fresh cheese curd is something you really need to experience for yourself.
We left Wisconsin and entered Minnesota and it was beautiful. Indescribable in the way we mean it when talking about something beautiful. We decided to stop at a state park to eat lunch, but discovered that it is closed. In fact, all of the state parks in Minnesota are closed because they couldn't get the state budget together. Which is awful, because not only did we miss out on what I feel is probably completely stunning scenery, but according to the park ranger that checked us in at Palisades State Park in South Dakota, the state of Minnesota is losing a million dollars A DAY due to its state parks being closed. Crazy! But, hey- their loss, South Dakota's gain.
We settled into our cute little camp site, set up our tent and chairs, and then decided to explore a bit. We actually got a chance to ride our bikes again! We biked around the park, climbed some neat rocks, and then we cooked our dinner over the camp fire. Tom got to use his cast iron pans, so he was happy.
Next on our tour is the rest of South Dakota, heading toward Mount Rushmore!
We left Wisconsin and entered Minnesota and it was beautiful. Indescribable in the way we mean it when talking about something beautiful. We decided to stop at a state park to eat lunch, but discovered that it is closed. In fact, all of the state parks in Minnesota are closed because they couldn't get the state budget together. Which is awful, because not only did we miss out on what I feel is probably completely stunning scenery, but according to the park ranger that checked us in at Palisades State Park in South Dakota, the state of Minnesota is losing a million dollars A DAY due to its state parks being closed. Crazy! But, hey- their loss, South Dakota's gain.
We settled into our cute little camp site, set up our tent and chairs, and then decided to explore a bit. We actually got a chance to ride our bikes again! We biked around the park, climbed some neat rocks, and then we cooked our dinner over the camp fire. Tom got to use his cast iron pans, so he was happy.
Next on our tour is the rest of South Dakota, heading toward Mount Rushmore!
Monday, July 11, 2011
On Wisconsin!
This morning we woke up to a fierce storm sweeping through Chicago, so we camped out in our hotel room until the sideways rain stopped, then we loaded up the car again and drove north to visit Aunt Patti and Uncle Les in Wisconsin.
It was a very quick drive and we made it to Wisconsin by lunch. We had fresh veggies from the garden! Om nom nom. Er, well. I had fresh veggies. Tom hissed and dove under the table, crying out in fear and loathing.
The vegetables were delicious.
After lunch, Uncle Les took us on a bike ride along the Glacier-Blenheim trail, which was lovely. It was mostly flat and we rode a total of 9 miles out and back.
By the time we got back, it was just about time for dinner so we had some iced tea and chatted, caught up on family news, and then had spaghetti and tomato sauce. Aunt Patti and Uncle Les had hoped to grill brats for us, but with the weather being so iffy, we went the pasta route. We made up for it though, I had some of Uncle Les's home-brewed beer!
After dinner, we went and got another famous piece of Wisconsin cuisine--custard. Mmmm... yummy.
Tomorrow we are leaving very early in order to get a jump on the drive to Palisades State Park and on the way, we get to stop and purchase another famous Wisconsin delicacy: Cheese curds. I am looking forward to the squeak. =)
It was a very quick drive and we made it to Wisconsin by lunch. We had fresh veggies from the garden! Om nom nom. Er, well. I had fresh veggies. Tom hissed and dove under the table, crying out in fear and loathing.
The vegetables were delicious.
After lunch, Uncle Les took us on a bike ride along the Glacier-Blenheim trail, which was lovely. It was mostly flat and we rode a total of 9 miles out and back.
By the time we got back, it was just about time for dinner so we had some iced tea and chatted, caught up on family news, and then had spaghetti and tomato sauce. Aunt Patti and Uncle Les had hoped to grill brats for us, but with the weather being so iffy, we went the pasta route. We made up for it though, I had some of Uncle Les's home-brewed beer!
After dinner, we went and got another famous piece of Wisconsin cuisine--custard. Mmmm... yummy.
Tomorrow we are leaving very early in order to get a jump on the drive to Palisades State Park and on the way, we get to stop and purchase another famous Wisconsin delicacy: Cheese curds. I am looking forward to the squeak. =)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day out in Chicago
This morning we slept in. After the 10 hour drive from Pittsburgh, including the 5 hour drive across Indiana, and the 6 am wake-up time, I feel like we kind of deserved it!
Once we got up and moving, we asked our very nice, and extremely helpful Innkeep whether we could get a train into the city. Turns out, yes! There is a train station about 10 minutes down the road from our Inn, so we drove the car down there. Weirdly enough, there is no all-day parking near the train station (at least, not on Sundays) but we asked an employee, and he confided to us his super-secret free parking spot on a side street a block away.
We got on the Blue Line at Jefferson Park and rode it into the city. We decided to get off at the Park/Lake stop because I had hoped to ride the Loop, but we couldn't quite figure out which train was the elevated one (turns out all of them, but we were unaware at the time) so instead, we wandered out and discovered the theatre district.
At this point, we were getting pretty hungry, so we sought out delicious pizza from Uno's. And it was delicious indeed! Mmm, deep dish cheese pizza from the home of deep dish pizza. Om nom nom. I really liked the sauce they used and thought it was pretty cool that the sauce was spread on top of the cheese instead of underneath. Different and delicious.
After a very satisfying late lunch, we headed down the Magnificent Mile towards Millennium Park in order to see The Bean!
For those not in the know, the Bean is the nickname for a giant metallic sculpture called the Cloud Gate. It is fascinating watching the city and the people being reflected in the surface of the statue.
The park is right near Lake Michigan and the cool breeze coming off the water was an irresistible draw on such a hot day, so we decided to stroll along the wharf towards the Aquarium and the Planetarium. It was a lovely stroll and we got a snow cone and some lemonade along the way. By this time, the sun was starting to set, so we decided to head back, but we needed to find a train stop first.
After a little hiccup where we mistook the Metra for the CTA trains, we found a Red Line stop and rode it to the transfer with the Blue Line. Tom was pretty much done, but he was nice enough to indulge me in one last stop at Logan Park.
