About 28 hours after I left home in Phoenixville, PA, I stepped into my room in Beijing and saw what looked like heaven in the form of a white double bed. One forgets how long that airplane ride to China is until you’re on it again and find yourself totally ready to get off that plane and then realize you have about 6 hours left still.
But, all was well because everyone on the team slept through the night thanks to melatonin, benadryl, and other such helpful tools in our toolkits. And, we woke to a breakfast buffet complete with the best cappuccino ever. I may or may not have had 3 servings.
Our guide Joan, who I’ve had for every orphanage trip, not only greeted me with a full-on running hug at the airport but also reported to the team today that she and I are best friends. She also said the weather today was just for us…which I may just believe because look at this, people. The heavens opened up and gave us blue like I’d never seen before in this part of the world.
Beaut-i-ful.
The few of the 15 on the team who had never been to the Great Wall had no idea how awesome today was for that. All of us marveled at the view. Some of us climbed higher and higher to see more of it. And, some of us, like myself, climbed a little for a few pics and then enjoyed the view from the bottom which was just as pretty.
Day 1 report – we’re doing great. And, now, this lady is going to take some more of her magic sleep potions and call it a night because I’ve gotta meet the rest of the crew at 6:30am to head back to the airport to journey a bit further into China where we’ll be for the rest of the trip.
But, no worries–cappuccino service starts at 6am. I’ll have plenty enough time for 2 or 3 before heading outta here.
