Exploring Beijing with our Tour Guide

20:25 Alyson 0 Comments

We made the decision to use a tour company to get us around Beijing. We knew we had 2 days before I had to go to work to fit in the key sites. And with one of those being the day we landed, it was going to be a tough feat.

So, we decided to hire someone to pick us up from the airport and drive us around for 2 days.

First stop was the Forbidden City. So far so good.

Later on in the tour, not so good. As it turns out, the tour companies (or at least this one) are government owned. So that meant we stopped by the government owned restaurant, government owned jade warehouse, and government owned medical facility for foot massages and attempts to sell us herbal medicine. If I had it to do all over again, I would skip the guide and do it on our own. The city was surprisingly easy to get around in via the metro, and we had no trouble when we were on our own.

This time, though, we were stuck with the guides.

After the Forbidden City, they took us to the hutongs. I had heard of them from a co-worker who recommended restaurants nearby, so thought it must have been good.

And to be fair, they weren't terrible. They beat the jade shop and herbal medicine place for sure.

But the whole situation of it was funny.

To get around the hutongs, you ride in a rickshaw. So, Paul and I clamored into the seat behind our bike driver and got ready to see the sites.


Then, pops up alongside us, on a bicycle, our hutong tour guide. Yelling out over the ruckus of the neighborhood itself, she furiously pedals to keep up with us, all while avoiding the other rickshaws and  bikes that clutter the roads of the neighborhood.


After perusing the streets, we end up in what is described to us as a typical hutong courtyard, where the family used to gather back in ancient times. This wasn't so interesting, as they have tourist-ized parts of it, and done nothing to the others. One room is decorated to look like what was a traditional bedroom for the wedding night. The next is a real bedroom, AC unit and all. Yet, the guide takes us into each and explains it (there is the bed and chairs). After an awkward 30 minutes, we thought we were done, but no. Back out in the courtyard, we get descriptions of the pot holding water & fish, flowers, and are taken back to the wedding room for photos.

My smile says "Are we done yet?!"

We end our tour of the hutongs by driving by the lake. Now I can see why someone would recommend it! The lake is filled with paddle boats, full of families and couples enjoying a sunny afternoon. The streets are lined with trees, restaurants and people, giving life to the whole neighborhood.



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Nǐ hǎo - Forbidden City in Beijing

14:51 Alyson 1 Comments

We spent the last week cut-off from the social world. No blogger, no you-tube, no facebook. No, we weren't on an island without access to the internet. We were in China. Government control of the internet kept me from keeping you all posted as we traveled along, but no worries, now you'll hear it all!

Our first stop on our China tour was Beijing; we went straight from the airport to the Forbidden City. This made sure we both a) fit in as much sightseeing as we could with my short time there and b) didn't go check into the hotel and pass out.

One of the most interesting things to me about sightseeing in China was all the domestic tourists. Nearly everyone we saw was Chinese. It was inspiring, the pride they had in their history and the excitement they all felt at visiting their capital city and historic sites. It made me ashamed to say I had never visited Washington D.C.


Back to the Forbidden City - this was the imperial residences of the emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties, built in the late 15th century. On nearly 200 acres, the imperial residence houses 90 palaces and over 8,500 rooms.


We started off at the entrance, by Tiananmen Square. Here you walk through the Gate of Heavenly Peace to the Meridian Gate, through the outer court, which finally brought us to the inner court. As you go through each of the gates, you'll notice there are 3 doorways within each gate. One for the emperor, one for the high lords, and one for just the plain old lords.



A perk of off-season travel is smaller crowds, but a downside is renovations. So upon our entrance to the Inner Court, we found the Palace of Heavenly Peace covered in scaffolding. So we continued by admiring all the unique details of the surrounding buildings, from the little statues adorning each roof (the more statues, the more important), the carvings of figures in the marble, the old stones run down by the millions of visitors whose footsteps have covered these same paths.




After that, we headed to the gardens surrounding the palace. During our visit, we got to see some of the most beautiful cherry blossoms, making every garden beautiful and making me pause with my camera to catch a picture.



