Tuesday 30 September 2014
China, September 2014
August 11th 2014
Yesterday we said goodbye to our great friends from San Francisco who stayed with us for three and a half weeks. We travelled around Ireland with them and shared some great memories. We hope to see them again soon.
Now I turn my attention to my next two trips. September 10th I set off for China with my brother Eamonn. This will be our first trip together since we were small children so I'm very excited about that and also at the prospect of spending time in China. I will post details of our travels once we get back.
I must also get back on my training program in preparation for a hike to Everest Base Camp in the Spring of 2015.
China 2014 - Photos on Flickr
Monday 29 September 2014
September 10th - Day 1: Travelling to China
UPDATING THIS BLOG WITH DETAILS OF MY TRIP TO CHINA. A WORK IN PROGRESS
UPDATING FLICKR WITH PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP TO CHINA. SOME IMAGES ALREADY LOADED AND YOU CAN VIEW THEM HERE:CHINA PHOTOS - WORK IN PROGRESS
I've wanted to go to China for many years and walk/hike along the Great Wall. The hike will have to wait now that I've seen it. Anyway, I initially tried to convince my wife, Brenda, to join me on the adventure but she was not keen on the idea of travelling so far this year. I mentioned this to my brother Eamonn who expressed some interest in the trip. Within days Eamonn called about an organised trip by the Travel Department, setting out in September. I have never gone on a fully organised trip and would have had reservations but Eamonn assured me that the Travel Department have always delivered whenever he used them in the past. Within an hour we were booked on the trip.
Eamonn and I had not been on holidays together for over 50 years, since we were young children. This, I thought will be great and I was not disappointed.
Day 1: September 10th 2014
I arrived at Dublin Airport for 6:30am and called Eamonn's mobile. He was a bit behind schedule but would arrive just 15 minutes behind me. We checked in and made our way through security to relax in T2.
I find it almost impossible to sleep on a plane so I was not looking forward to two eight hour flights, back to back to reach our destination. The first leg of our journey would take us to Abu Dhabi Airport. We we about 30 minutes behind schedule getting off the plane so we had to make a mad dash to T3 in Abu Dhabi to get our connection to Beijing. We made it on time but this flight took off about 30 minutes later than scheduled.
So, after two flight, several movies and too much airline food (it wasn't all that bad really) we arrived in Beijing. Between the flights and time difference we reached Beijing on the morning of Day2 in need of a shower and some sleep. It was not to be, not yet anyway.
UPDATING FLICKR WITH PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP TO CHINA. SOME IMAGES ALREADY LOADED AND YOU CAN VIEW THEM HERE:CHINA PHOTOS - WORK IN PROGRESS
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| Terracotta Warriors |
I've wanted to go to China for many years and walk/hike along the Great Wall. The hike will have to wait now that I've seen it. Anyway, I initially tried to convince my wife, Brenda, to join me on the adventure but she was not keen on the idea of travelling so far this year. I mentioned this to my brother Eamonn who expressed some interest in the trip. Within days Eamonn called about an organised trip by the Travel Department, setting out in September. I have never gone on a fully organised trip and would have had reservations but Eamonn assured me that the Travel Department have always delivered whenever he used them in the past. Within an hour we were booked on the trip.
Eamonn and I had not been on holidays together for over 50 years, since we were young children. This, I thought will be great and I was not disappointed.
Day 1: September 10th 2014
I arrived at Dublin Airport for 6:30am and called Eamonn's mobile. He was a bit behind schedule but would arrive just 15 minutes behind me. We checked in and made our way through security to relax in T2.
I find it almost impossible to sleep on a plane so I was not looking forward to two eight hour flights, back to back to reach our destination. The first leg of our journey would take us to Abu Dhabi Airport. We we about 30 minutes behind schedule getting off the plane so we had to make a mad dash to T3 in Abu Dhabi to get our connection to Beijing. We made it on time but this flight took off about 30 minutes later than scheduled.
So, after two flight, several movies and too much airline food (it wasn't all that bad really) we arrived in Beijing. Between the flights and time difference we reached Beijing on the morning of Day2 in need of a shower and some sleep. It was not to be, not yet anyway.
September 11th - Day 2: Arrived in Beijing
We arrived in Beijing China on Day 2 of our trip. Our guide met us once we collected our bags etc. He explained we were too early to check in to our Hotel so a trip was arranged to the Temple of Heaven http://en.tiantanpark.com/default.aspx
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| Temple of Heaven |
September 12th - Day 3: Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City
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| The Group: Billy, Mary, Jack, Michael, Ginny, May, Gerry, Mary, Paul, Eamonn and David |
Tian An Men Square
Forbidden_City
Qianmen Walking Street
September 13th - Day 4: The Great Wall, Jade Carving Factory and the Sacred Road
China Day 4:
The Great Wall
The Sacred Road
Jade Factory
Olympic Park
Molly Malones: Pool and Pints
The Great Wall of China
The Sacred Road
Molly Malone's Pub Beijing
jhjh
September 14th - Day 5: Beijing Zoo and the Summer Palace
China Day 5:
Beijing Zoo and the Giant Pandas
The Summer Palace
Market
The Legend of Fung Fu: Spectacular
Tian An Men Square by night
Related Links:
Beijing Zoo
The Summer Palace
The Legend of Kung Fu
September 15th - Day 6: Rickshaw in Hu Tong and Lama Temple
China Day 6: ***42nd Wedding Anniversary****
Rickshaw tour - Hu Tong
Lama Temple
Tea Rooms
Sanlitun shopping Village and Yaxiu Market
Yonghe_Temple (Lama Temple)
Hu Tong
Yaxiu Market
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