What's in Logan Park? The neighborhood of one of my favorite comic artists, Lucy Knisley. She lives in Chicago at the moment, but she is moving back to New York and so she made a comic all about her favorite places in her neighborhood. I guess it makes me a crazy stalker fan, but I was so grabbed by her honest love for the place that I really wanted to see it for myself. So, we went to her favorite local coffee place to give it a try.
Is that weird? Yeah, that's weird. Oh well!
Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Les. Onward to the dairy state!
Once we got up and moving, we asked our very nice, and extremely helpful Innkeep whether we could get a train into the city. Turns out, yes! There is a train station about 10 minutes down the road from our Inn, so we drove the car down there. Weirdly enough, there is no all-day parking near the train station (at least, not on Sundays) but we asked an employee, and he confided to us his super-secret free parking spot on a side street a block away.
We got on the Blue Line at Jefferson Park and rode it into the city. We decided to get off at the Park/Lake stop because I had hoped to ride the Loop, but we couldn't quite figure out which train was the elevated one (turns out all of them, but we were unaware at the time) so instead, we wandered out and discovered the theatre district.
At this point, we were getting pretty hungry, so we sought out delicious pizza from Uno's. And it was delicious indeed! Mmm, deep dish cheese pizza from the home of deep dish pizza. Om nom nom. I really liked the sauce they used and thought it was pretty cool that the sauce was spread on top of the cheese instead of underneath. Different and delicious.
After a very satisfying late lunch, we headed down the Magnificent Mile towards Millennium Park in order to see The Bean!
For those not in the know, the Bean is the nickname for a giant metallic sculpture called the Cloud Gate. It is fascinating watching the city and the people being reflected in the surface of the statue.
The park is right near Lake Michigan and the cool breeze coming off the water was an irresistible draw on such a hot day, so we decided to stroll along the wharf towards the Aquarium and the Planetarium. It was a lovely stroll and we got a snow cone and some lemonade along the way. By this time, the sun was starting to set, so we decided to head back, but we needed to find a train stop first.
After a little hiccup where we mistook the Metra for the CTA trains, we found a Red Line stop and rode it to the transfer with the Blue Line. Tom was pretty much done, but he was nice enough to indulge me in one last stop at Logan Park.
What's in Logan Park? The neighborhood of one of my favorite comic artists, Lucy Knisley. She lives in Chicago at the moment, but she is moving back to New York and so she made a comic all about her favorite places in her neighborhood. I guess it makes me a crazy stalker fan, but I was so grabbed by her honest love for the place that I really wanted to see it for myself. So, we went to her favorite local coffee place to give it a try.
Is that weird? Yeah, that's weird. Oh well!
Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Les. Onward to the dairy state!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Casualty! And why I will refrain from returning to Indiana.
This morning we left Pennsylvania and started along the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. It was very pretty, winding through small like-side towns and periodically giving us tantalizing glimpses of the HUGE Lake Erie.
But soon after we entered Ohio, tragedy struck! We were driving through a teeny little town called Lakesville. I was driving and Tom was taking pictures as we went. His camera lens was out the window a bit and suddenly I heard him yelp. We had run smack into a bumblebee! The bee had tumbled into the car and landed in the little bay of the power window switch. He then proceeded to cower, traumatized, in the little cave beneath the window switch.
The poor thing had been loaded up with pollen, which went everywhere. We had clumps on the camera, on the window sill and on the switch bay. We were briefly flummoxed as to how to remove the bee from the window switch well, until I tore some paper from my notebook and Tom convinced it to cling to the end. We left the poor guy on the side of the road, but after being clothes-lined by a Nikon lens at 45 miles an hour, I don't know how well he's gonna do. =(
Thankfully, the rest of the drive was lovely, and there were no more animal mishaps.
We drove along the Coastal Trail, sometimes losing it and visited the Marblehead Lighthouse, which was nice. We almost ran out of gas right on the edge of Ohio. The light came on just as we drove past the last rest stop for 30 miles, so we left the highway and coasted down to a Shamrock station in town called Edon.
And then... Then we entered Indiana. Oh, Indiana. Who lives in Indiana, seriously? I mean, yes. We stayed on the highway the whole way through, which is never the best views. But we drove on the highway through a good chunk of PA as well, and I still like that state! At least they've got hills and views and things. Indiana was just... dull. Flat, boring drive through flat, boring country. The trees were nice looking, but there was no change in them at all.
So, we got through Indiana as fast as possible (5 hours or so, ugh) and headed into Chicago.
Hurray for Droids, by the way. I booked us a room at a Traveler's Inn as we were driving, so we headed straight here, dropped our stuff, showered... and then went to see Transformers 3. I know, I know. We're in a brand new city and we go see a movie?
But, hey, it was fun! Lots of explosions and robots fighting. And wow, did this one take a dark turn that the others really didn't have. I mean, the other movie had people dying, but they were mostly soldiers being stabbed or blown up or whatever.
This one had fleeing, screaming civilians being vaporized. And not just nice, suddenly-there-is-dust-not-a-body vaporized, either. Like, the liquid in their body was suddenly flash-boiled kind of vaporized so that their charred bones scatter and their clothing flutters to the ground like a surrender flag.
...
And on that note! Ha. Anyway, hello Chicago! Tomorrow we will be exploring you!
But soon after we entered Ohio, tragedy struck! We were driving through a teeny little town called Lakesville. I was driving and Tom was taking pictures as we went. His camera lens was out the window a bit and suddenly I heard him yelp. We had run smack into a bumblebee! The bee had tumbled into the car and landed in the little bay of the power window switch. He then proceeded to cower, traumatized, in the little cave beneath the window switch.
The poor thing had been loaded up with pollen, which went everywhere. We had clumps on the camera, on the window sill and on the switch bay. We were briefly flummoxed as to how to remove the bee from the window switch well, until I tore some paper from my notebook and Tom convinced it to cling to the end. We left the poor guy on the side of the road, but after being clothes-lined by a Nikon lens at 45 miles an hour, I don't know how well he's gonna do. =(
Thankfully, the rest of the drive was lovely, and there were no more animal mishaps.
We drove along the Coastal Trail, sometimes losing it and visited the Marblehead Lighthouse, which was nice. We almost ran out of gas right on the edge of Ohio. The light came on just as we drove past the last rest stop for 30 miles, so we left the highway and coasted down to a Shamrock station in town called Edon.
