5/12. We got up early and had a nice breakfast on the patio before catching our cab to the airport. Yannis carried our 4 bags up the many steps on his shoulders. We had to take a roundabout way to the airport because there were more ships in port and the main road was closed due to too many people.
   We flew on Aegean Air to Athens, got our luggage, and went to Avis to pick up our car. We were able to take 94 around Athens and miss the city traffic. On to Nafplio!
   On the way to Nafplio, we were very near Mycenae, an important archaeological site in Greece which was once the city at the center of the Mycenaean civilization of between 1600BC and 1100BC.  We found a place  to park and walked through the historical ruins.  Mycenae is linked to several works of cultural significance, including the Odyssey and the Iliad. Today, Mycenae contains several well-preserved sites, including the Lion’s Gate and the North Gate, which form parts of its fortified walls and which once stood 18 metres high and 6 to 8 metres thick.
     Well, getting to Nafplio was not as easy as it sounded. Signage isn't great here and we were in Nafplio and didn't even know it. Drove around for awhile before we realized we were in the right place.  Now to find our B&B!  
     The Pension Andromeda is in Old Town and there is no driving throughout most of it. Streets are not well marked so after driving in  circles for a half an hour, Mike parked the car and went in search of it. After two tries, he found it and we checked in to our B&B, a quaint little place with only 5 rooms, for the next two nights.  Marina, the owner, greeted us with a smile and took is to our room, a lovely spacious room filled with antiques.  We have 2 balconies, both which look over bougainvillea-covered walking streets.  A nice bottle of Greek wine, fresh oranges and kiwis from their garden, and 2 bottles of water were in the room for us.  The room was spacious but the bathroom was very small.
     On the recommendation of our hosts, we dined at a taverna just down the street. We started by sharing a Greek salad and some bread and olive oil. Mike ordered the pork shank and I ordered the roasted lamb. Both were delicious!  We didn't order dessert but they brought us some sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sweet grapes.

5/13. Today we went to breakfast around 9:30 (breakfast is served from 9-11:30, very civilized!  Marina made us fresh-squeezed orange juice from their trees. It doesn't get much fresher than that!  There was a  buffet of spinach tart, a cheese and egg dish, fresh bread, yogurt, 5 homemade jams, local olives and coffee. A wonderful start to our day.
     We drove to Epidavros, just a short drive from Nafplio, where the largest standing amphitheater in Greece is located. What an amazing structure, and to think that it was built around 300 B.C.  It holds up to 15,000 people, and the acoustics are amazing!  Someone sitting in the top row can hear the person on the middle of the stage without a microphone.  We sat at the top and enjoyed the view as well as the shade and breeze.  It was 86 degrees today, so very warm.
      After leaving the amphitheater, we went to see the museum and the ruins.  They have uncovered many statues, columns, and decorative art over the last century.
      Returning to Nafplio, we drove to one of Naflio's three Venetian fortresses, the Palamidi Fortress. This hilltop fortress, built around 1711, is the best-preserved of its time in Greece. The best preserved is St Andrews Bastion, which has wonderful views of Nafplio and the Aegean Sea. There is a church as well as a prison still standing along with the outer walls and other areas of the bastion.
     We drove down to Karathona Beach, which lies just below the Palamidi Fortress and looked for sea glass for our daughter, Lindsay, who makes jewelry using sea glass. We didn't have much luck.
      Next we walked the city tour of Old Town Nafplio, stopping at the famous Antica Roma gelato parlor!  Lots of shops and restaurants along these very narrow streets.
    So much history in this part of the world!  I don't know why so many people find history boring (maybe their teacher just used the textbook and didn't make it interesting?). Mike and I continue to learn so much about the history and culture of the many places we've had the opportunity to visit. We are humbled and grateful for those opportunities.
    We dined at Arapakos, a seafood restaurant on the promenade. We had a mixed grill, which included calamari, octopus, small fish and shrimps. Mike enjoyed it; I would have been happier with fresh fish, but it was good to try something different.

