2012-02 Suzhou

 On Saturday, I took the high speed rail from Shanghai to Suzhou for a day of sightseeing.  The trains run between 150 to 200 mph on elevated tracks going to many destination from Shanghai.  The 70 mile distance between the two cities took less than 30 minutes, much better than the 1-1/2 or more hours by car.  The best thing was the cost of only 40RMB ($6.50) each way.  When I arrived at the train station, I was inundated with offers for bus tours of the city for 15RMB.  Not knowing how good the English would be or how long it would take, I ventured on my own.

I got in my cab and was going to head for Jinjihu Lake.  I couldn't find a map at the train station, and the cab could not figure out where I wanted to go from the map on my phone, so I called a hotel on the waterfront and had them give the cab driver directions.  I made it to the hotel and then went in and got a local map and cab card with the various atrractions listed in Chinese.  I was now ready to head out.  A new twin towers building is being built on the west shore of the lake.  There is a large open park area that looks like it would host concerts and events, and it overlooks a dancing waters fountain in the small bay area.  It would be fun to be here in the summer for the show. 

While I was walking along the lake, I noticed a bunch of lime green bikes along the sidewalk.  These were part of a bike rental program that Suzhou has.  Unfortunately, I couldn't read directions on how to obtain the bike, otherwise I would have taken one to expand my range on my walking tour around the lake.



My next stop was Canglang Pavailion, a 1000 year old garden on small lake.  I made it easily by cab with the map and cab card from the hotel.  The garden coordinates the harmony between the rock formations, buildings and plantings.  Since it is surrounded by walls, it is very quiet and peaceful inside the garden area. 



I walked about a half mile south to the southern boundary of the old city, which is created by one of the many rivers and canals running through the city.  Suzhou is know as the Venice of China since much of the city is traversed by water.  Water taxis and small boats line the canals and bring people about the city, especially tourists.



In the shopping area, I wandered past a bar that had some very unique decorations out front including a 20' tall quitar as a sign and a sculpture of Larual and Hardy carrying a keg into a door that was surrounded by musical instruments.  This would have been a fun place to check out if I was going to be in Suzhou for the evening, but it was only 11:00AM and wasn't even open yet.



I now headed up to Tiger Hill, a 100ft high hill on the northwest side of town.  On top of the hill was large tower built half on bedrock and half on soil, so it started to lean to the side, much like the leaning tower of Pisa.  This one started to lean while it was being built, so the upper floors are built to compensate for the earlier lean.  I even tried to straighten it up, but to no avail.  Up until a few years ago, it was open and you could climb up the tower, but now more.  Tiger Hill is a popular tourist destination and is also surrounded by canals.  You can take a boat ride around Tiger Hill, or even take a horse drawn carriage around the grounds

The grounds around Tiger Hill are full of gardens and trees.  It is a very pretty park, and being on top of one of the only hills around, you can get a nice view of the surrounding Suzhou area.  After visiting Tiger Hill, I headed back down to find a cab to take me back tot he railway station for my quick train trip back to Shanghai.  A fun day making my way around Suzhou without a word of Chinese in my vocabulary that could be useful.  Thank goodness for cab cards and tourist maps from an international hotel to make getting around relatively easy.

2012-02 Nanjing

I spent a night in Nanjing while on a supplier visit.  We went to a local restaurant with pick your fresh fish right in the entry area.  The food was chosen and then it was prepared for you and brought to your table.  Most meals in China a family style with multiple dishes brought out one by one and everyone sharing the food.  Most of the time the table is round and there is a lazy susan in the middle to make it easy to get the food in front of everyone.  Like most of the meals I have had in China, it was very good.  My biggest problem is I don't usually know what or how much is ordered, so I am never sure when I will be done eating or how to portion out my meal.

 I stayed in a nice hotel with a large garden area in between the buildings.  A covered walkway between he buildings went over a pond area.   There were rock gardens an walking paths out behind the buildings.  It was very pretty layout, and I am sure it looks spectacular in the summer when everything is greened up. 

The back side of the building overlooks a large open area that runs up to a large lake.  A large barbeque and bar area sits on the waterfront.