And then... Then we entered Indiana. Oh, Indiana. Who lives in Indiana, seriously? I mean, yes. We stayed on the highway the whole way through, which is never the best views. But we drove on the highway through a good chunk of PA as well, and I still like that state! At least they've got hills and views and things. Indiana was just... dull. Flat, boring drive through flat, boring country. The trees were nice looking, but there was no change in them at all.
So, we got through Indiana as fast as possible (5 hours or so, ugh) and headed into Chicago.
Hurray for Droids, by the way. I booked us a room at a Traveler's Inn as we were driving, so we headed straight here, dropped our stuff, showered... and then went to see Transformers 3. I know, I know. We're in a brand new city and we go see a movie?
But, hey, it was fun! Lots of explosions and robots fighting. And wow, did this one take a dark turn that the others really didn't have. I mean, the other movie had people dying, but they were mostly soldiers being stabbed or blown up or whatever.
This one had fleeing, screaming civilians being vaporized. And not just nice, suddenly-there-is-dust-not-a-body vaporized, either. Like, the liquid in their body was suddenly flash-boiled kind of vaporized so that their charred bones scatter and their clothing flutters to the ground like a surrender flag.
...
And on that note! Ha. Anyway, hello Chicago! Tomorrow we will be exploring you!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Pittsburgh, Day 2
This morning, Pierce, his girlfriend Katie, and Chris showed us around Pittsburgh. It's a beautiful city! Which came as a surprise to me, because the only thing I ever really knew as a coal mining and steel town, so I was expecting an ugly industrial city.
What I found was a city full of trees and wide clean streets and cute little shops!
Our first stop was S.W. Randall's, which is a super cute independent toy store that has been in business for 35 years. I found the game Pass the Pigs! But my favorite part was the hour long conversation I had with the shop keep about webcomics. Or, perhaps it was more that I talked at the poor shop keep for an hour about webcomics while he politely listened because he couldn't escape because he was at work... Er... I'm gonna go with the first one!
After the toy store, we walked down the block to a store called Kards Unlimited. We went there originally because I had said I wanted to find postcards from Pittsburgh and Katie had told me I could find some there. Did I find postcards? Yes. But, more importantly, I found a beautiful, beautiful haven.
This store had EVERYTHING I could ever want and every variety of nerdery that I love. It was wonderful; I could have stayed there all day!
All that geeking out got us hungry, so we took the advice of the book that Luke got Tom for his birthday and went to the Primanti Bros Restaurant for their giant, decadent (and totally delicious) sandwiches.
Afterwards we headed over to Essie's Famous Hot Dog Shop for their french fries known as the Big O. It's basically a giant sack of fries! So simple, yet so brilliant.
After lunch we rode the Monongehela Incline, which is this little railway that runs you up the mountain side to the Grandview City view road. Like I said before, Pittsburgh is a surprisingly beautiful city and we enjoyed a little stroll along the city skyline.
Dinner came from Lulu's Noodles- I got Bubble Tea! We took it to go and brought it back to Chris's apartment, where we rounded out the night by writing up the outline for the 48-hour film that Chris and Pierce are currently working on. They got their genre, character and line at 7:30 and in 2 hours we had a concept, and a working outline. Damn, we're good.
So, thanks for the good time, Pittsburgh! I might just come back and visit you again, someday. For now, I will say farewell. On to the next adventure!
What I found was a city full of trees and wide clean streets and cute little shops!
Our first stop was S.W. Randall's, which is a super cute independent toy store that has been in business for 35 years. I found the game Pass the Pigs! But my favorite part was the hour long conversation I had with the shop keep about webcomics. Or, perhaps it was more that I talked at the poor shop keep for an hour about webcomics while he politely listened because he couldn't escape because he was at work... Er... I'm gonna go with the first one!
After the toy store, we walked down the block to a store called Kards Unlimited. We went there originally because I had said I wanted to find postcards from Pittsburgh and Katie had told me I could find some there. Did I find postcards? Yes. But, more importantly, I found a beautiful, beautiful haven.
This store had EVERYTHING I could ever want and every variety of nerdery that I love. It was wonderful; I could have stayed there all day!
All that geeking out got us hungry, so we took the advice of the book that Luke got Tom for his birthday and went to the Primanti Bros Restaurant for their giant, decadent (and totally delicious) sandwiches.
Afterwards we headed over to Essie's Famous Hot Dog Shop for their french fries known as the Big O. It's basically a giant sack of fries! So simple, yet so brilliant.
After lunch we rode the Monongehela Incline, which is this little railway that runs you up the mountain side to the Grandview City view road. Like I said before, Pittsburgh is a surprisingly beautiful city and we enjoyed a little stroll along the city skyline.
Dinner came from Lulu's Noodles- I got Bubble Tea! We took it to go and brought it back to Chris's apartment, where we rounded out the night by writing up the outline for the 48-hour film that Chris and Pierce are currently working on. They got their genre, character and line at 7:30 and in 2 hours we had a concept, and a working outline. Damn, we're good.
So, thanks for the good time, Pittsburgh! I might just come back and visit you again, someday. For now, I will say farewell. On to the next adventure!
First stop: Pittsburgh!
Yesterday we left New Jersey and headed west bound on Route 80 through Pennsylvania, headed toward Pittsburgh and our friends Pierce and Chris.
The drive out was quite lovely, actually. We hit traffic early on, but that gave me a chance to hop out of the car and pick some of the thistles that were growing along the side of the highway.
What was surprising about the drive was how how well growing up in West Milford prepared me for driving through rural PA. Once we got off of 80 to head down to Pittsburgh, the roads were astoundingly windy and the hills were steep and continuous. Tom did get some really beautiful photos, though.
Once we arrived, we met up with Pierce and Chris, and they took us out to dinner and games at Dave and Buster's. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would you go to a Dave and Buster's? Why not sample local cuisine? I was thinking the same thing. But when they found out I hadn't been to a Dave and Buster's before, it was pretty much decided. That said, it was awfully fun! I felt like such a grownup playing skeeball, winning tickets and then trading them in for Fun Dip. Good times.
But! Today the plan is to see the sites of Pittsburgh and eat some of that local cuisine, so I feel like I will do the city justice.
