So I was going to begin by writing a bit about today before I climb into bed. Well, as I climb into bed, which looked just luscious, boom…this is a bed. No I think it is a piece of wood with some slight padding on it. I can’t wait to see what pops says. I hope he won’t hurt himself when he falls into bed.
A very long day indeed. I know Becs has already posted and I do not know what she wrote since I can’t get on the blog. She will post as much as she can from what I tell her.
We left at 4am, arrived before 5 at Westchester, and was checked in and through security at 5:10am. I thought this is the way to fly to China! We were delayed because some paper work was incorrect. Then after a very nice flight to Atlanta, we arrived on time BUT the bagged helpers and greeters were not organized and so the time was a ticking. 15 minutes waiting at the gate, we almost missed our plane to China. We were the last one to board. We almost did not have time to sit when we felt the plane starting to move. I figured I had 16 hours to organize myself. Most importantly was the champagne and what to order for dinner as I was trying to figure out what to put where. Although the flat beds were unbelievable, the layout obscures the windows for the most part and there is oddly less space to put stuff then in coach. I won’t complain too much. Though the plane itself seemed a bit dirty and old for some reason.
Sixteen hours into Shanghai was amazingly comfortable. I slept for a good deal of the time while listening to The Help, Swan Lake I can’t remember the name, a fabulous story about two Chinese women, and Becs, help, the name of the movie about the facebook guy (the Social Network). Hopefully on the way back I can really watch them.
So we arrive in Shanghai, not able to see any Shanghai unfortunately as we flew in, ask directions on how to get to the other terminal for domestic flights, go through passport check and wait for luggage. Actually the luggage came so quickly we discovered it was all out by the time we arrived at baggage claim. EXCEPT guess whose bags were not there. Yup. So we spent the next hour trying to figure out where they could send it since of course we had no idea where we were going other than spending the night in Wuhan. Thank goodness the baggage guys were just lovely, and spoke English, well enough English, and we decided they could send it to Wuhan Airport. Hopefully it will arrive sometime tonight after midnight and we will claim it in the morning when we leave for Enshi. Stay tuned. At least I have a change of undies. I told Len to take a change with him, but somehow I forgot to pack a change for myself.
We arrived in Wuhan, greeted by the translator that helped pops last time, Betty. A lovely linguistics scholar who will fly with us to Enshi tomorrow and remain our translator for the Enshi visit. The driver and the hospital representative will drive back to Enshi.
It is so interesting, the hotel looks elegant from the outside. Inside it is not. Most importantly, the bathroom reeks from urine. I know you really did not want to know that.
Oh yes, pops found out tonight he is giving a lecture in Enshi! I still do not know my schedule. She was sad she could not take us sightseeing more; apparently becs there is an interesting boat ride and also very interesting caves. No time though. Unfortunately we are not staying at that hotel. Some miscommunication that pops didn’t want to stay there which of course was never the case; we loved that place.
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| Shanghai Airport |
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| Arriving in Shanghai |
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| First class shuttle to lounge in Shanghai |
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