5/8 and 5/9 We upgraded to business class for the 9 1/2 hour flight from Philadelphia to Athens. It was so nice having seats that make into a bed. After getting through Athens customs quickly, we checked in for our Aegean Airline flight to Santorini. A quick flight of 45 minutes and we were there. Cab picked us up and took is to Manos Small World, a lovely hotel in Firostefani overlooking the Aegean Sea.  Yannis carried our bags down many steep steps to the hotel.  Mr Thanassis greeted us and showed us our room.  Waiting for us was a bottle of Santorini wine, a liter of water, and some lovely tulips.  The room is very spacious and has a patio overlooking the sea and The island of Thirasia.
We walked around Firostefani (lots of steps, hills, pebbled walkway) and dined early at Remvi. I had moussaka and Mike had lamb in grape leaves, both delicious.
The sunset was gorgeous as there were a few clouds. We went to bed early (8:30 p.m.) and slept until 8:30 a.m.!

5/10 Breakfast was served on our patio; all homemade by Mr Thirassis' sister. We had a baked egg and feta dish as well as orange bread, crusty white bread, o.j., and coffee.
We walked to Thira (Fira) and looked way down below to where the ships anchor - although there weren't any ships today. Everyone has to be tendered in to shore. A cable car brings passengers to the top, or they can hike or take a donkey ride up.
Lots of shops, taverns, and small hotels all along the cliffs. We stopped back at our hotel to put sunscreen on and continued our walk to Imerovigli. It was mostly uphill, and we were looking forward to the walk back; all downhill. We found a tavern with 180' views of the caldera and had a Mythos beer. Very refreshing after our hike up the hill!  
We relaxed back on the patio of our hotel before getting ready to go to dinner. Our friend, Tommy Varzos, who is Greek and has been here many times, said we MUST go to Taverna Katina, just past Oia in Ammoudi at the top of the island. Mr Thirassis walked up the steep hill to the road with us and got us a cab.
It was 25 Euro for the cab, which took us through Oia to Ammoudi Bay. Here we found 5 taverns, all serving fresh fish.  We got a table right on the water at Katina and were served crusty bread with olive oil. The waiter took us over to pick out our fish. He suggested the sea bass, so we ordered that.  We also ordered grilled octopus (delicious!) and a fish salad, which came as a dip and went well with the bread and octopus. The sea bass was amazing!  So fresh and flaky!  I was stuffed but couldn't pass up the baklava for dessert. It came cut in two so we'd each get our own piece and with vanilla ice cream. Delicious!!

5/11 We slept in again and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of quiche with vegetables and feta cheese, a milk pie topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar, fruit, coffee, and o.j.
There were 5 ships in today so the towns were packed with people. We walked to Fira and looked around; got a gelato and walked back to Firostefani. Seeing the throngs of people and the 2 block long line waiting for the cable car to get back down to the ship reminded us of why we prefer to travel by land rather than wait in line to get off the ship and wait in line to get back on, spending only a few hours in each port.
After our walk, we sat on our patio and enjoyed a glass of wine and the beautiful view.
Dinner tonight was at Taverna Mama Thira. We had another Greek salad, tomato balls (Santorini is known for its cherry tomatoes), fresh grilled fish, and a wonderful dessert that tasted like apple pie in phyllo. Another wonderful meal and a fabulous day!

We had a delicious breakfast downstairs at the hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton Daning.  The buffet had so many choices; eggs, bacon, sausages, ramen with mushroos, bok choy and spinach, fruit, breads, pastries, dumplings, and a variety of other Chinese foods.

Sandy and our driver picked us up at 8:30 for a full day of touring.  We began the day at the Shanghai Museum, which had artifacts from 4000 years ago!  It was amazing to see brass pots and wine urns as well as ceramics made in the years between 1600 and 2100 B.C.  There were 4 floors with several exhibits on each floor; brass, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, currency, and stamps.

After the museum, we went to the Yu Gardens, built in the 1600s and containing houses with traditional Chinese furniture of the era, gardens, and ponds.  Next we went to lunch and had 10 courses of dim sum, including pork dumplings with soup inside (a traditional Shanghai dish), tomato soup, beef and vegetables, and chow mein.  