The drive out was quite lovely, actually. We hit traffic early on, but that gave me a chance to hop out of the car and pick some of the thistles that were growing along the side of the highway.
What was surprising about the drive was how how well growing up in West Milford prepared me for driving through rural PA. Once we got off of 80 to head down to Pittsburgh, the roads were astoundingly windy and the hills were steep and continuous. Tom did get some really beautiful photos, though.
Once we arrived, we met up with Pierce and Chris, and they took us out to dinner and games at Dave and Buster's. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would you go to a Dave and Buster's? Why not sample local cuisine? I was thinking the same thing. But when they found out I hadn't been to a Dave and Buster's before, it was pretty much decided. That said, it was awfully fun! I felt like such a grownup playing skeeball, winning tickets and then trading them in for Fun Dip. Good times.
But! Today the plan is to see the sites of Pittsburgh and eat some of that local cuisine, so I feel like I will do the city justice.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Honeymoon, Finally
Greetings! In just 9 days, Tom and I will be heading off on our grand cross-country road trip. I am really looking forward to it, since I have been outside of the country on multiple occasions, but have never really explored my own.
We are starting on the east coast, of course. Leaving from New Jersey on the 7th and heading across mostly on Route 80. We are stopping to see friends and family and national landmarks as we go on the way to California.
In Cali, we will spend some time sight seeing and visiting with Dave and Jan, and perhaps more family and then heading back across along the southern route.
And this is the part that I'm really especially excited about. We are stopping and spending three or four days at the Grand Canyon.
In about a month, I'll be able to post a picture like this taken by my own camera.
And I definitely want to take a stroll out on this!
Then, it is a trek across the scary south and from there, a beautiful drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway with a slight detour to Virginia Beach to visit another friend. All told, a five-week journey.
This weekend, though, is a trip up to Lake George, and my very first tattoo!
Stay tuned.
We are starting on the east coast, of course. Leaving from New Jersey on the 7th and heading across mostly on Route 80. We are stopping to see friends and family and national landmarks as we go on the way to California.
In Cali, we will spend some time sight seeing and visiting with Dave and Jan, and perhaps more family and then heading back across along the southern route.
And this is the part that I'm really especially excited about. We are stopping and spending three or four days at the Grand Canyon.
In about a month, I'll be able to post a picture like this taken by my own camera.
And I definitely want to take a stroll out on this!
Then, it is a trek across the scary south and from there, a beautiful drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway with a slight detour to Virginia Beach to visit another friend. All told, a five-week journey.
This weekend, though, is a trip up to Lake George, and my very first tattoo!
Stay tuned.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
What I'm reading
At the moment, I am reading Bill Bryson's latest bit of brilliance. At Home: A Short History of Private Life is in the same vein as his previous books. It is witty, clever, full of fun facts and anecdotes and well-written to boot.
I love Bryson's books, and I own most of them either in print, or as an audio book on iTunes. I especially love his books because many of them are all about traveling- which is why I mention them here!
When I was preparing to go to China, I downloaded three of his books and spent a good chunk of my travel time listening to them. My favorite thing about Bryson's audio books is that he frequently narrates them himself, and I love when audio books are read by the author.
Bryson has a very dry sense of humor, possibly developed by the years he spent living in England. That's another thing I love about Bryson- like me, he is an American who considers Great Britain to be a second home.
I would absolutely recommend any of his books, but my favorites so far have got to be A Walk in the Woods and A Short History of Nearly Everything.
I am thoroughly enjoying At Home so far, and it seems like it's going to be very much in line with what I've loved about his work so far.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
In Local News...
One of my best friends is studying in England at Durham University at the moment, and she has a blog where she has been chronicling her exploits. I felt a little guilty that I have not been posting anything to this blog, even though I said I would, so I figured I ought to try and start the ball rolling again.
So, recent events would be:
I got married on October 23rd! That is Mole Day; for those of you wondering why, think back to high school chemistry.
I am once again working at a high school in south Jersey. I love my job.
I had considered going back to China this summer, but for our honeymoon, it seems like my husband and I are going to plan a cross-country trip to see friends, family and national monuments. That should be some interesting fodder for the blog. I hope.
In future posts: ancient history trips that I have taken previously!
So, recent events would be:
I got married on October 23rd! That is Mole Day; for those of you wondering why, think back to high school chemistry.
I am once again working at a high school in south Jersey. I love my job.
I had considered going back to China this summer, but for our honeymoon, it seems like my husband and I are going to plan a cross-country trip to see friends, family and national monuments. That should be some interesting fodder for the blog. I hope.
In future posts: ancient history trips that I have taken previously!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 10 - Huangpu Boat Ride
This evening, Allan and I took a boat ride up the Huangpu River in Shanghai. It almost didn't happen, because it became a bit of a production at one point. I had asked Allan if he would like to come with me, and last week I went and got some information about tickets from one agency. I told Allan about the information that I got, and he said it was fine, but then, yesterday, Allan said he wanted to ask a friend and get a bit more information. As I've said, Allan is always scheming how to get it so things best benefit him. I just shrugged and let him do whatever.
So, this morning, Allan said that he had asked his friend, and he said that we wanted to take a certain boat and Allan had decided that we had to take the 7 pm boat because that was right at dusk and he had to go early in order to get the tickets because they would sell out right away. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of our afternoon English corner and Mary and I are trying to get the kids talking about art, and he is pulling me out of the room to tell me he's going to go right now (1:30) to buy the tickets and he would call me when he had them and then I would meet him there.
I was kind of annoying, and at that point I almost regretted asking him to go with me, but I shrugged and went with it. After class, I went back to my apartment to wait for the phone call. Around 4, he called and gave me some of the sketchiest directions I had ever gotten on where to meet him.
Luckily, he had also copied the map and the address that Hugh had given him, so at least I was able to periodically show the Chinese characters to people and have them point me in the right direction.
I got off the train at the Yuyuan Garden stop at about 4:40 and spent the next hour and a half wandering up and down Zhongsang Road, trying to find the goddamn boat. Hugh had recommended the boat that is a twenty-freaking-minute walk down the street, and people I asked were even confused about where exactly it was. My instructions had been to meet up with Allan before 6:30, because that was when we were supposed to line up to wait to get on the boat.
