It was a great party, but we were too jetlagged from China, so we only stayed a couple of hours :(
Shay being bartender:
And Maayan playing with Noah (Wolf's son)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Party the Aachen style
We arrived to Aachen just in time for the graduation party:
It was a great party, but we were too jetlagged from China, so we only stayed a couple of hours :(
Shay being bartender:
And Maayan playing with Noah (Wolf's son)
It was a great party, but we were too jetlagged from China, so we only stayed a couple of hours :(
Shay being bartender:
And Maayan playing with Noah (Wolf's son)
From China to Wiesbaden
We had a short 9 hours flight from China to Frankfurt. Upon our arrival we went to see Tanya who works at a nice hotel at the city center. It is on the 22nd floor, which is quite unique to Frankfurt, since there are almost no skyscrapers there.
So, while we were waiting for Tanya to finish her shift, we enjoyed the lovely view:
We then took a train to Wiesbaden. A beautiful area which is only 30 minutes by train. Tanya was very kind and took us to dinner at a typical German resturant. We had a huge schnitzel and Shay was extremely happy because of two things:
1. He likes German food (and it was also a refreshing change after three month of asian food)
2. At the enterance to the resturant there were the two old gizzers from the Muppet Show!
And here is a group photo...
So, while we were waiting for Tanya to finish her shift, we enjoyed the lovely view:
We then took a train to Wiesbaden. A beautiful area which is only 30 minutes by train. Tanya was very kind and took us to dinner at a typical German resturant. We had a huge schnitzel and Shay was extremely happy because of two things:
1. He likes German food (and it was also a refreshing change after three month of asian food)
2. At the enterance to the resturant there were the two old gizzers from the Muppet Show!
And here is a group photo...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Of Mao and Kite
This morning we decided to pay our respects to Chairman Mao.
We walked to Tiananmen square and were about to enter the Mausoleum but where told we needed to deposit our bag and camera. Maayan decided to wait outside, having no interest in mummified bodies in the first place, and not being in the mood to run back and forth to deposit the bag (not even in the same building but across the street and through the security check- twice).
Shay went in to pay his respects and reported that either the wax copy of the body was on display today, or else they did a very good job in making the preserved body of Chairman Mao look like wax.
This is the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall from the outside:
From there we went on to visit the forbidden city, passing on our way through The Gate of Heavenly Peace (this is truly its name):
In the courtyard, the soldiers were learning to march
So we went on, passing The Gate of Supreme Harmony:
At the innermost part of the forbidden city lie the three sacred halls: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall o Preserving Harmony.
They were once nicely decorated but are now badly renovated and not as impressive as they might have been 500 years ago.
Through the Gate of Heavenly Purity and around the Palace of Heavenly Purity and Palace of Earthly Tranquility we arrived at the Imperial Garden and left the city through the Gate of Divine Prowess.
The nicest thing about the forbidden city is the grand names the gave things in it Other then that, maybe they would have done better to keep it forbidden and save us the time and money spent on walking through it.
We bought a kite and walked to the Olympic Park to see it for ourselves. On the way, we found a bunch of Kite Experts flying their kites and decided to try our new kite.
Shay assembled it
And the experts assembled around us and gave us advice
It turned out we needed plenty of advice and a lot of help as the kite did not fly. We added a tail, changed the string, went further and further but no luck. The Experts tried too
and eventually we all decided we need a new Kite. A better one.
So tomorrow we are going shopping :)
After the kite flying we went to see the bird's nest:
Note: the Beijiners are all driving electric scooters:
We walked to Tiananmen square and were about to enter the Mausoleum but where told we needed to deposit our bag and camera. Maayan decided to wait outside, having no interest in mummified bodies in the first place, and not being in the mood to run back and forth to deposit the bag (not even in the same building but across the street and through the security check- twice).
Shay went in to pay his respects and reported that either the wax copy of the body was on display today, or else they did a very good job in making the preserved body of Chairman Mao look like wax.
