Wow, What a Day!

Wow is all I can say after our adventure yesterday. Thanks to the Ambien, Chris and I got about 6 solid hours of sleep. Despite this, we were still up at around 4am. After futzing around our hotel room for a bit, we headed down for breakfast, which was surprisingly yummy. We were also fortunate enough to Skype with the boys shortly after returning home from school. How awesome that was to see and talk to them from all the way on the other side of the world – and for free! During the night, snow fell and blanketed the city in a beautiful white dusting. It is gorgeous – but cold. I think it was around 32 degrees yesterday. We met our group at 9:30 am and thus ensued an all day trek to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (which we can see from our hotel window), the government owned silk factory, Hu-Tong village complete with a rickshaw ride, lunch and dinner. The architecture is simply stunning. Chris and I are the youngest in the group yet somehow managed to be the slowest! We were walking aimlessly with our mouths open taking it all in. We have both always been fascinated with architecture and you could spend endless days looking at the details in the Forbidden City. We did not return to our hotel room until after 6pm so needless to say we were beat! I think I mentioned previously that there are 4 other families in our group, 2 of which brought their kids. The kids did amazing for all of the walking we did and Chris and I were so impressed with them. It is impossible to convey the enormity of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The pictures just do not do it justice. Our guide, Sindy is also amazing. She works for a local travel agency and is extremely knowledgeable but also went to school in the U.S. at the University of Washington. Attached are just a few of the pictures we took. Our lunch and dinner were equally impressive. I had been warned that I would not like the food, but Sindy must know the right places, because it has been nothing less than awesome. We had a traditional lunch with various dishes and then a noodle dinner also with assorted dishes and it was all delicious!

Our schedule today is jam-packed. We leave at 8:30 am for the Great Wall, the Jade Factory, lunch, a brief visit to the Olympic Village, a Tea Ceremony and an acrobatic show followed by a traditional dinner of Peking Duck. Whew! I’m tired just typing it all. The good thing is, it keeps our minds off of the wait until we get Dani. We still cannot believe that in 2 short days we get to meet her. Driving around the bus and looking at the various sites, It feels surreal, like a dream and I am scared I am going to wake up. It is also wonderful to have the opportunity to travel with families who have done this before. They are invaluable resource for what to expect with our little one, how to handle it, etc. In one of the returning families, the wife is a social worker who deals with adoption and attachment. I have been asking her hundreds of questions! Well, we better go eat while we can and we are also going to find a Starbucks. We heard there is one not far from our hotel. Thank you all for your comments on the blog and e-mails, they are wonderful and Chris and I so enjoy reading them at the end of our long days.