At 6:15, I finally found the ticket booth for the boat that Allan had described in his extremely sketchy directions. But did I find Allan? Noooo, of course not. So, I spent the next 10 minutes getting harassed by guys trying to help me buy a ticket, who couldn't understand that I already had a ticket, I just didn't have it with me. The same guy came back three different times, persistent bugger that he was. I appreciate that they're trying to be helpful, but jeez, take a hint!
By 6:25, I was ready to either scream or cry. I was hot, sweaty, tired from walking, and tired of waving off overly-helpful Chinese men, and I was just about ready to throttle Allan, when I saw him round the corner. I ended up feeling so relieved that I had found him that I didn't do any of those things. I just said "You're the worst direction-giver ever!" and we ran for the line for the boat.
And after all that, I have to admit... Worth it. Our boat was HUGE. Five floors, with wood paneling and gold paint, two giant dragon heads on the front and a roof-top bar where Allan and I say and drank Tsingtao beer, while we watched the sun go down. It was pretty epic.
Once the sun had set, the boat left its moorings and we took a leisurely cruise down the river past the buildings of the Bund. At night, all the buildings are spectacularly lit up and the breeze from the river was wonderful.
We spent a very congenial hour getting slightly tipsy and then when the boat docked, we strolled aimlessly until we found a cab and took it home. In the end, I am glad that I asked Allan to come. Even though it was a bit of a hassle, his incessant desire to find the best possible outcome for himself wound up benefiting me as well!
So, this morning, Allan said that he had asked his friend, and he said that we wanted to take a certain boat and Allan had decided that we had to take the 7 pm boat because that was right at dusk and he had to go early in order to get the tickets because they would sell out right away. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of our afternoon English corner and Mary and I are trying to get the kids talking about art, and he is pulling me out of the room to tell me he's going to go right now (1:30) to buy the tickets and he would call me when he had them and then I would meet him there.
I was kind of annoying, and at that point I almost regretted asking him to go with me, but I shrugged and went with it. After class, I went back to my apartment to wait for the phone call. Around 4, he called and gave me some of the sketchiest directions I had ever gotten on where to meet him.
Luckily, he had also copied the map and the address that Hugh had given him, so at least I was able to periodically show the Chinese characters to people and have them point me in the right direction.
I got off the train at the Yuyuan Garden stop at about 4:40 and spent the next hour and a half wandering up and down Zhongsang Road, trying to find the goddamn boat. Hugh had recommended the boat that is a twenty-freaking-minute walk down the street, and people I asked were even confused about where exactly it was. My instructions had been to meet up with Allan before 6:30, because that was when we were supposed to line up to wait to get on the boat.
At 6:15, I finally found the ticket booth for the boat that Allan had described in his extremely sketchy directions. But did I find Allan? Noooo, of course not. So, I spent the next 10 minutes getting harassed by guys trying to help me buy a ticket, who couldn't understand that I already had a ticket, I just didn't have it with me. The same guy came back three different times, persistent bugger that he was. I appreciate that they're trying to be helpful, but jeez, take a hint!
By 6:25, I was ready to either scream or cry. I was hot, sweaty, tired from walking, and tired of waving off overly-helpful Chinese men, and I was just about ready to throttle Allan, when I saw him round the corner. I ended up feeling so relieved that I had found him that I didn't do any of those things. I just said "You're the worst direction-giver ever!" and we ran for the line for the boat.
And after all that, I have to admit... Worth it. Our boat was HUGE. Five floors, with wood paneling and gold paint, two giant dragon heads on the front and a roof-top bar where Allan and I say and drank Tsingtao beer, while we watched the sun go down. It was pretty epic.
Once the sun had set, the boat left its moorings and we took a leisurely cruise down the river past the buildings of the Bund. At night, all the buildings are spectacularly lit up and the breeze from the river was wonderful.
We spent a very congenial hour getting slightly tipsy and then when the boat docked, we strolled aimlessly until we found a cab and took it home. In the end, I am glad that I asked Allan to come. Even though it was a bit of a hassle, his incessant desire to find the best possible outcome for himself wound up benefiting me as well!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Home again!
Well, hello America, nice to see you!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9 - Happy Birthday Singapore!
Just finished watching the live feed of Singapore's 45th anniversary as a nation celebration. My friend Alvin is from Singapore. They had a giant music, dance, and fireworks display, and a parade of all of Singapore's armed forces might that then traveled all across the country so that people in neighborhoods around Singapore could see the vehicles. It was a large and very impressive display. One thing I noticed, though, was that Singapore's president is a pretty grouchy guy. They only time I saw him smile was when he greeted the people wanting to shake his hand as he was leaving. But hey, Happy Birthday Singapore and Happy National Day to Alvin and the people of Singapore!
Monday, August 9 - Weekend in Hangzhou, Part 2!
When we woke up on Sunday morning, we went down to the complimentary breakfast. It was interesting to see the spread- they had eggs and french fries and donuts, and then they had green beans and cabbage and lomein as well as rice porridge and steamed dumplings and another dozen or so dishes, none of which looked particularly breakfast-like to me. The variety fascinated me, and I tried a little bit of almost everything.
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
Monday, August 9 - A Weekend on a Bicycle
Oh my goodness, my poor aching everything. I went to Hangzhou this past weekend and it was a fantastic time. I am so glad that Luna, my student went with me. She is a sweet girl, and part of the reason I am so fond of her is because she chose her English name after Luna Lovegood, from the Harry Potter books. Nerds, represent!
On Saturday morning, I got up early... early for a Saturday, anyway. I set my alarm for 5:30, which is the time I normally get up for school. I had my coffee and got ready to the not-so-soothing sounds of CNN, and made sure to get to the train station early. I always get so nervous when I need to make connections while traveling. My stomach was all tied up in knots, as usual, but, again, as always, I needn't have worried because I made my train in good time.
I am really glad that I had the travel agent book the tickets for me, I went to the wrong building at first, to the ticket office, which is in a different building entirely from the main terminal where the trains come in. The lines were very long, people were ignoring the lines left and right, there was very little pinying (romanized letters) and even less English. I think that if I had tried to buy my own tickets, I would have been entirely lost. It was a 10 RMB (the English letters that stand for yuan, I don't know why) fee for t he travel agent, and it was money well spent in my opinion!