This is the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall from the outside:
From there we went on to visit the forbidden city, passing on our way through The Gate of Heavenly Peace (this is truly its name):
In the courtyard, the soldiers were learning to march
So we went on, passing The Gate of Supreme Harmony:
At the innermost part of the forbidden city lie the three sacred halls: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall o Preserving Harmony.
They were once nicely decorated but are now badly renovated and not as impressive as they might have been 500 years ago.
Through the Gate of Heavenly Purity and around the Palace of Heavenly Purity and Palace of Earthly Tranquility we arrived at the Imperial Garden and left the city through the Gate of Divine Prowess.
The nicest thing about the forbidden city is the grand names the gave things in it Other then that, maybe they would have done better to keep it forbidden and save us the time and money spent on walking through it.
We bought a kite and walked to the Olympic Park to see it for ourselves. On the way, we found a bunch of Kite Experts flying their kites and decided to try our new kite.
Shay assembled it
And the experts assembled around us and gave us advice
It turned out we needed plenty of advice and a lot of help as the kite did not fly. We added a tail, changed the string, went further and further but no luck. The Experts tried too
and eventually we all decided we need a new Kite. A better one.
So tomorrow we are going shopping :)
After the kite flying we went to see the bird's nest:
Note: the Beijiners are all driving electric scooters:
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Great Wall and the peking duck
Early in the morning, we took the subway to the bus station where we boarded the bus that would take us half way to the wall. From there we were to take a taxi, but we were woken up brutally from the nap we caught on the bus and told to get off, only to find out we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. It was the usual tourist trap. Maayan naively answered "yes" at the bus station in the morning when asked by a woman if we were going to walk on the wall. The woman then spoke to the bus driver, who delivered us to her friends who were waiting eagerly in the "middle of nowhere" in which we were dropped.
Got it?
So, here we were, surrounded by "taxi" drivers willing to take us all the way to the start of the hike, then pick us up at the end of it (some 10 km away). Sweet.
Shay haggled like there is no tomorrow, then got them down to less then half the original price. It was actually not to bad to be driven there and back instead o taking the usually over-crowded minibus (last minibus ride Maayan had chickens under her seat and- no offense, the locals stinck!).
We arrived at the Great Chinese Wall a lot earlier then we expected (it took almost 3 hours to get there as it was) and ater the initial climb from the parking lot, we started walking on the wall itself.
It is beautiul!
The 10km section on which we walked is not the widest part on the wall - no more then 5 meters at the widest point and as little as 2 in places. It is only renovated at the areas closest to the villages - at the beginning and end of the hike - the rest is somewhat crumbly.
This is one of the renovated parts:
The hike is all up and down :) the wall is on top of the ridge and gaurd towers are located at the highest and lowest points in irregular intervals. And mountains and valleys all around!
There are stairs whenever the decline/acsent is steep - stair size varies from mini-step to Extra-Large Giant-step. And I mean Giant. Some stairs were more then knee-high (for Maayan. Shay was later heard to comment "the stairs where not so tall").
All the way, the locals are sitting on the wall, selling anything from T-shirts and souveniers to ice water and cold beer.
Some of the towers are ruined. The local villagers took a lot of the bricks from the Great Wall to builed their homes (which is why only sections of the wall survived while others are completely gone).
At this part, the wall is only an elevated road, really. The batresses are missing
At the river, you pay to cross or walk back the way you came...
Ater a 3 hour hike, our driver was waiting for us at the end of the trail and happily inquired if we had lunch (probably wanted to take us to eat at his uncle's place), then took us back to the bus.
We arrived in Beijing in early afternoon and after a rest went out to try some more of the local cuisin
Peking Duck
The duck is served sliced: skin (suculent, said Shay), lean meat, and fat meat - each served on a separate dish, with all that was left of the duck (bones, fat and other parts) served later ater being deep-fried. You also get flat pancakes, sliced cucumber and scollions and a sauce.
1. Spread sauce on pancake
2. lay on the pancake your choice of duck, cucumber and onion
3. roll
4. eat
Look how much Shay is enjoying himself:
Got it?
So, here we were, surrounded by "taxi" drivers willing to take us all the way to the start of the hike, then pick us up at the end of it (some 10 km away). Sweet.