Sandy then took us to a silk factory, where they showed us the fascinating process of spinning silk, starting with the life cycle of the silkworm, where we saw the different stages), and continuing with the spinning of the silk threads and finally the making of the silk material.  What an interesting process!  We ended up purchasing a pure silk duvet, duvet cover, pillows, and pillow cases.

Next we visited the French Concession, originally a French neighborhood, looking very European.  It is now home to some trendy restaurants, bars, and shops.  We also visited the M 50 art region where many art students work and create their masterpieces.

Dinner tonight was at Pasta, where Paul, Judy, Mike and I split a margherita pizza, which was very thin and quite good.

On Saturday morning, we slept in and ate a late breakfast, hailed a cab and went to Nanjing Street where there is a market where locals sell their wares.  I found some nice silk pajamas, a small Coco Chanel purse, and a passport cover, while Mike got himself a leather Prada wallet. Their knock-offs here looked very real!  Judy found 2 purses and a clutch as well as a cashmere sweater.

We met Paul and Judy for a drink at the bar, and they headed out for an evening tour of the food market.  Early to bed as Sandy and our driver will be picking us up at 5:30 a.m. for our 7:55 a.m. flight to Beijing.  From Beijing, we’ll fly to LAX and then home to Phoenix.

Up at 4:30 for our 5:30 a.m. pick up. We got to the airport in plenty of time and flew to Beijing, where it was a zoo!  there were long lines to go through customs and we barely made it to our flight.  14 hour flight to LAX but fortunately no one in the middle seat so we had a bit of extra room.  Once in LA, we got through customs quickly with our Global Entry but had to wait a long time for our luggage.  Then it was a race to get to Terminal 1 from Terminal 3 to catch our SW flight to Phoenix.  We had to check our bags as "late check in" and were advised they may not make the flight. We made it to the gate as the B Group was starting to board. Bumpy flight and then rain storm in Phoenix so we had to circle for 25 minutes. We just wanted to get home!  Our luggage made it (yay!), we picked up the car and drove home. Arrived at 2:30 and had to force ourselves to stay awake until 6:30 when we both fell asleep. I woke up at 11:30 p.m., got up and worked for two hours and back to bed. I got up with my alarm at 7:30 to go to kettle bell class and Mike headed to the pickleball courts.  Back to reality!,

Xi’an
 
We arrived at Xi’an (pronounced “She-an”) with a gentle rain to greet us. Ivy, our local guide, filled us in on the history of Xi’an while driving to the Great New World Hotel. The lobby was beautiful, but the rest of the hotel was a bit tired-looking.   We had dinner with Judy and Paul at the western restaurant and had an early evening. 
 The next day we drove to the site (again in the rain) where the terracotta warriors were discovered in 1974. What an amazing history!  Around the year 200 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, decided he needed an army to guard his tomb, so he had more than 8,000 warriors built. The life size terracotta statues are found in 3 separate pits; pit one has 6,000 infantry soldiers, several hundred horses and several carriages. Each warrior is about 6 feet tall (taller than the actual people at the time) and has unique features.  
Pit 2 has 1700 middle guard warriors as well as horses and carriages. Pit 3 has only 68 warriors.  These were the officers so this is considered the command center. 
All of the statues were found in broken pieces and many of the warriors have not been fully repaired.  Just like Humpty Dumpty, it will take years to put some of them back together again. Seeing all the pieces reminded us of a giant jigsaw puzzle. 
We had lunch at the on-site restaurant where we watched the chefs ‘throw’ handmade noodles; some very thin used in a ramen soup, and thicker noodles which served with a yummy ground pork sauce. 
Afterwards, we went to the Muslim center of Xian where we visited the mosque and walked along the open market to find numerous exotic food and dry good vendors. China has a large Muslim population, though only 8% of China's population practices a formal religion. The largest is Buddhism, followed by Taoism, and then Islam. 
We dined with Judy and Paul at the hotel's Chinese restaurant and ordered way too much food!

Our local guide, Windy met us on the ship in Chong Qing (pronounced Chongchin) where we had to walk up many steps from the ship. "Stick men", as they are called, men carrying our luggage over their shoulders with ropes tied on a pole, had to walk up those same steps.