Once I fought my way through the lines of people crushing at the gates and popped out the other side of the turnstile, I found my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I was on my way! The train from Shanghai to Hangzhou is about two hours, so I read a little, and marveled at the people who bought the standing tickets. I don't think you are allowed to do this on trains in America, I'm not sure-- Chinese trains sell a certain number of standing room tickets for each car, and people will stand or sit in the spaces between the cars where the doors are. However, those people are also always on the prowl for a real seat, and so you will frequently see new arrivals checking their ticket and then haranguing the seat-predator who got there before them.
On the train ride there, my student, Luna, found me--she was one of the people who had bought a standing room only ticket. We got off together in Hangzhou and waited online for a taxi, waving off the extremely persistent efforts of the gypsy drivers. If Jamaica taught me anything, it is to wait for the official taxi!
We got to our hotel and checked in. They did not ask me for my passport at the reception desk. Please take note of that, as it will come into play a bit later in the account.
Our room was nice, but we wanted to get out on the town, so we just dumped our stuff and headed back out again. We walked from our hotel down to the lake and... wow. West Lake is amazingly beautiful. There are mountains all around, and you can see the roofs of temples and pagodas jutting up from the trees all around the lake.
Luna found us a bike rental place and I gave them my driver's license and 300 RMB and they gave me a bike rental card that is good at the literally hundreds, maybe thousands of bike rental racks all around the city. Hangzhou is filled to the brim with bicycles. It costs 5 RMB to rent a bike for the first two hours and then it is 1 RMB for every additional hour. You swipe your bike card and the rack unlocks the bicycle. When you return it, you swipe it again, the bike locks in place and then you register your card at the rental station's kiosk (it looks like an ATM) and the correct amount is deducted from your card. Simple, efficient.
We rented a couple of bikes and rode our way up the east side of the lake, stopping at various tourist places along the way. We had lunch at a cafe by the lake that used to be a house belonging to a Professor who loved music. He donated it when he died, and now every table has its own sound system and headphones and the cafe has a library of over 6,000 CDs to choose from. We also visited the Hangzhou Museum, where they keep artifacts found in or from the area. They had everything from modern paintings, to antique pottery to ancient (like, caveman ancient) stone tools excavated from a local archaeological dig. Fascinating stuff. We rode all the way to the north edge of the lake, and then turned and rode down the Su Causeway, which is a road running through the middle of the lake, built by one of the first governors. And last, we visited the Jinxi Temple.
I loved visiting the Jinxi Temple! Luna is apparently a practicing and rather devout Buddhist. We stopped at each statue and she would kneel, fold her hands, then press her head and hands to the pad, then turn her hands so they were palm up. This was repeated three times for each statue, and she asked me not to take pictures inside the buildings because it was disrespectful to the gods. I was fascinated.
I also got a chance to ring the bell at the Temple, which grants me protection and good fortune. The grounds were tended by monks young and old and the whole place had an air of cheerful productivity. Some places were a little shabby and looked a bit worn, but then, it is a practicing temple and it was clear that the place was lovingly tended, but rather old and a little poor. The only place that looked vibrant and expensive where the statues. Jinxi Temple also has a miracle well, that produced timber once when the monks prayed for the gods to help them after part of the temple had been destroyed. It was wonderful.
After the temple, we rode farther around the lake, back toward our starting point, until Luna got a call from her father. We returned our bicycles (which you can do anywhere, not just where you got them from!) and took a taxi to a restaurant. We met her father, uncle and cousin and they insisted on treating me to dinner. I tried to protest, but Luna's uncle would have none of it. He said (Luna translated) that I was a guest in China, and tonight he was my host. This is one thing that I have noticed, most Chinese are very gracious and will do you favors and offer you assistance if you need it. I tried to accept just as graciously. I tried my best to thank him in Mandarin, and while I didn't get it quite right (Luna corrected my pronunciation), he laughed and accepted my thanks.
After dinner, Luna's dad asked if I had any plans for the night. When I said no, he decided to take the two of us to Wu Shan Square, which connects to the pedestrian-only shopping street. It was amazing! Out in the square, there were women dancing, very much like the do every night in front of the bank in Shanghai, but here there had to have been 500 people, all in lines, dancing together. I have never seen anything like it.
There was also a young man teaching little kids how to roller blade and orchestrating speed skating races. Children were running all around with light up toys, flinging them into the sky and chasing them to where they fell, mothers with babies chatting, men having a smoke and talking together in little clumps in the middle of the square.... it was a busy, happy scene.
The pedestrian street was even cooler. There are shops to either side selling everything from candy to Chinese medicine to the classic kitschy souvenirs you can find just about any place. But in the center of the street were stalls where artisans practiced their craft right before your eyes.
I can't think of any better word than enthralled for how I felt walking down that street. Every 30 feet was another thing to marvel at: here a man painting characters on a piece of ivory so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to read them; there a glass-blower creating a dragon bowl out of a lump of glass; here a portrait artist painting you as you sit; there a sculptor, sculpting your likeness from clay as you sit (!). There was a puppet show, and a man who made works of art from dripped caramel. There was a bean bag game, and a woman who sculpted little cell phone keychains out of clay on demand. There was a costume booth, where you could dress up as characters from legends about Hangzhou and take a picture with a fake horse, and a man who painted the insides of beads, allowing you to craft your own custom jewelry by stringing together the paintings of your choice.
There was so much to see, so much to take in that I felt a little overwhelmed. Frankly, I gawked at everything, but I think Luna and her father enjoyed my wonder. They had a fantastic time pointing out all the new sights and urged me to buy all the specialty food and candies to try.
They also bought a little painting as a gift for me and Tom. It is a picture of a married couple, and we are meant to hang it in our home on our wedding day to bring us good fortune in our marriage. It was a great night.
Exhausted, we took a taxi back to the hotel and went up to our room. Okay. Now, remember how I told you to take note of the fact that they did not ask me for my passport? Well, here's where that comes in.