2012-02 Shanghai

 The first few days in Shanghai, I stayed on the western side of town near the Hongqiao Train station.  This was  a new part of town for me, so I took the opportunity to explore the area.  there were many parks on this side of town with both sculptures and nice landscaping.  This time of year, many of the trees are bare, but one particular tree that is very common has white bark that stands out as they line the streets.  Many of them had been trimmed back almost to the trunk, so it would be interesting to see how they grow in this spring.

One interesting thing I was was how one of the local phone company was using their telephone booths as WiFi hotspots that could be accessed along the streets and in nearby buildings.  There still are many phone booths and pay phones around, but I never saw anyone using them





On Sunday evening, I went XinTanDi for dinner.  It is a combination of some older buildings housing many restaurants and a large new shopping complex.  Outside the complex was a year of the dragon sculpture made up of metal and lights.

My last sop for the evening was at YuYuan Gardens.  Besides the gardens, which were already closed, are many shops selling local souvenirs and goods.  It is a fun place to walk through and enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of Shanghai.  As I approached the area I was asked to take a picture of a young couple in front of one of the brightly lit building.  I complied and we started to chat.  They invited me to a tea tasting event nearby, but I declined.  On the way home, another couple asked me to take their photo in front of the same building.  We chatted, and they too asked me to go with them to a tea tasting event nearby, so now I figured this was one way that they were trying to get tourist to come and buy some stuff making it look like just a casual meeting when it was all staged

2012-02 Taipei Lantern Festival

I happen to be in Taipei during the time of the Lantern Festival, which follows Chinese New Year by a couple of weeks.  On Friday night I took the subway to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Civic Plaza where the festivities took place.
Special stage shows were taking place along with a light and fountain show every half hour.  The night was foggy with some drizzle, and the low clouds were obscuring the Taipei 101 building in the background to various levels throughout the evening.





This is the year of dragon, so many lanterns were dragon themes.  Many of the local community groups and schools put together very elaborate displays with multiple lanterns.  All of the lanterns were lit internally, and some included choreographed lighting making the lanterns appear to come alive.  It was a fun evening in Taipei.




  











On Saturday, I went down to the original site of the 2011 Flora Expo, which is still open as a public park.  Many of the buildings are still there, but some of the smaller venues have been removed.  Also, some of the gardens are being maintained, although not to level they were during the Flora Expo.   

 








An old soccer stadium is now a partially enclosed auditorium.  In the open area, the seating area have been turned into a large planting area filled with flowers and plants

2011-12 Our Christmas Letter

December 17, 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

We hope you had a good year in 2011.  With Christmas right around the corner, we are wondering if we will have a white Christmas here in Minnesota this year as we have had only a few inches of snow this winter and most of it is gone with warmer temperatures on the way.  Quite a contrast to the foot and half of snow we had this time last year.

Mariah (20) is a junior at the University of Denver.  She just returned from a 5 month study abroad program in Mendoza, Argentina.  Mendoza is on the west side of Argentina up along the foothills of the Andes Mountains and is known for its vineyards and wines.  She honed her Spanish language skills while there living with a host mom, taking her classes in Spanish, and interacting daily with all the locals.  She also took the opportunity to visit numerous areas in Argentina including Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, along with Santiago, Chile, and Punte Del Este, Uruguay.  She is studying accounting and would love to find a job where she can continue to speak Spanish, travel and explore the world.

Kara (17) is a senior at Eagan High School and is excited for her upcoming graduation.  She is on the golf team and is looking forward to the start of the spring season already.  She has been on the yearbook staff the last couple of years and enjoys working with photography and design layout.  She is interested in studying advertising and business next year in school.  We traveled to various colleges in the Midwest this year to help her find her next home.  She is planning on attending Drake University in Des Moines, IA next fall.

Hailey (15) is a sophomore at Eagan High School.  She now has her driver’s permit and will be able to take her license test next April.  Hailey was confirmed this fall at Easter Lutheran Church.  In the summer she plays soccer and during the fall was on the sophomore volleyball team.  She will again be playing on a traveling volleyball team this winter. 

