Shanghai….

We arose early, 5 AM, unfortunately too early to have a last fabulous breakfast at our lovely hotel but to have more time in Shanghai. Our bus was full with the addition of the group from India and our usual travel companions, the Japanese.  We were all headed to Shanghai, a seven hour journey to catch our perspective international flights, through mountainous green terrain with white concrete villages where one mountain ended and another began. We dropped off the group from India at their hotel and then headed for ours in Shanghai, checked in, had a bite to eat and then headed out again with a friend of Yana’s, Jason, another professor from the University of Arizona. They knew where to go, we piled into two taxis, and went to The Bund, a designated section of Shanghai’s port along the Huang Pu River lined with beautiful neo-classical buildings and a waterfront promenade. We explored the area, walking, buying tea in an intimate tea room where we sampled many teas, eating ice cream popsicles, and always there was room for another dumpling. Some went on a river trip but I opted to return to the hotel and prepare for the next day of adventures before we headed for the airport and our evening departure. At breakfast, Yana announced she was heading out immediately with Jason to return to the Bund and she’d take two others with her- I immediately signed up. She had an agenda: The Bund, the Confucius Temple, the Yuyuan Garden, the Jade Buddha Temple, the Peoples Park and a French Quarter. We did it all and still made it through customs and our gate on time. I survived, rescued many times by younger traveling companions; made new friends from around the world and was humbled by the tradition and duration of my craft.  It was the trip of my lifetime!