In China, everyone has an ID card. You show it anytime you travel or check into a hotel, I'm guessing so that the government can keep tabs on its people. Well, in China, there are local hotels and then there are foreigner hotels. They like foreigners to stay at the unofficially designated foreigner hotel and it's kind of frowned upon to stay at the "local" hotels, mostly because the local hotels are less expensive. Earlier in the week, Luna's dad had found a much cheaper room than the one the travel agent booked for me. He reserved it, and when we checked in, Luna gave them her ID and the reservation desk let us go up.
That was bad. They were supposed to ask me for my ID as well, once again because they like to keep tabs on everyone.
Now, Luna had been in contact with her dad all day. He called every half hour or so to check in on us and make sure that Luna was showing me all the sites he had written down for her. The problem was that no one had told her mother. Apparently, Luna was supposed to call her mother. She assumed that her father had done so, since he kept checking in on us. Luna's father assumed that she had done so, because that was the original arrangement. Neither of them called her. It is important to note that Luna is thirteen, and so her mother was understandably worried when she had not heard from her.
This is where my understanding ends, though. You can only take grace so far. Here's why: At midnight, I was nearly asleep and Luna was in the bathroom when a knock sounds at the door. Groggily, I stumble to the door and open it to reveal two members of hotel staff, one member of hotel security and a police officer. The police officer starts speaking to me, and I can only stare blankly.
"I'm sorry, does anyone speak English?" I ask, confused.
The woman from the hotel says "Oh, English? Um..." she confers with the policeman for a moment and then says, "He say you need go with him."
I take a firmer position in my doorway. "I'm sorry, what is this about?"
At this point, poor Luna opens the bathroom door and all four adults launch a barrage of words at her. I feel really bad because I can't understand what's going on, she is wearing blue sheep-printed pajamas and looks confused and forlorn and this apparently has something to do with me.
"They say they need your American ID," she finally tells me. I go get my driver's license, which is not good enough, and then my passport. Thank god I carry that thing with me at all times.
After more conferring between the police officer, the woman from the hotel, and Luna, the woman from the hotel says to me, "You come, bring ID." Then she turns to Luna and tells her, "Call your mama."
I go downstairs, they copy my passport and my visa while the police man watches, and then he leaves and they hand me back my passport, apologize and let me go back up to bed.
APPARENTLY, when Luna's mother hadn't heard from her, she decided the best course of action would not be to call her, but rather to call the police and tell them that her daughter had checked into the hotel with her foreign teacher. The police called the hotel and discovered that while a girl had checked in, they had no record of me. The staff admitted to seeing me come in with her, though. This prompted the police to dispatch an officer to handle the situation.
Luckily I had my passport with me and the officer was content with simply having the hotel copy it and register me properly. But by all accounts, I came this close to getting arrested.
Yikes.
Luna apologized profusely, she was very embarrassed that her mother had almost gotten me in so much trouble. I told her not to worry about it, it would be a funny story later.
And now it is!
An account of my second day still to come.
On Saturday morning, I got up early... early for a Saturday, anyway. I set my alarm for 5:30, which is the time I normally get up for school. I had my coffee and got ready to the not-so-soothing sounds of CNN, and made sure to get to the train station early. I always get so nervous when I need to make connections while traveling. My stomach was all tied up in knots, as usual, but, again, as always, I needn't have worried because I made my train in good time.
I am really glad that I had the travel agent book the tickets for me, I went to the wrong building at first, to the ticket office, which is in a different building entirely from the main terminal where the trains come in. The lines were very long, people were ignoring the lines left and right, there was very little pinying (romanized letters) and even less English. I think that if I had tried to buy my own tickets, I would have been entirely lost. It was a 10 RMB (the English letters that stand for yuan, I don't know why) fee for t he travel agent, and it was money well spent in my opinion!
Once I fought my way through the lines of people crushing at the gates and popped out the other side of the turnstile, I found my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I was on my way! The train from Shanghai to Hangzhou is about two hours, so I read a little, and marveled at the people who bought the standing tickets. I don't think you are allowed to do this on trains in America, I'm not sure-- Chinese trains sell a certain number of standing room tickets for each car, and people will stand or sit in the spaces between the cars where the doors are. However, those people are also always on the prowl for a real seat, and so you will frequently see new arrivals checking their ticket and then haranguing the seat-predator who got there before them.
On the train ride there, my student, Luna, found me--she was one of the people who had bought a standing room only ticket. We got off together in Hangzhou and waited online for a taxi, waving off the extremely persistent efforts of the gypsy drivers. If Jamaica taught me anything, it is to wait for the official taxi!
We got to our hotel and checked in. They did not ask me for my passport at the reception desk. Please take note of that, as it will come into play a bit later in the account.
Our room was nice, but we wanted to get out on the town, so we just dumped our stuff and headed back out again. We walked from our hotel down to the lake and... wow. West Lake is amazingly beautiful. There are mountains all around, and you can see the roofs of temples and pagodas jutting up from the trees all around the lake.
Luna found us a bike rental place and I gave them my driver's license and 300 RMB and they gave me a bike rental card that is good at the literally hundreds, maybe thousands of bike rental racks all around the city. Hangzhou is filled to the brim with bicycles. It costs 5 RMB to rent a bike for the first two hours and then it is 1 RMB for every additional hour. You swipe your bike card and the rack unlocks the bicycle. When you return it, you swipe it again, the bike locks in place and then you register your card at the rental station's kiosk (it looks like an ATM) and the correct amount is deducted from your card. Simple, efficient.
We rented a couple of bikes and rode our way up the east side of the lake, stopping at various tourist places along the way. We had lunch at a cafe by the lake that used to be a house belonging to a Professor who loved music. He donated it when he died, and now every table has its own sound system and headphones and the cafe has a library of over 6,000 CDs to choose from. We also visited the Hangzhou Museum, where they keep artifacts found in or from the area. They had everything from modern paintings, to antique pottery to ancient (like, caveman ancient) stone tools excavated from a local archaeological dig. Fascinating stuff. We rode all the way to the north edge of the lake, and then turned and rode down the Su Causeway, which is a road running through the middle of the lake, built by one of the first governors. And last, we visited the Jinxi Temple.
I loved visiting the Jinxi Temple! Luna is apparently a practicing and rather devout Buddhist. We stopped at each statue and she would kneel, fold her hands, then press her head and hands to the pad, then turn her hands so they were palm up. This was repeated three times for each statue, and she asked me not to take pictures inside the buildings because it was disrespectful to the gods. I was fascinated.