Ray got a few more rounds of golf in this year thanks to some early practice rounds with Kara in the spring (a great reason to get more golf in).  He also continues to “hunt for Tupperware in the woods” (geocache), ride bike (although no long rides this year), and began wood turning with a new lathe he got in January.  He travelled quite a bit the first half of the year to Asia and Europe for Advantek, getting to go to a few new places along the way, including Germany and Holland. 

LeAnn has been doing a lot of scrapbooking in preparation for Kara’s graduation, and reliving a lot of the memories that the old photos bring back in the process.  She also enjoys golfing and yoga as often as she can.  She is still teaching pre-school classes for the city of Eagan.  In February, she went with her mom, Lois and Ray’s mom, Karren to visit Mariah in Denver for Moms and Grandmas weekend.  They toured the city and got to go to a bunch of Mariah’s favorite places.

In February, we went to the Phoenix area to visit LeAnn’s mom, and take in a spring training baseball game, golf, and lots of sunshine and warm weather.  In June the whole family spent a long weekend with Ray’s family on Madeline Island in Lake Superior enjoying the peace and quiet in a beautiful setting with near perfect weather while we were there.  In August we went up to Cloquet to take a whitewater rafting trip on the St. Louis River.  October brought us to Ft. Worth for the wedding of LeAnn’s niece Amy Moberly to Jeff Collins.  The wedding was beautiful and the weather cooperated for the outdoor event.  While there, we also went to visit the area that Ray grew up in Dallas, which brought back a lot of old memories for him and his mom.

The highlight of the year was Ray and LeAnn’s visit to Mendoza to visit Mariah for a week in November.  We stayed in a small boutique hotel near Mariah and explored the city and country, both by foot and by bike.  We went kayaking, zip lining, and biking through wine country.  We also spent one night at a very modern winery about 1-1/2 hours south of Mendoza.  Since it was spring down there, everything was green and growing, in great contrast to the beginning of winter up here.

                                                                                      Have a Great Year,

                                                            LeAnn, Ray

                                            Mariah, Kara, and Hailey

Email:  bloom2511@hotmail.com  

Blog: www.bloom2511.blogspot.com

Mariah’s blog: www.onesmallgrainofsand.wordpress.com

2011-11 Posada Salentein, BBQ Asado, and Our Last Day

On Saturday, we rented a car and drove about 1 hour and 45 minutes south of Mendoza to the Valle de Uco and the Bodega Salentein.  Mariah had found this place on the recommendation of one of her freinds, whose parents stayed here during their visit, so we decided to stay here one night.  It is absolutly georgeous setting, surrounded by vineyards, mountains and open space.  the air was clear and clean, and the stars were brilliant.  We stayed at the posada (lodging) and visited the bodega (winery) on the finca (farm).


 When we arrived, the parking lot was full and we found out that there was a birthday party going on for one of the top dogs of the winery.  Our room was not quite ready, but we were offered a glass of wine and sat at on the veranda and enjoyed the views and weather.  Once our room was ready, we were so plesently suprised to how nice the room was.  It was a two story room with two large bedrooms, a kitechenette and dining area.  Waiting for us on the kitchen table was a bottle of Malbec to greet us.


We walked through the vineyards and took a lot of photos while we were waiting to go on a horseback ride around 6:00.  We drove about 2 miles to the horse stable and met up with our guide.  The horses were all very mellow and always felt like walking rather than galloping or trotting, which was fine with us.  We took a trail out through and laong the edge of multiple vineyards, all seperated by very atall trees used as windbreaks.  We had a great view of the mountains on our left side the entire trip out.  As we were going through the trees, I tried to take some pictures, but it was a lot darker than it seemed and they all came out blurry.  Mariah was able to get some clear photos fortunately.

Coming back, we went through the heart of the vineyard on an access road with grapes, olives and walnuts on each side of us.  We rode for a little over an hour as the sun was setting and it was starting to cool off.  Once we got back to the posada, we changed clothes and went to the restaurant for dinner.  We had a nice 4 course dinner with 3 different wines matched to the various foods we were having.  As with all of the food we had while there, it did not disappoint.