Finally, we found ourselves back out on the streets of Beijing, confronted by the real world and made to leave behind our imaginations of how the city used to be.



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TBT: Belize

20:30 Alyson 0 Comments

I would not necessarily call myself "hip" or "technology-savvy."  I am almost always behind the curve, finally joined Instagram in December and just now got around to creating a Facebook Page for followers of the blog to get updates and more pictures than I can post on here (so "like" it for all the info!).

As I was scrolling through Instagram updates last week, I came across a hashtag I didn't understand - like so many  hashtags out there. After a quick google search, I learned what the hype was.

#TBT.  Throw-back Thursday. Not sure why Thursday was picked in favor of Tuesday, but there you have it. And now every Thursday, I will know what I am in store for. Childhood pictures of my friends put up on Instagram.

It inspired me - not to put awkward teen pics onto Instagram, but to create a TBT of my own. We have lots of trips and activities to share from pre-blog times.

So, for my first TBT we'll look at the first trip as Tarts - our honeymoon in Belize. We picked Belize because it had beaches and was a direct (and short) flight from Dallas. 3 hours and you're there.

There are many parts of Belize you can visit, but we headed over to San Pedro. After landing in Belize City, we hopped on our teeny plane, two rows behind our pilot, and after 30 minutes of craning our necks to view the water, we found ourselves on the island. One runway, a plywood shack with a roped off area in the dirt for baggage claim, yes, we had arrived.


As one of the main activities is scuba-diving, we got certified in advance and spend half our days there underwater making friends with the little fishies, in many cases big fishies and even a couple of friendly sharks.

Who is bigger? Paul or the fish?

Reef Canyon - breathtaking

Snorkeling during our surface time, we found some friends

When we weren't diving or beach lounging, we headed to the mainland to visit Lamanai Ruins. These Mayan ruins boasted inhabitants as early as the 16th BC, but were not re-discovered until the 1970's. Like many ruins in Central America, tourists can climb and explore to their hearts desire. We spent a day enjoying the ruins and the fantastic views they afforded of the jungle.

The High Temple
And the steep climb up




















Then it was back to San Pedro and the beach.

Paradise

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London Museums: Victoria & Albert Museum

03:25 Alyson 1 Comments

While I wouldn't usually call myself a museum lover, I've been itching lately to get over to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

What was the attraction? Fashion. They have a whole section dedicated to fashion. and yet again, this is the only part of the museum I remember from my first trip to London oh so long ago.

We headed to the museum on Sunday closer to closing time - giving us just enough time to see what we want, but hopefully avoid some of the crowds. First up, after getting a map, we wound our away along the halls lined with treasures from around the globe until we reached the fashion exhibit. Starting in the 1800's, the exhibit gives a chronological look at fashion trends. From hunting attire, to ball gowns, to modern day designers, it's fun to look at how things have changed.

Oh, that hat.

Imagine walking through a doorway! At least it hides hips

These are bathing suits and a more literal bathing SUIT
on the right. Stylish at the beach


After our walk through some of the best (and possibly worst) fashion trends, we had an hour to check out the museum. We stared at the map, trying to figure out what else there was to see in the museum.

The answer? Everything! It is one of the most eclectic museums I have ever seen in the most wonderful kind of way. I think there truly must be something for everyone.

We first wandered through the Metal section which included a hallway filled with wrought iron. The collection came from all over London. As homes and buildings were torn down, these little, seemingly insignificant pieces were saved and found their way to the V&A. Balconies, handrails, fences, locks, they are all there. The best part is learning the little bits of history that go with each piece and the aha moment when you find a piece and know exactly where the building used to be!

On our way to look over the cast court, we passed this piece of architecture that we spied on the way in.

Added to the Hereford Cathedral in the 19th C, it was
removed in the 20th C as it wasn't "in style"

The Cast Courts are currently closed for walking through, but you still have the chance to spy from above. While not originals, these are casts of important pieces from all around the world. As the originals may have fallen into disrepair, become lost or destroyed, these casts hold even more importance. You can't help but stop to stare for a moment at Trajan's Column cast as it looms over you, even from your perch on the second floor.