Shay haggled like there is no tomorrow, then got them down to less then half the original price. It was actually not to bad to be driven there and back instead o taking the usually over-crowded minibus (last minibus ride Maayan had chickens under her seat and- no offense, the locals stinck!).
We arrived at the Great Chinese Wall a lot earlier then we expected (it took almost 3 hours to get there as it was) and ater the initial climb from the parking lot, we started walking on the wall itself.
It is beautiul!
The 10km section on which we walked is not the widest part on the wall - no more then 5 meters at the widest point and as little as 2 in places. It is only renovated at the areas closest to the villages - at the beginning and end of the hike - the rest is somewhat crumbly.
This is one of the renovated parts:
The hike is all up and down :) the wall is on top of the ridge and gaurd towers are located at the highest and lowest points in irregular intervals. And mountains and valleys all around!
There are stairs whenever the decline/acsent is steep - stair size varies from mini-step to Extra-Large Giant-step. And I mean Giant. Some stairs were more then knee-high (for Maayan. Shay was later heard to comment "the stairs where not so tall").
All the way, the locals are sitting on the wall, selling anything from T-shirts and souveniers to ice water and cold beer.
Some of the towers are ruined. The local villagers took a lot of the bricks from the Great Wall to builed their homes (which is why only sections of the wall survived while others are completely gone).
At this part, the wall is only an elevated road, really. The batresses are missing
At the river, you pay to cross or walk back the way you came...
Ater a 3 hour hike, our driver was waiting for us at the end of the trail and happily inquired if we had lunch (probably wanted to take us to eat at his uncle's place), then took us back to the bus.
We arrived in Beijing in early afternoon and after a rest went out to try some more of the local cuisin
Peking Duck
The duck is served sliced: skin (suculent, said Shay), lean meat, and fat meat - each served on a separate dish, with all that was left of the duck (bones, fat and other parts) served later ater being deep-fried. You also get flat pancakes, sliced cucumber and scollions and a sauce.
1. Spread sauce on pancake
2. lay on the pancake your choice of duck, cucumber and onion
3. roll
4. eat
Look how much Shay is enjoying himself:
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Arrival to Beijing
We landed in Beijing at noon. Left our big bags at the Airport's left luggage (A GREAT INVENTION!) and went to check out how Beijing looks like after the Olympics.
The Airport is quite beautiful. It has three HUGE terminals and gives you the sensation of a really big hall without any supporting columns.
By the time we finally arrived and settled down, it was already dark. We found our way to the famous Tiananmen square and to the entrance of the forbidden city (which we'll probably see in a few days):
Our main goal for this night was to find the famous night market that appeared in Gidi-Gov's show. They sell a lot of weird stuff there. For example - scorpions and sea horses on a stick!
This is food, mind you, so no yuck noises!
No. We skipped those ones and tasted something more conventional :)
This guy tried the sea horses...Gotta love his face!
It is a very long street, and it is a feast to the eyes!
Weird dumplings ?
On the top right corner - MARBE RAGLAYIM (centipede).
Bottom right - GLAMIM, and bottom left - sea stars. All can be deep fried and served on a stick.
OK. Tomorrow we are going to check the great wall. Stay tuned!
The Airport is quite beautiful. It has three HUGE terminals and gives you the sensation of a really big hall without any supporting columns.
By the time we finally arrived and settled down, it was already dark. We found our way to the famous Tiananmen square and to the entrance of the forbidden city (which we'll probably see in a few days):
Our main goal for this night was to find the famous night market that appeared in Gidi-Gov's show. They sell a lot of weird stuff there. For example - scorpions and sea horses on a stick!
This is food, mind you, so no yuck noises!
No. We skipped those ones and tasted something more conventional :)
This guy tried the sea horses...Gotta love his face!
It is a very long street, and it is a feast to the eyes!
Weird dumplings ?
On the top right corner - MARBE RAGLAYIM (centipede).
Bottom right - GLAMIM, and bottom left - sea stars. All can be deep fried and served on a stick.
OK. Tomorrow we are going to check the great wall. Stay tuned!
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