Part of the Ming Tombs
Please, don't stride.
THE GREAT WALL...
...OF CHINA
Aquaduct...or so Brain says. (Pretty sweet shot from the bus on the way out if I do say so myself :))
Alright. So. We have had quite a couple of days here. Whew. On Tuesday we got up early, had some trouble finding cabs (I guess people go to work in the morning in China here...weird, huh?), headed over to the Embassy, and piled onto the bus. From there we headed to the Jade Factory...which was....well, interesting. It was cool to see the different colors there are and to see the stuff being made, but the factory wasn't exactly state of the art. Haha. After that we headed out to the Ming Tombs. A pretty lengthy bus ride, but we got out of the city and started seeing fields and mountains and all sorts of good nature-y stuff. Learned about ancient dynasties and other such quality information, took some pictures of funny signs (one of which I have conveniently included in the visual portion of this post), and then headed off to lunch with yet another tourist shop attached! Surprise! Lunch was pretty good, always is. Haha.
After good ol' lunch, we boarded the bus and departed for the walllll! Oh man. The wall was SO cool. Besides it being sweltering hot and climbing eight years up the side of a mountain to get to the top (since I decided to be stubborn and not go up in the gondola with the rents) and then being super sweaty for the rest of the day...it was awesome. It was so worth all the sweat when we got to the top. There was blue sky (believe it or not) in patches around the area, and there was green everywhere, and the wall is just a sight in itself. It's amazing how much work had to go into the building of it and how long it has been there! Whew! Crazy business. Just so cool!
Then we went back down (yes, I gave in and rode in the gondola) and got haggled by all of the shop owner people to barter for their goods.
Onward! We peaced out to head to our duck dinner. Twas delicious. The bus driver was amazing. The manuever he took to get into this driveway. Unbelievable. I don't even know how he did it! So we ate ourselves into oblivion and that was that. Homeward bound for a large night of sleep. Exhausting!
I'm going to have to write about the other days in different posts...they come with different pictures...haha.
Part of the Ming Tombs
Please, don't stride.
THE GREAT WALL...
...OF CHINA
Aquaduct...or so Brain says. (Pretty sweet shot from the bus on the way out if I do say so myself :))
Alright. So. We have had quite a couple of days here. Whew. On Tuesday we got up early, had some trouble finding cabs (I guess people go to work in the morning in China here...weird, huh?), headed over to the Embassy, and piled onto the bus. From there we headed to the Jade Factory...which was....well, interesting. It was cool to see the different colors there are and to see the stuff being made, but the factory wasn't exactly state of the art. Haha. After that we headed out to the Ming Tombs. A pretty lengthy bus ride, but we got out of the city and started seeing fields and mountains and all sorts of good nature-y stuff. Learned about ancient dynasties and other such quality information, took some pictures of funny signs (one of which I have conveniently included in the visual portion of this post), and then headed off to lunch with yet another tourist shop attached! Surprise! Lunch was pretty good, always is. Haha.
After good ol' lunch, we boarded the bus and departed for the walllll! Oh man. The wall was SO cool. Besides it being sweltering hot and climbing eight years up the side of a mountain to get to the top (since I decided to be stubborn and not go up in the gondola with the rents) and then being super sweaty for the rest of the day...it was awesome. It was so worth all the sweat when we got to the top. There was blue sky (believe it or not) in patches around the area, and there was green everywhere, and the wall is just a sight in itself. It's amazing how much work had to go into the building of it and how long it has been there! Whew! Crazy business. Just so cool!
Then we went back down (yes, I gave in and rode in the gondola) and got haggled by all of the shop owner people to barter for their goods.
Onward! We peaced out to head to our duck dinner. Twas delicious. The bus driver was amazing. The manuever he took to get into this driveway. Unbelievable. I don't even know how he did it! So we ate ourselves into oblivion and that was that. Homeward bound for a large night of sleep. Exhausting!
I'm going to have to write about the other days in different posts...they come with different pictures...haha.
7 comments:
HI Gregorkas!
We are all wearing our shirts daily (hope you have some extras because there are some fans here who would like to buy them) I love all of your entries and pictures. We have watched the games (over and over) We have Tivoed (sp?) them so we have been using the stop action to check things out.......Alison, be careful, those other teams are rough on you (and I'm sure you are always very kind to them!) We think we may have spotted Brad in the crowd of the last game but we could not see any other faces we recognized. You know it would be much easier if you would always wear your shirts.......or wear purple or something so that you would stick out for us to spot. Keep writing and sending pictures, we love it! Take care, Abbotts
Andrea, great posts. I hope you read this and can share with Brad that his cheering at the water polo game yesterday needs to be much improved. We DVR'd it and watched it last night. After one of the goals, they showed the crowd and Brad was hardly yelling. He was clapping, but not near the excitement I expect from a Gregorka! Also, you all looked great in HD!
Obviously I'm kidding about the cheering. But be sure to give Brad a hard time for us so that Friday (I think the next game) we see some intensity!
Love the updates! Keep them -and the great pictures- coming!
It was so great to finally spot some of the fam during the Italy game! I spotted the Maj ready in action with her camera, Brian and Brad having too much fun with the blow-up noisemakers - and then a solid shot of Brad and Brian (of course, with fabulous American flag bandana!) Andrea and Dave, where were you?! Hopefully you'll get some tv time during the Russia game!
And Alison, way to take on Chubaka, I mean Cassanova (ironic isn't it)...! Talk about taking one for the team! Also, your goal was so sweet - had to rewind over and over to hear the flattering remarks the announcers made about it. They (and of course all of us) are loving it!! Best of luck on Friday's game!!
-Brett
PS. Andrea great goal and we'll be watching Friday!
PPS. The Great Wall looks awesome!
Alison,
We are cheering for you in Anaheim, California.
Every time we see a picture of you, you are getting beat up! Protect your nose!!!
Remember: Play Hard, Have Fun, No Regrets....NO FEAR!!!
Love,
The Bogardus Family
Nice pictures Drea!!! And the name of this post is really funny hahahaha. YOU CRACK ME UP!!! Watching Alison has been SO SWEET!! Can't wait to keep watching! Good luck! And Drea (hahaha and drea) keep being cool!. Maggie Honeyman
GREAT GAME with Russia, TEAM USA!!! Awesome goal defense! Love your leaps and pummels, Alison, congrats on those scores! Keep it up! Thanks for your descripts and pics of the sights and adventures, Andrea! What a great week :)
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