I left off yesterday typing my blog in the van as we were on our way to climb the Great Wall. There is a saying in China that our guide from Shanghai ( and our new friend) sent me: "One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero./You are not a hero unless you reach the Great Wall." So , I am happy to report that Bill, Arlene, Duffy and I are now all "heroes"!
We walked about 2 miles, up and down many steps, as we hiked a very small part of this ancient, historic wall built to keep invaders out of China-- particularly the Mongols. The wall stretches about 4000 miles and was built mostly in the Ming Dynasty. They actually used prisoners and peasants as well as soldiers to help construct the wall. In winter , they would pump water from wells and spread it over the walk way so they could slide large stones along the ice that formed on the path. It was a grueling task..I am proud to say we made it from Station 14 on the map to station 22! I did not do the last straight up climb. The stairs are narrow and not in good shape and the slopes where there are no steps are still quite steep! Arlene was very proud of all of us and presented us our medals after completing the task of actually climbing on the wall.
We had the same lovely gentleman from the day before to help Mary with the wheelchair. She made it to the top of the walking entrance but we're all giving her credit for making it back to the Great Wall since she did this with friends about 23 years ago! That time, however, they did a differnt section of the wall. It was, once again, an amazing weather day-- not too hot thank goodness, since there is a LOT of effort exerted in the climb!
Arlene and I did a bit of shopping after the climb on the way down back to the car park. We were a little longer negotiating price then we should have been, ( but Arlene is the MASTER negotiator. Whew, is she tough, thank goodness!). However, our strategy made us late for lunch and lunch (or any meal) is not a quick affair since there are so many dishes to sample!
After lunch, we headed back on the 90 minute drive to Bejing to see the former Olympic site! Very cool! We actually saw the swim venue where Michael Phelps won his record 8 Gold Medals! We even saw the famous "Bird's Nest"!
We were sposed to visit a typical Chinese family in the afternoon, but it got late very quickly and we ran out of time! We had wanted to get kites for grandchildren , so we made a quick stop in The Old Neighborhood to purchase our kites! (Packing challenge for sure!). Traffic on the way back was terrible! As Oscar said, "Traffic lights in Italy are a suggestion, but in Bejing, they are a decoration."). Couldn't have said it better myself!
By now, it was getting dark, but our terrific guide, Oscar, "thought outside the box" and managed to have a tailor meet Bill back at our hotel while he also arranged for a car to take Arlene and I to a wholesale Pearl shop! Bill wanted to be accurately measured by a tailor and he has ordered two shirts! Arlene and I had a better time though! We went to a wholesale Pearl warehouse which they kept open just for us. Well, at least we thought it was just for us. Imagine our surprise (and actually, I think theirs, when a Saudi Arabian Princess and her two daughters showed up to shop. The Princess ordered two long strands of quite large pearls to be hand strung.). Arlene and I managed to make our purchases and left at the same time as the Embassy car pulled up to pick up the Princesses..
An unexpected bonus for us! While in the elevator at our hotel, we could hardly not notice the 7'2" tall basketball player who got on the elevator with us! It was Mr. Yee (sp?) who used to play for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. He no longer plays in the NBA, but his team in China did win their national championship last year! Our guide, Oscar! is a BIG fan! Mr Yee was gracious enough to allow Oscar and Arlene to take photographs with him. ( Actually, we had to do both photos over due to a non functioning flash on the first attempt!)
After a lovely dinner, it was all about trying to figure out how to get all the extra things into our luggage! Thank goodness for Baggalinis! I had to use Bill's and my Baggalinis . Arlene had already purchased an extra suitcase in Chengdu! ( All those Panda Bear gifts! :) )
As we left our hotel early this morning, the smog had definitely returned to the city. The three day holiday was over and there were many more cars back on the roads!
I'm writing this as we wing our way home on a 13 hour flight to Chicago where we will clear Customs and catch the next flight to Miami. We will actually arrive back in Miami 5 minutes before we left earlier today! Duffy is watching the movie Frozen, Arlene is sleeping, Bill is working on his photos and I'm blogging! I plan on getting all these blogs actually uploaded to Blogspot once back in the US where it is no longer blocked. I will continue from now on, though, to copy my blog and email it to our friends and guides, Oscar and Ariel!
We started at 14 and made it to 22 and back!!!!
Just the beginning gofer us...
I lost three pounds on this hike! LOL!
Yep, that's me coming down some stairs on the left side of the photo!
Our super guide, Oscar, and Arlene on the Great Wall!
Shopping decisions to be made!
Trust me when I tell you this is a tough hike, but oh so worth it!
Photos don't truly capture how steep some places are!
After our medal ceremony! Arlene suffered a bee sting during the ceremony. Chinese remedy is to rub with garlic, but we think Bill's benedryl spray really helped!
Olympic Park!
Trying to "jump for joy!"
Tienamen Square behind us.
Mr. Yee (sp?)
Framed by a locust tree!
Olympic torch.
Our lunch restaurant!
We found our kites, thanks to Oscar!
Well, I think that wraps up this trip. My next blog will be in July when the whole family sails on the brand new NCL 4,000 passenger ship called the Getaway!
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