November 16, 2013-
The kids have Thursday and Friday off from school…seems like a perfect time to get "away", right? Where to go though???
My friend, Agnes, suggested we head to Beijing with our families…and you know what? I've always wanted to spend more time wandering around the Beijing Hutongs.
Ready to spend the day meadandering around the alleys that make up the hutongs?
WE ARE!!!!
The girls and I drove up to Beijing on Friday morning. Mark will be joining us later…quite a bit later. We'll be staying in the Ascott Beijing – a popular place for expats to stay as they have rental apartments that accomodate large families. You know…families with more than one child is considered to be a large family.
I know.
Hilarious, right???
Anyway….. where was I???
Friday night and Mark's not here yet… what should we eat for dinner? Annie's! It's a chain of Italian restaurants in Beijing that serves up comfort food. And pizza! And pasta! Yum!
Now Mark is here and we brought him take-out lasagna for his dinner. :-)
Our apartment has THREE bedrooms…THREE! Not one, not two BUT three! And four beds. WOW!
I think there's space for all of you too! Find a spot and let's get some rest as tomorrow we're heading out to the hutongs with our friends. :-)
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GOOD MORNING!
Guess what???
We've got BLUE skies today! Perfect for a day of walking around outside. 🙂
Let's eat breakfast at the hotel and head out on the town.
Here's a smattering of photos from our walk with our friends: Agnes, Robert, Zoe, Max and Milla:
An interesting study in contrasts:
I LOVE the doors on the buildings in these alleys:
Lucky Family Hotel:
The gang sitting and taking a break:
Loving this sign:
We had a FANTASTIC and YUMMY Indian lunch… especially perfect for a slightly chilly day. Indian food is the perfect thing to warm up your soul. :-)
Ready for some more walking???
Or perhaps silly pretend swinging kids into the cold lake?
And now it's Milla's turn:
Such a pretty lake!
How about some roosters??? You got some just hanging around your place too, right?
Whoa. We just found this cool playground! Except…part of me thinks it's not supposed to be a play ground for KIDS but rather an exercise park for ADULTS. Guess what though? The kids certainly know how to have fun on all the equipment!
What a fun way to spend the day!!!! I just love walking around – with no place in particular in mind…just winding in and out of places and small, narrow alleys going wherever the wind takes us. I think we all could use that every now and again. Plus, we were never really lost (thank goodness for iDevices).
Thank you to our wonderful friends!