First morning in Chongqing, though it's only a bit after 6 am. We were so tired getting in last night, but Art and I are up early this morning, Lydia is still asleep. We're on the 30th floor, with a gorgeous view of the city skyline below us, which Lydia just loves--such a city girl at heart. The glass tube elevator on the outer face of the hotel took us up 30 floors in a breath-taking sort of way, enabling us to see just how high we were from the street below. Our guide, Anita, promised a walking tour later this morning, which includes Starbucks--there is a God :)
Just a bit more about our last morning in Changning City. We've not had any "western" food, though the Chinese breakfasts usually include their version of a western breakfast, as well as asian fare. Except yesterday in Changning City! We really felt that they had pulled out all the stops for us there, but breakfast was an amusing challenge. Our beginning Chinese and the wait staff's non-existent English was quite funny. We had an asian breakfast of: watermelon juice, green tea, a family-sized bowl of noodle soup, steamed bread and a couple of "pastries"--steamed buns with lotus bean paste filling, mildly sweet and very delicious. Oh, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs, served hot. Tasty and different, but we're here to experience the culture! The fresh watermelon juice is very good, and we had cantaloupe juice at the airport waiting for our flight.
This Empark Grand Hotel is quite amazing. Chinese beds tend to be a little smaller than a full-size, but here they are slightly bigger and they pushed two together, with a separate little bed for Lydia. One wall is floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beautiful city and city square. We have a glass desk equipped with a fax and computer connection, a mini bar, and a marble bathroom with separate glass enclosed shower. The sink is a large white porcelain bowl sitting on a glass and marble counter. We're told that this hotel has an Olympic sized pool, and and underground area of shopping and restaurants. We ate at a buffet (The Cafeteria) in the hotel last night. It was wonderful - the nicest buffet we have ever been to.
The hotel is decadently spectacular, and an amazing contrast to our hotel in Changning City yesterday. Although today is our "rest" day, we'll have a walking tour in the morning, yes and a mocha latte!, drop off a week's worth of laundry, and stock up on some grocery items. It's hard to believe a week ago at this very minute we were on our way to RDU to begin our adventure. This afternoon is time for adoption paperwork--unbelievable that there is still more to do. Tomorrow is the big day, "gotcha day" in adoption lingo. We're supposed to get Talia in the afternoon, the poor baby will be traveling about 6 hours to arrive in the city, so will likely be very tired and out of sorts. Last night was the first time we unpacked suitcases, as we'd only stayed one or two nights in each of the previous 3 hotels. I unpacked such little clothes for the baby! A couple of sweaters, as the Chinese expect babies to be bundled up, even when the temps are around 80. We see babies in two layers of thick clothing everywhere we go. They look comfortable, we're sweating in much less. We hope to post pictures of Talia in the evening (morning in U.S. time). We'll be able to post again later today with pictures of the city. We're still tired, but getting more and more excited as we get closer to getting our mei mei.
Just a bit more about our last morning in Changning City. We've not had any "western" food, though the Chinese breakfasts usually include their version of a western breakfast, as well as asian fare. Except yesterday in Changning City! We really felt that they had pulled out all the stops for us there, but breakfast was an amusing challenge. Our beginning Chinese and the wait staff's non-existent English was quite funny. We had an asian breakfast of: watermelon juice, green tea, a family-sized bowl of noodle soup, steamed bread and a couple of "pastries"--steamed buns with lotus bean paste filling, mildly sweet and very delicious. Oh, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs, served hot. Tasty and different, but we're here to experience the culture! The fresh watermelon juice is very good, and we had cantaloupe juice at the airport waiting for our flight.
This Empark Grand Hotel is quite amazing. Chinese beds tend to be a little smaller than a full-size, but here they are slightly bigger and they pushed two together, with a separate little bed for Lydia. One wall is floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beautiful city and city square. We have a glass desk equipped with a fax and computer connection, a mini bar, and a marble bathroom with separate glass enclosed shower. The sink is a large white porcelain bowl sitting on a glass and marble counter. We're told that this hotel has an Olympic sized pool, and and underground area of shopping and restaurants. We ate at a buffet (The Cafeteria) in the hotel last night. It was wonderful - the nicest buffet we have ever been to.
The hotel is decadently spectacular, and an amazing contrast to our hotel in Changning City yesterday. Although today is our "rest" day, we'll have a walking tour in the morning, yes and a mocha latte!, drop off a week's worth of laundry, and stock up on some grocery items. It's hard to believe a week ago at this very minute we were on our way to RDU to begin our adventure. This afternoon is time for adoption paperwork--unbelievable that there is still more to do. Tomorrow is the big day, "gotcha day" in adoption lingo. We're supposed to get Talia in the afternoon, the poor baby will be traveling about 6 hours to arrive in the city, so will likely be very tired and out of sorts. Last night was the first time we unpacked suitcases, as we'd only stayed one or two nights in each of the previous 3 hotels. I unpacked such little clothes for the baby! A couple of sweaters, as the Chinese expect babies to be bundled up, even when the temps are around 80. We see babies in two layers of thick clothing everywhere we go. They look comfortable, we're sweating in much less. We hope to post pictures of Talia in the evening (morning in U.S. time). We'll be able to post again later today with pictures of the city. We're still tired, but getting more and more excited as we get closer to getting our mei mei.
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