Hey everyone!
This morning Tim, Aisling, Jack, Brenton, Maria, Damon, Sam, Emma, Howard and I went to the nearby 'Zoo Cafe' (filled with toy animals!) for breakfast. I had a yummy ham and cheese sandwich and it was great to hang out with everyone. Some of the others were either unwell or at Disneyland, but technically my part of the tour has now finished. I said goodbye to Damon and Maria as well as Brenton (who lives right near my best friend at home so I'm fairly sure I'll see once home!!) and then headed back to the hotel.
I checked out and then walked to catch the bus to my hostel. The tour hotel was expensive to stay on so I moved. The bus arrived just as I got to the stop and I easily travelled the 25 minutes south. My hostel room is pretty cosy and on the top floor with a big window. I have a private bathroom, an air conditioner that is doing an amazing job and heaps of space. All this for $30 a night which isn't bad!!
The trade off is it's not too close to a metro but there are heaps of buses around and with my phone it's quite easy. I caught a different bus to People's Square and met Tim. We spent the next three hours inside the free Shanghai Museum. It was fantastic!
Firstly we had to queue up for a little while, but they had umbrellas so we waited in the shade. Just as well, too. It's 37 here today but my weather app tells me it feels like 42. It's honestly like being in a sauna. I much prefer the cold and while it's been great to have a break from Melbourne's cold weather, I'm a bit over the heat!
We decided to start on the less crowded top level and first looked at the costumes of different nationalities in China from the past and present. Many of them were labelled as being from the first half and even the second half of the 20th century which we found quite amazing as they were very decorated and looked more old fashioned than that!
We also saw some objects from different times in this exhibition. At this point, a girl who was about 18 or 19 came up to me and very shyly said "you are so beautiful! May I have a photo with you please?" Considering I had gotten so sweaty my top was literally soaked through, she made my day! I told her of course and that she had made me day. She said "you are beautiful. Thank you! Have a nice day!" I'm going to miss feeling like a member of S Club 7!!
Our next hall was lots of jade items which increasingly got more complex and beautiful as the room progressed in chronological order and I assume tools etc became more advanced.
We checked out the currency exhibition. Before coins, objects looking like spades and some looking like knives were used as currency!! There were lots of coins as well and an interesting room which housed coins from the Silk Road.
Finally, on the third floor we checked out a hall of paintings and the calligraphy section. I loved the paintings and was particularly impressed by the huge scroll paintings that were metres long. The calligraphy was also really lovely but not knowing how to read the characters, we didn't get to know the meaning. We were pretty lucky with heaps of English signs around the museum in general though.
I was tiring at this point and had seen all of the parts I wanted to, so I got the bus back and stopped at the supermarket. On the way I just about spat my water out when I saw a girl who was probably 15 wearing a t-shirt that had something really rude written on the front! I'm assuming she didn't know what it said. We've seen some rippers on this trip but that was definitely the most vulgar!
I had a rest in my room including a shower, a lie down and watching some English news. Then I set off to meet some of the group for dinner (some had already left and some were at Disneyland). We met out front of the museum and Howard showed us around. I met the new girl, Grace, who's joining the group for the last part. She's from Switzerland and is really lovely! We walked as a group down the crazy Nanjing Road with its pretty lights and its department stores that opened in the late 1800s.
We had one last dinner and I couldn't help but feel a little sad at having to say goodbye to everyone. This week has flown by! This tour group has been one of the most easygoing I've been a part of. Everyone was really easy to get along with and I never felt left out. I said goodbye to everyone out the front and then headed back to my hostel at about 9pm absolutely exhausted. This particular bus had a cute little conductor lady with her very own seat. She had decorated it with a cactus!
I've checked in for my flight on Friday. Tomorrow I'm doing the French quarter walking tour dad recommended and a boat trip at night. Friday I'm just going to relax. Slowing it down before I get home :)
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
No comments:
Post a Comment