I also got a chance to ring the bell at the Temple, which grants me protection and good fortune. The grounds were tended by monks young and old and the whole place had an air of cheerful productivity. Some places were a little shabby and looked a bit worn, but then, it is a practicing temple and it was clear that the place was lovingly tended, but rather old and a little poor. The only place that looked vibrant and expensive where the statues. Jinxi Temple also has a miracle well, that produced timber once when the monks prayed for the gods to help them after part of the temple had been destroyed. It was wonderful.
After the temple, we rode farther around the lake, back toward our starting point, until Luna got a call from her father. We returned our bicycles (which you can do anywhere, not just where you got them from!) and took a taxi to a restaurant. We met her father, uncle and cousin and they insisted on treating me to dinner. I tried to protest, but Luna's uncle would have none of it. He said (Luna translated) that I was a guest in China, and tonight he was my host. This is one thing that I have noticed, most Chinese are very gracious and will do you favors and offer you assistance if you need it. I tried to accept just as graciously. I tried my best to thank him in Mandarin, and while I didn't get it quite right (Luna corrected my pronunciation), he laughed and accepted my thanks.
After dinner, Luna's dad asked if I had any plans for the night. When I said no, he decided to take the two of us to Wu Shan Square, which connects to the pedestrian-only shopping street. It was amazing! Out in the square, there were women dancing, very much like the do every night in front of the bank in Shanghai, but here there had to have been 500 people, all in lines, dancing together. I have never seen anything like it.
There was also a young man teaching little kids how to roller blade and orchestrating speed skating races. Children were running all around with light up toys, flinging them into the sky and chasing them to where they fell, mothers with babies chatting, men having a smoke and talking together in little clumps in the middle of the square.... it was a busy, happy scene.
The pedestrian street was even cooler. There are shops to either side selling everything from candy to Chinese medicine to the classic kitschy souvenirs you can find just about any place. But in the center of the street were stalls where artisans practiced their craft right before your eyes.
I can't think of any better word than enthralled for how I felt walking down that street. Every 30 feet was another thing to marvel at: here a man painting characters on a piece of ivory so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to read them; there a glass-blower creating a dragon bowl out of a lump of glass; here a portrait artist painting you as you sit; there a sculptor, sculpting your likeness from clay as you sit (!). There was a puppet show, and a man who made works of art from dripped caramel. There was a bean bag game, and a woman who sculpted little cell phone keychains out of clay on demand. There was a costume booth, where you could dress up as characters from legends about Hangzhou and take a picture with a fake horse, and a man who painted the insides of beads, allowing you to craft your own custom jewelry by stringing together the paintings of your choice.
There was so much to see, so much to take in that I felt a little overwhelmed. Frankly, I gawked at everything, but I think Luna and her father enjoyed my wonder. They had a fantastic time pointing out all the new sights and urged me to buy all the specialty food and candies to try.
They also bought a little painting as a gift for me and Tom. It is a picture of a married couple, and we are meant to hang it in our home on our wedding day to bring us good fortune in our marriage. It was a great night.
Exhausted, we took a taxi back to the hotel and went up to our room. Okay. Now, remember how I told you to take note of the fact that they did not ask me for my passport? Well, here's where that comes in.
In China, everyone has an ID card. You show it anytime you travel or check into a hotel, I'm guessing so that the government can keep tabs on its people. Well, in China, there are local hotels and then there are foreigner hotels. They like foreigners to stay at the unofficially designated foreigner hotel and it's kind of frowned upon to stay at the "local" hotels, mostly because the local hotels are less expensive. Earlier in the week, Luna's dad had found a much cheaper room than the one the travel agent booked for me. He reserved it, and when we checked in, Luna gave them her ID and the reservation desk let us go up.
That was bad. They were supposed to ask me for my ID as well, once again because they like to keep tabs on everyone.
Now, Luna had been in contact with her dad all day. He called every half hour or so to check in on us and make sure that Luna was showing me all the sites he had written down for her. The problem was that no one had told her mother. Apparently, Luna was supposed to call her mother. She assumed that her father had done so, since he kept checking in on us. Luna's father assumed that she had done so, because that was the original arrangement. Neither of them called her. It is important to note that Luna is thirteen, and so her mother was understandably worried when she had not heard from her.
This is where my understanding ends, though. You can only take grace so far. Here's why: At midnight, I was nearly asleep and Luna was in the bathroom when a knock sounds at the door. Groggily, I stumble to the door and open it to reveal two members of hotel staff, one member of hotel security and a police officer. The police officer starts speaking to me, and I can only stare blankly.
"I'm sorry, does anyone speak English?" I ask, confused.
The woman from the hotel says "Oh, English? Um..." she confers with the policeman for a moment and then says, "He say you need go with him."
I take a firmer position in my doorway. "I'm sorry, what is this about?"
At this point, poor Luna opens the bathroom door and all four adults launch a barrage of words at her. I feel really bad because I can't understand what's going on, she is wearing blue sheep-printed pajamas and looks confused and forlorn and this apparently has something to do with me.
"They say they need your American ID," she finally tells me. I go get my driver's license, which is not good enough, and then my passport. Thank god I carry that thing with me at all times.
After more conferring between the police officer, the woman from the hotel, and Luna, the woman from the hotel says to me, "You come, bring ID." Then she turns to Luna and tells her, "Call your mama."
I go downstairs, they copy my passport and my visa while the police man watches, and then he leaves and they hand me back my passport, apologize and let me go back up to bed.
APPARENTLY, when Luna's mother hadn't heard from her, she decided the best course of action would not be to call her, but rather to call the police and tell them that her daughter had checked into the hotel with her foreign teacher. The police called the hotel and discovered that while a girl had checked in, they had no record of me. The staff admitted to seeing me come in with her, though. This prompted the police to dispatch an officer to handle the situation.
Luckily I had my passport with me and the officer was content with simply having the hotel copy it and register me properly. But by all accounts, I came this close to getting arrested.
Yikes.
Luna apologized profusely, she was very embarrassed that her mother had almost gotten me in so much trouble. I told her not to worry about it, it would be a funny story later.
And now it is!
An account of my second day still to come.
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