Two pieces of the Trajan column cast

And then, it was closing time already and we were shuffled out with the crowds back onto the streets of South Kensington.

But, we will be back soon to see more of what the V&A has to offer, including the special exhibit on the iconic David Bowie.

1 comments:

Parks of London

23:01 Alyson 1 Comments

After six months of living in London, Belle has visited parks in London several times. Living a 20 minute walk from Kensington Gardens, it's our favorite haunt.

This weekend, we decided to go crazy and get adventurous by trying out some of the other local parks.

Our first stop was Hamstead Heath. While it isn't one of the Royal Parks, it is a favorite by many locals.

Why is that? First off,  because it is huge. It continues to amaze me the planning that has gone in to many of these European cities, but especially London, to save space for public park. Hampstead Heath is made up of more than 790 acres of country oasis, all within the city.

The best part about the Heath are the open spaces for Belle to run like the wild dog she can be sometimes. There are many areas that have paths with green, rolling hills in between, and benches dotting the landscape for those who may want to sit and take it all in.

I spy a happy little dog

On prettier days, you'll find many people flying kites. On winter days, you may find sledders. It's a fantastic place to just be outdoors.

Belle is saying "I'm so happy! Park! Belly rub!"

And the whole point of the trip was for Belle. She loved it. As soon as we let her off the lead, she ran laps around us, almost jumping for joy. She ran from one wonderful smell to the next and managed to dirty herself up pretty good in the process.

Best place to rest up after running around?
A puddle of mud, obviously

Luckily, the Heath has 25 lakes within its acreage. Some are more for waterfowl, like ducks and swans; others, dogs can jump in and swim to their hearts desire. And, for those off path wanderers like Belle, clean off some mud in the process.

One of the 25 lakes at the park

The one part of the Heath we didn't get to check out was Kenwood House, which you may remember from the end of the film Notting Hill. While it is closed for renovations until Autumn 2013, hopefully on our next trip (which will be soon!) we can wander by for some views of the iconic building front.

1 comments:

Our Afternoon in Bath

19:30 Alyson 0 Comments


Following our morning trip to Stonehenge, we continued our trek West to Bath.

I was hesitant to go. I remembered visiting the Roman Bath (in Bath), during my first visit to the UK in the 90's. I remembered being bored and unexcited by it.

Remember when I mentioned viewing old haunts through the eyes of a sullen teenager? Well, that definitely was the perspective applied to my memories of Bath.

It left me wanting more time to explore the city and take it all in.

The city was built by the Romans, but became fashionable in the 18th century after Queen Elizabeth I visited the city. You can tell how important it was by the prominence of Bath in Jane Austen's novel (or at least in my opinion that shows it's importance!)

After grabbing a bite a local pub, we wandered to the nearby Bath Cathedral. The architecture was beautiful - you walk in and your eyes are immediately drawn up to the high ceilings with intricate decorations to hide the supporting buttresses. We wandered among the tombs lining the floors (just like in Westminster Abbey) and sat and marveled at the cathedral.

The old main entrance to the cathedral
Inside the Bath Cathedral





















Right next door is the Roman Baths, where people used to soak in the warm waters, which was supposed to cure illnesses. Despite Bath having already exceeded by expectations, I decided not to push it and as I remembered it well, skipped out on the tour to wander around the streets of Bath. Luckily, Paul went through to document it however. Below the current site, you can see some of the remains of the original Roman Bath.


Roman Baths with the Cathedral in the
background. See the steam rising?
Small street with shops in Bath






















When Paul was done, we strolled back to our pick-up spot with a detour to a scenic spot I had seen on the way into town - the Pulteney Bridge. This is a bridge reminiscent of Italy, with shops lining the inside. Under the bridge, the river runs through it, making it a picture perfect spot. We posed, snapped, then enjoyed the view for a more minutes, before returning back to the city.

Posing at Pulteney Bridge

Pulteney Bridge - see the windows of the shops?


 Looking forward to returning to Bath for at least an overnight - and this time, with a visit to the baths!


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