July 16, 2013

Shanghai

This morning Abby and I sat with a few cute little couples while we ate our hash browns and dragon fruit and spring rolls. Sadly, this was our last morning at the Fairmont so we packed our bags before we loaded the bus. We were scheduled to do a bit of touring before we embarked on the Victoria up the Yangtze river. Our first stop of the day was once again the shopping center that we went the day before. My parents and I high tailed it to the tea shop to get some really good quality tea…mmm oolong. Next we headed to a big museum that was the urban planning museum and the art museum combined. On the first floor there was a model of the city center and on the second floor there was a miniature of the entirety of shanghai. It was massive and it was amazing to see just how extensive it was. Just the model alone was about 40 yards across at its longest point. We could see exactly where our hotel was and the very streets that we had been walking the night before. It was a very cool sight to behold. After marveling at the city for a good amount of time we were bustled into a 360 degree theater that took us on a virtual tour of some of the highlights of the city. You know the Soaring ride in Disney World? It was like that…except we weren’t lifted into the air. And instead of getting a tour of Disney, we got a tour of Shanghai. Despite the faint motion sickness that it induced it was pretty neat.

The third floor was the art museum. I didn’t get to see much of the actual artifacts but there was this neat room where there was free paper and pastels so all the children, young and old, sat down at the miniature chairs and easels to let their creativity flow. In the end we all proudly hung our creations on the wall for all to see. It definitely made my day. Finally our last stop before the ship was the observation deck of one of the highest buildings in shanghai to get a view of the whole city. We rode to the top floor, which only took 45 seconds. The view from the top was a bit hazy, but once we looked past that it was incredible. Beside pressing our noses to the glass, we also just relaxed up there a bit and bought fans and pearls and other cheap stuff.

Finally, it was time to board the ship. As we stepped off the coach we were met by our cruise director. I’m sure I can speak for the whole family when I say that we were all teeming with excitement as we took our first steps onto the ship. The moment was scored wonderfully with a band playing on the pier in the background. Overall, this moment brought back memories of our river cruise in Germany a few years back.

The ship consisted of five decks with a lobby and shops on the bottom deck along with a dining room (exclusively for the Clarks),  a club, a game room, a barbershop, and another dining room for the remaining guests. Unfortunately, the top deck was pretty bare; no shuffle board in sight. But then again, it was so hot and humid I’m not sure we’d want to go out there regularly anyways.

Me and Abby would be sharing a cabin, and upon stepping inside we decided right away that we needed to make it more homey. So we shoved the beds together, put away our clothes, turned down the thermostat, spread coconut lotion everywhere and did other little odds and ends to eventually get the room looking cozy.  I’d say we succeeded. Our room was right next to David and Wills so we chilled on the connecting balcony for a while until it was time for dinner.That night there was a little welcoming ceremony after dinner in the ship’s club which was fun.

That night we were rocked to bed by the gentle waves with the anticipation of tomorrow on our minds.

At the top of Shanghai’s tallest building. You can tell that Marcus is really enjoying himself The urban planning museum and the miniature model of the Shanghai in all it’s glory A golden replica of the towers in Shanghai…not relevant, but still neatA cute little garden nestled into the center of the city, and also the site where we took our first family pictureOne quirky thing about China is that you always see people dancing in the street. At this point I had only been in China for three days and this was the third time I had seen people dancing.