Windy took us to the Chong Qing zoo where we got to see the pandas!  There were 9 pandas in residence, including YaYa and LingLing and a 7 month old baby panda.  Above you'll see YaYa (mother) and the baby and below is LingLing, the father.  We learned that they are all kept separate because they don't really like each other. If a mother panda has two cubs, she will bond with one and either reject or kill the other. They've had to show "panda-porn" movies to get the male and female to mate.

There were two groups of people doing Tai Chi in the park.   I loved their silk pajamas!  I think I'll have to get some.

Afterwards, we had lunch in a 5th floor garden restaurant in Chong Qing; very spicy food!  This Minnesota girl, who is used to salt and pepper as spices, found that if I bit into one of the pepper seeds, my mouth was on fire!

 We checked in at the airport around 1:00 for our 2:05 flight to Xian.

After breakfast, we were picked up at Badding by a large ferry and taken to the Shennong Stream, a tributary of the Yangtze, which is the first of the three gorges.  What a beautiful sight, floating down the narrow river with lush, green mountains on both sides!   Our guide, Catherine, pointed out a hanging coffin, which has been there for 2000 years, on the side of one mountain.  It is a mystery as to how it got there.  There are four remaining.

After lunch, we entered the second of the three gorges, the Wu gorge considered to be the most beautiful of the three. It is home to the 12 famous peaks, including "Goddess Peak".  A couple of hours later, we entered the third gorge, the Qutang Gorge, which is the smallest at 5 miles.

We had cocktail hour at 5:45 and dinner at 6:45, followed by a cabaret show by the staff.  This included dancing of traditional Chinese dances, music, and magic.

The next day we again awoke to fog on the river in Shiboazhai. Most of it burned off by around 8:00 a.m.  Our tour guide, Travis, took us through town where we had to fight off all the vendors who were trying to sell us their wares.  Lots of "made in China" stuff!

We visited Shiboazhai's famous red pagoda, which has 9 levels plus 3.  Very steep stairs.
Back on the ship, we sailed all along Chongqing.  The Chinese claim this is the largest city in China with 32 million people, but it covers 3000 sq. mi. And is spread throughout a large area along the Yangtze. The actual city itself has 4-5 million.

There's Mikey in the pagoda!

We arrived in Yi Chang and Sophia and a new driver met us at the airport and took us to the Victoria Anna, the ship we'll be cruising the Yangtze on for the next 4 nights. We were assigned our room, 507, on the top level and upgraded to VIP status. For dinner, we ate with Paul and Judy and had pepper beef, wonton soup, fish fillets, and fried rice.  The ship is very nice - there's a small gym downstairs, a nice bar and lounge on the 5th floor, and restaurant and sun deck on the top.

Since our room wouldn't cool, we moved next door to 509 around 11:30 p.m.  Then it was off to bed to get ready for an early day tomorrow.  

Breakfast on the ship is served between 7:00 and 8:00; fruit, cereal, rolls and bread, as well as egg, bacon, sausage, and vegetables and a few Chinese dishes.  Marion, the cruise director introduced the staff and we had a safety drill. An optional tour was offered to see the Three Gorge Tribe but we chose to stay onboard. In the afternoon, we drove to the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world.  The dam is located at the village of San Dou Ping, and is now a major transportation hub connecting the eastern and western parts of China.  There are 5 locks for the ships to go through there, which takes about 3-4 hours.

The dam changed the water level in the river from 75 meters to 175 meters, covering 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1350 villages.  1.2 million people were displaced and relocated. The project was plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, environmental impacts, human rights violations, and resettlement issues.  Most of the people were moved to high-rise apartments/condos along the river or to the cities.

Back on the ship was a happy hour for the VIPs onboard with drinks and appetizers. Afterwards was the Captain's welcome cocktail with champagne and more appetizers followed by dinner.
It was early to bed for me!

