The Summer Palace

After a great day of Wall climbing, we came to our hotel and were greeted with turned down beds and slippers.  The slippers were a favorite for Pryce:)

 After a good night's rest, we set off for a day of adventure touring the Summer Palace.

 Pryce was always a good sport about my picture taking habits during the entire trip:)

 We toured the Kunming Lake portion of the Summer Palace. 

 We loved this man and his talents!  He was busy writing Chinese characters with a large paintbrush and water.  We walked by and he immediately began sketching the face of one of our team members and then wrote "Hello".....

 Some of my favorite photos from the trip were taken here.....

 this is the China that I envisioned years ago before our first visit.

 My travel partner....

 looking back, this time in Beijing was so good for all of us.  It was the calm, the known. 

 We were all healthy, excited, and anticipating the days to come.

 On this day, Pryce looked at me and said, "I can't wait to meet the children tomorrow!"  And he couldn't.  

 Following our morning of touring at the Summer Palace, we chose to dine at a local restaurant that reminded me somewhat of a Disney dining experience....

 although the menu selection was far from Disney:)  Braised Beancurd with Fishhead anyone?

 We arrived in our province that evening with a surprise pizza dinner!  My happy place.  Mind you, the Chinese food is good yet so different from what we have here in a Chinese restaurant.  And I am not a chop stick master.  Many times during this trip I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman as food would fly right out of my hands - "slippery little suckers." And you don't always know what you are eating.  

For a person who is a bit finicky in her own backyard, eating the unfamiliar was a bit daunting.  However, dinnertime was always a high point.  Laughter was a guarantee at each dinner.  No matter what we encountered during our day, dinner was a time to bring us each to a place of happiness....not because we were untouched by what we had seen during the day, but because it was a time to unwind and unstress due to the reactions of everyone as plates were passed around our table. 

But pizza was familiar.  And it was comfort in the uncomfortable.  And it did bring me (and others) much happiness after all was said and done each evening.