May 1, 2011

Today in My History

2000: What's "gay," Daddy?
2001: I Want Monty!
2002: Let There Be Life!
2003: Oh My Aching Back
2004: The Roads Less Traveled
2005: Dog Day Morning
2006: Gastronomic Delights of Boston
2007: A Hick from the Sticks
2008: Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite
2009: ABCs of MEMEME
2010: The Age of Aquarius

Bitter Hack
Updated: 4/25
How to Succeed in Business
without Really Trying

Books Read in 2011
Updated: 4/4
"Kiss the Girls"
"Absolute Power"

VIDEO OF THE DAY/WEEK

Untitled from Bev Sykes on Vimeo.

And on YouTube

Most Recent on My

Brianna's 3rd Birthday

Mirror Site for RSS Feed:
Airy Persiflage

My Compassion Kids

Postcrossing Postcards

The Pen Pal Project

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A NEW MONTH, A NEW LOOK

1 May 2011

Well, the new look for this month reflects our upcoming trip. I can't believe that in just a little over a week we will be flying off to Shanghai. Time to try to clear spaces away for Ashley, change the sheets on the bed, lay in a supply of treats, and try to let Polly know that Ashley won't eat her and that I will be home again eventually!

We are so fortunate that Ashley is willing to come, bring her own dogs, and live in our house while we are away. It solves the problem of finding a kennel for 3 dogs and it keeps the house occupied while we're gone. It's the best of all possible worlds. And we try to treat Ashley well too!

I so enjoyed keeping a journal of our Russia trip, but things will be different this time. I have been told that there is no wifi on the ship and the only internet access will be on the ship's computers, which apparently move at the speed of dial-up. But we are only on the river five days and there is supposed to be wifi available when we are in hotels. So I am going to write journal entries every day, so that I will have a good record for me, but I may wait to post them until we are on land, so there may be several entries posted at once and days will pass with no entries. Or I could get lucky and discover that if I have a flash drive I can post them on the ship's computers. I'll have to wait and see.

China has so many restrictions (you can't get Facebook or Google in China, I understand), that it may be that I won't be able to post the story of the trip until we get back home again. We'll all just have to be surprised, won't we.

But in case you're interested, here is our itinerary as we know it now....

W 11	Lv. SFO 1:30 am <-- Note that is AM!!!
Th 12	Change planes in Hong Kong. Ar. Shanghai 10:30 am, Check in		Portman R-C
F 13	Old Shanghai & Yuyan Garden tour in am; silk carpet workshop & Shanghai Museum in afternoon; acrobat show in evening.	B,L,D	Portman R-C
Sa 14	Fly to Wuhan in am; museum & bells performance in afternoon; board ship.	B,L,D	V. Emerald
Su 15	Cruising; school visit in Yueyang in am; welcome reception in evening.	B,L,D	V. Emerald
M 16	Cruising; Three Gorges Dam Tour in afternoon; cruising through locks in evening.	B,L,D	V. Emerald
Tu 17	Cruising; Lesser Three Gorges tour in small boat; cruising overnight to Shiboazhai.	B,L,D	V. Emerald
W 18	Shiboashai Pagoda tour in am; cruising the rest of the day.	B,L,D	V. Emerald
Th 19	Visit Chongqing zoo in am (SEE PANDAS!); fly to Xian after lunch; optional dinner show in evening.	B,L,D	Kempinski
F 20	Terra Cotta Army in am; fly to Beijing after lunch.	B,L,D	Regent
Sa 21	Great Wall tour in am; Ming Tombs after lunch; optional Peking duck dinner and Peking Opera in evening.	B,L,D	Regent
Su 22	Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City in am; Summer Palace tour after lunch; some free time in afternoon.	B,L,D	Regent
M 23	Fly to Guilin	B;L,D	Shangri-La
Tu 24	Li River cruise in am; walking tour of Yangshuo village after lunch; fly to Hong Kong.	B,L	Kowloon Shangri-La
W 25	Hong Kong Island tour in am; free time the rest of the day.	B	Kowloon Shangri-La
Th 26	Free time in Hong Kong.	B	Kowloon Shangri-La
F 27	Lv. Hong Kong 2:05 pm; Ar. SFO 11:35 am	B

We will only be on the Viking Emerald for five days, which I'm sad about, since it was so nice to load our stuff into the ship in Russia and then not to have to pack again until the end of the cruise. But the trade off is that all of our hotels are supposedly 4 star hotels, and reports about the hotels from people who have already done this cruise are glowing.

I'm starting to get excited.

Additions to the royal urinary habits discussion from yesterday:

John S Fitzgerald: The British motto of a "stiff upper lip" must apply to their toiletry habits as well...never show emotion and never need to pee

Linda Courtemanche: I kept thinking that if it were me up at that altar, I'd be saying, "Dad. I have to go. No, I really have to GO! NOW!!" :-)

Miriam H. Nadel: Oh, come now. Surely you remember the folk tale of the Princess and the pee.

Marte Brengle: You know how they took the wedding party aside after the ceremony? It wasn't just to sign the paperwork. :)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

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(I couldn't resist sending this card to Cindy today!)