Yesterday, Dan went out and grabbed tickets for Tim and I to go to Hangzhou today, so we woke up early to get a cab to the train station! It was time for the morning commute, so it was surprisingly hard to catch a cab. We wandered all over, but the cabs were all full! We were getting worried, but then we hatched a plan to walk to the hotel nearby. There are always taxis at hotels looking for tourists, and we were right! We hopped into a taxi and with a surge of relief, we were on our way. This was a different train station than the one we had gone to when catching a train to Suzhou. Apparently it's a lot harder to get to by metro, so Dan recommended we just take a cab since they are so cheap in Shanghai anyway. It was kind of nice to just take a car somewhere, rather than having to change metros a few times to get somewhere.
After a few frights in the cab (they drive so crazy in Shanghai!) we arrived at the train station and were promptly confused. Our ticket numbers were on the board, but there was a weird Chinese symbol after it, and it was in red. We didn't know if it was canceled, or delayed, or what. We finally tried showing our tickets to be let in, and they let us in, so we knew that was a good sign. So we wandered around looking for our numbers, and after a while we found them, but were confused even more! Our numbers were outside the door of a VIP lounge?? We showed them our tickets, and got let in, which was even more confusing because it was just a lounge. A room. With no entry to a train track. We stood around awkwardly while people watched us be confused with amused faces. Finally, everyone started pouring out of the room so we followed them and they all headed towards the track and the correct train. I still don't understand what happened, but we got on the correct train, got our seats, and we were on our way!
When we got to Hangzhou, we had to push our way through people telling us to get into cabs to be taken to fancy places via pictures on brochures, and then we were walking in the approximate right direction to the lake, which is where we wanted to go. It was a long, hot walk, with lots of tunnels underneath the street (since WHEN did cars become more important than pedestrians? I'd like to walk in the sun, not navigate two sets of stairs and a dark, dank tunnel every time I need to cross a street!) and eventually we arrived at the lake! It was so picturesque. It was exactly what I needed - a quiet, cute, scenic place where you could stroll around this huge lake and just get away from the hustle bustle of the city. It was so nice! We roamed around the path circling the lake. I saw a Starbucks, and since I was dying for something American, I went and got a frappachino! It tasted delicious. The whipped cream...was kind of odd...but the coffee itself was good! :) I still haven't figured out the whipped cream. We had some in various places and it was never good.
We really relaxed while walking around the lake. We took some photos, but I will have to add them later if I add any at all. The lake was so big and the weather was so bright that it was hard to take a good photo. There were lots of interesting boats moored at the side of the lake, or taking people across the lake. We contemplated taking a boat across the lake, but we didn't want to spend the money. I can't remember what it was that we ate for breakfast that morning, but whatever it was was so filling that we weren't really hungry for lunch. However, we were hot and thirsty, so we got some ice cream and soda from a vendor, and sat down to eat. We didn't have enough time to walk around the entire lake, so we turned around after a while and headed back to the train. Everyone stared at us the entire time because we were big, white people. The feeling of being gawked at so constantly is getting really old.
We made it back to the train just in time, and took the train home. The train back took us to the train station we had taken the first time, so we took one metro line to another metro line, then walked to a bus, and took the bus home! The public transportation in Shanghai is really complete.
Dinner was steak and potatoes with creamed spinach, courtesy of Dan's chef. It was pretty good!
After a few frights in the cab (they drive so crazy in Shanghai!) we arrived at the train station and were promptly confused. Our ticket numbers were on the board, but there was a weird Chinese symbol after it, and it was in red. We didn't know if it was canceled, or delayed, or what. We finally tried showing our tickets to be let in, and they let us in, so we knew that was a good sign. So we wandered around looking for our numbers, and after a while we found them, but were confused even more! Our numbers were outside the door of a VIP lounge?? We showed them our tickets, and got let in, which was even more confusing because it was just a lounge. A room. With no entry to a train track. We stood around awkwardly while people watched us be confused with amused faces. Finally, everyone started pouring out of the room so we followed them and they all headed towards the track and the correct train. I still don't understand what happened, but we got on the correct train, got our seats, and we were on our way!
When we got to Hangzhou, we had to push our way through people telling us to get into cabs to be taken to fancy places via pictures on brochures, and then we were walking in the approximate right direction to the lake, which is where we wanted to go. It was a long, hot walk, with lots of tunnels underneath the street (since WHEN did cars become more important than pedestrians? I'd like to walk in the sun, not navigate two sets of stairs and a dark, dank tunnel every time I need to cross a street!) and eventually we arrived at the lake! It was so picturesque. It was exactly what I needed - a quiet, cute, scenic place where you could stroll around this huge lake and just get away from the hustle bustle of the city. It was so nice! We roamed around the path circling the lake. I saw a Starbucks, and since I was dying for something American, I went and got a frappachino! It tasted delicious. The whipped cream...was kind of odd...but the coffee itself was good! :) I still haven't figured out the whipped cream. We had some in various places and it was never good.
We really relaxed while walking around the lake. We took some photos, but I will have to add them later if I add any at all. The lake was so big and the weather was so bright that it was hard to take a good photo. There were lots of interesting boats moored at the side of the lake, or taking people across the lake. We contemplated taking a boat across the lake, but we didn't want to spend the money. I can't remember what it was that we ate for breakfast that morning, but whatever it was was so filling that we weren't really hungry for lunch. However, we were hot and thirsty, so we got some ice cream and soda from a vendor, and sat down to eat. We didn't have enough time to walk around the entire lake, so we turned around after a while and headed back to the train. Everyone stared at us the entire time because we were big, white people. The feeling of being gawked at so constantly is getting really old.
We made it back to the train just in time, and took the train home. The train back took us to the train station we had taken the first time, so we took one metro line to another metro line, then walked to a bus, and took the bus home! The public transportation in Shanghai is really complete.
Dinner was steak and potatoes with creamed spinach, courtesy of Dan's chef. It was pretty good!
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