We woke to Beijing smog but since the winds were blowing, the smog soon moved out and the day was sunny and warm. After packing our suitcases for the flight to Yi Chang later today, we took a long walk in the park.  The peach, plum, and magnolia trees were all blossoming pink and white.
 This weekend is a holiday weekend in China to honor family members who have died, and the park was set up with festive pink umbrellas and Chinese lanterns.
Jason Song, our tour guide and our driver took us to the airport for our late afternoon flight.  The flight to Yi Chang was about 2 and 1/2 hours.  
Sophia and a new driver met us at the airport and took us to the Victoria Anna, the ship we'll be cruising the Yangtze on for the next 4 nights. We were assigned our room, 507, and upgraded to VIP status. For dinner, we ate with Paul and Judy and had pepper beef, wonton soup, fish fillets, and fried rice.  Since our room wouldn't cool, we moved next door to 509 around 11:30 p.m.  Then it was off to bed to get ready for an early day tomorrow. 

We woke up to the Beijing smog we’d heard so much about today.  After such a beautiful blue sky yesterday, it was interesting to see the contrast.  After a lovely breakfast at the Marriott, we drove about an hour to the Summer Palace.  Here the Empress had a man-made lake and man-made mountains built for her pleasure.  Pretty grounds with paddle boats and pontoons on the lake, but our tour guide said that the water in the lake is the city’s drinking water.  The empress ate 128 dishes at each meal; a bite of each (or not).  Even if she really liked something, she would only take one bite, as she was afraid of being poisoned.  She did have someone else taste the food first.  The leftovers were thrown away as the empress did not think anyone else suitable to eat her food.

We then drove to a large jade factory with beautiful jade jewelry, sculptures, and art work in different colors of jade.  We had lunch and headed to the Great Wall.  Wow!  What an amazing structure the Great Wall is.  This is a series of fortifications mad eof stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials where some sections were built as early as the 7th century B.C.  This was to protect the Chinese states and empires against raids and invasions.  One of the most famous sections, built 220-206 B.C. by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.  Little of that wall reminas.  Since then, it has been built and re-built, maintained and enhanced, with the majority built during the Ming Dynasty.

The wall was originally 5,500 miles, made up of 3,889 mile sections of actual wall, 223 miles of trenches and 1,387 miles of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 13,171 miles.

We walked up to the fourth gate from Badaling.  The first two gates weren’t too bad, but gate 3 and 4 were very steep and we were breathing pretty heavily by the time we reached gate 4.  There were many who went on from there.  It was such an amazing experience to think about how long those walls had been there and to imagine how they were built.

On the return to Beijing, we saw the 2008 Olympic Village and the famous "Birds' Nest" Stadium, host to many spectacular events at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Seeing the Great Wall was the highlight of our trip to China!

Our 12-hour flight from LAX to Beijing turned into 14 hours due to a volcano erupting in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.  We had to detour around it and fly over the Arctic circle.   Once we landed in Beijing, our tour guide, Jason, met us at the airport around 9:00 p.m. and took us to our hotel, the Marriott Beijing.  The hotel is very nice, modern, and quite new.  We were upgraded to a lovely two-room suite with views of the city.  After leaving LAX at 2:20 p.m. on Monday and arriving at our hotel at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday evening, we were ready for bed!

The Marriott has a wonderful buffet breakfast with 5 or 6 stations -  fresh cooked eggs, fruit, bread, and bacon, as well as dim sum, noodles, and pot sticker soup as well   At 9:00 a.m. we met Jason and the other couple on the tour, Judy and Paul, from Long Island, NY, and headed for Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (Chinese Imperial Palace), now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  We had expected a group of 30-40 people on our tour but got lucky and are getting a private tour for four!

We had no idea how large the Forbidden City is; there are 980 buildings and it covers 180 acres..  We walked through gate after gate, leading to the palaces and residences.  These are not standard gates, like we think of in the U.S., but large wood and marble structures as big as very large house.  Many of these buildings were constructed in the 1400s and housed the many emperors and dynasties of China.  It took one million people working for 14 years to build the city.  We were told this is the slower time of the year, but there were hundreds of people visiting along with us.

After 3 hours (and about 4 ½ miles of walking), our driver picked us up and we went to a local restaurant for a typical Chinese lunch.  We had cabbage soup, potato pancakes, beef and onions, rice, chicken, zucchini, and peanuts, eggplant, cabbage, and melon for dessert.