We got up for breakfast on Sunday morning before heading the Bodega for a tour of the winery.  Besides the winery, they had a large art gallery and sculpture garden on the grounds.  Before the tour, we decided on what wines we wanted to buy to bring back home, along with a couple of other souvenirs.  

As we were heading between the welcome center and the winery, we happened to grab an umbrella because it looked like it could rain.  After the tour, we were glad we had the umbrellas because it was raining hard.  The winery at Salentein Bodega is very new and modern, it was built about 10 years ago.  The winery not only is a functional winery, but it is also set up as a show place that can host events in a very unique environemnt.  While we were there, a piano was set up in the middle of the floor surrounded by barrels of wine that were aging.  Waht a great place it would be for a fancy function.

Salentein has it own bottling machine and is one of the few wineries that has it own bottling machine and can take the wince from grape to bottle all in the same place.

Once we finished the tour, we headed back to Mendoza for an asado (a large barbeque party) that Mariah and Susy were having for us and their friends.  It was raining very hard for about the first 45 minutes of our drive back, which was all on 2 lane roads.  About the time the rain quit, was about the time we got back to the divided highway and the driving got easier.

We got back to our hotel and dropped off our bags before walking back to Mariah's for the asado.  One of Susy's friends was helping with the grilling (indoor on the stove since it had been raining).  We had about 5 different kinds of meat including blood sausage, a gland from the throat of a cow, some ribs, chirizo sausage, along with salad, olives and dessert.  The food was great and we also got to meet 6 of Mariah's friends who were part of the study abroad program with her.

After dinner we drove out to the southwest along mountains to enjoy the scenery in a different part of town.  Mariah had a test on Monday, so we headed back and skipped dinner so that she was able to study and put her presentation together (although later she would get a reprieve on that).

Monday we packed up and tried to fit all the extra items (mainly bottle of wine) into our luggage for the trip home.  We met Mariah to go get some gelato, which we had wanted to do all week but hadn't found the time.  there were over 20 flavors to choose from.

We stopped in a small market so Mariah could get some fruit for a snack, and were suprised to find a mini museum in the market.  In the back room was a display case loaded with stuffed (taxidermy) birds and animals.  I had noticed a few foreign currency bills under glass on the counter when I checked out, and then we noticed that all the walls above the shelves were filled with coins and currency from around the world.  Who would have thought that a small market in Mendoza could be a destination and learning center, that's what makes exploring new places so much fun.

We decided to walk with Mariah to class since we had not seen the school yet.  All the students gather outside the building until they are called in by the professor.  As we were waiting, the professor recognized that we must have been Mariah's parents (I guess we don't look like college students anymore), and came over to greet us.  When she found out we were going to the airport in about an hour, whe exceused Mariah from her presentation that day and told her she could do it on Wednesday instead so she could come to the airport with us.

We walked back to the hotel, got our bags and grabbed a taxi to the airport.  We checked in and tried to get our bags checked all the way to Minneapolis, but since we were on 2 different tickets, they were not able to.  We headed to the security line, had some long goodbyes, hugs and thanks with Mariah for all she had done for us while we were there and headed to the gate.  Our flight was listed as an hour late, but arrived just a few minutes late and we were on our way only about 20 minutes late and got one last look going over the Andes.  When we got to Santiago, a transfer agent was at the end of the Jetway, took our baggage tag numbers and assured us our bags would get re-tagged to MSP.  Our flight to Atlanta was going to be about an hours late due to flight crew rest requirements, so we had over 5 hours to kill in the airport.  We had some drinks, food and wondered through some shops.  we got boarded about 10:30 PM and I think I was asleep about 45 minutes later.  We got in about 7:00AM and were hoping our bags made it.  We got a little worried as more and more people got their bags and left the carousel.  Finally, our bags came off at the end of the last group of bags.  We cleared customs and immigration, rechecked the bags to MSP and had about 30 minutes before our flight left.  We got on the train to go out to the next to the last terminal and got to our gate as the flight was boarding.  We were back in the US, on our last flight, with all of our bags accounted for and no broken bottles.  The end of a great vacation to Mendoza!