Shanghai and Mighty (Days 15-18)

We started our explorations on Sunday, July 13 by patronizing the Guinness World Record Highest Library on the 60th floor of our hotel, the JW Shanghai Marriott. Over the next week, I tore through Dr. Paul Brand's part-biography, part-medical history Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, a great find off the shelves of the 757½-foot high library.

Sadly, 'Garfield Shoves It In' was checked out.

In the library, as if we were part of a spy movie or ghost story, a host showed us a secret hidden bookshelf panel that swung open to reveal a door to the hotel's outside observation deck. 

We took in the view of the city looking out over People's Square on, looking back now, one of the few days where the pollution was "bad." Our first and last day in Beijing were the only other noticeably smoggy days where one could taste and smell the oily air and visibility was limited. Otherwise, pollution was virtually a non-factor throughout the trip.

It burns!

That afternoon we enjoyed one of the most lavish meals of the month on the 30th floor in the Marriott Café; an international buffet with a variety of dishes from India, Japan, China and beyond. We had our fill of oysters, crab, shrimp, sushi, pâté, lamb, beef, vegetables, pasta, desserts and bottomless glasses of champagne for the adults. The service was impeccable and the view was lovely, so we milked it for all it was worth and decided to not regret spending almost US$400 for a meal like that once a decade or so. 

After another visit to the pool (where we went through our usual routine of begging the kids to stop jumping in and out of the water, quit throwing kick boards and cease yelling at each other before the staff inevitably joins in), I set out alone into the hot and smoggy night air in search of a grocery store.

This posting near the hotel pool offered both  emergency preparedness and a new nickname.

On the advice of a bellman, I hopped on the subway for a few stops and then took a short walk to a Carrefour, an old friend from Europe and the main department store in Shanghai. The shop I found was a multilevel Walmart on Chinese steroids. Over all, it was a somewhat confusing experience; I had to check my backpack in a locker, where I needed assistance to understand the ticketing procedure, found the maze of busy aisles oddly organized and had to ask for help finding broccoli. I decided to take my time to explore every corner of the store and see all of the merchandise. Just about everything considered edible is available including bullfrog, pigeon and live turtles, and one can buy everything else from hiking gear to house paint. 

Kids' bikes from US $32 to $92, luggage for $36 and fabric softener for $4.

Bottled water and beer: sold everywhere in China, available in bulk at Carrefour.

At the checkout line, while waiting to pay for some semi-familiar food and beverages to take back to our kitchen I watched a store manager and young couple shout at each other for about five minutes. I was glad to get past the cashier without committing whatever offense had made the manager so irate. (It was one of a number of times we witnessed a loud verbal sparring match between various Chinese citizens. A couple of times I was able to take a photo or video but I failed to capture The Grocery Conflict.)

These guys were about to throw down by the Bund but they kept it to a heated staring contest.

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On Monday the 14th (day 16, the halfway point of our journey), we woke at 3 o'clock in the morning to watch Germany's World Cup final victory over Argentina. The play wasn't as exciting as some of the early round matches but we enjoyed seeing the championship atmosphere. It became a sports morning when we switched to MLB.TV to catch an Angels victory over the Texas Rangers. We are excitedly following the Halos' chase of the Oakland A's for the best record in baseball and I may or may not have used my brief forays into Buddhism and Shintoism to give our favorite teams some extra karma. 

Thanks to us the Colts are Super Bowl bound.

Not coincidentally, that afternoon the kids and I visited Jing'an Temple, a Buddhist temple on the eponymous West Nanjing Road, one of the busiest in Shanghai. The temple was first built in 247 AD and then moved to its current site in 1216. Soaring glass, concrete and steel now surround the temple, which has crumbled a couple of times but was rebuilt over the centuries until taking its final form during the Qing Dynasty. Further changes took place when the structure was converted into a plastics factory (!) in the early 1970s during the Cultural Revolution. Fortunately, traditionalists in 1983 led a charge to eventually return the structure to its original purpose. According to the back of my ticket (kids were free, mine was ¥50 / US$8), "since 1998, a large-scale reconstruction work had taken place in the monastery area, the main facade, bell and drum terraces...the Dharma pillar...Thai Buddha Hall, Golden Buddha Hall and so on had been continuously completed." 

That's their way of saying renovations are ongoing as there are always improvements to be made. The stone exterior and the woodwork, while built with ancient techniques, felt "new." However the temple and grounds instilled a deep sense of spirituality with artwork, idols, altars and offerings that provided direct links to the past.

Make an offering, touch the idol,  be a musical prodigy.

Make an offering, bow to the idol, be a fruit-stacking sensation.

Offerings have been generous enough for the admission ticket to congratulate the "enormous number of Buddhists (who) have shown their devout faith of the Dharma. Their donation has accomplished the sterling silver Buddha statue weighted 15 tons for the monastery."

The glow of sunlight hitting a thin layer of tarnish made the silver look bronze or gilded that afternoon.

The 8.8-meter, or 28.9-foot, statue sits in a structure made of dark Burmese teak supported by 46 columns; the Precious Hall of the Great Hero. Surrounding the Buddha are prayer banners, wood and metal statues, elaborate paneling and three intricately carved and painted wall hangings depicting scenes from the Buddha's life.

Detail with facial expressions.

Today, the devout can gain potential admission-ticket immortality by donating to "the following project of making a solid gold Buddha statue weighed 2 tons (that) is currently in its fundraising process." Count us in.

Our following project involved exploring a mall adjoining the Jing'an Temple subway stop. It was filled with pricey shops and restaurants but we eventually found the busy, less expensive basement food stalls. Our senses were quickly drawn to a bakery with such an irresistible array of breakfast, lunch and dessert buns that we ended up contributing to their fundraising process multiple times over the remainder of our Shanghai visit.

The mall price of acute inflammatory arthritis is too high but the mascot is adorable.

"Yippee!" yelped the youngsters upon the  yielding of yuan at yummy Yamazaki.

After another swim and upon Betsy's arrival, we walked to a bookstore that we found online in our effort to find some Mandarin DVDs and instructional materials. The shop was in a five-story building and  pretty much felt just like any other large book chain - only everything was, of course, in Chinese. Quinn was able to ask the sales lady for guidance and we left with a bulging bag of mostly Disney movies and workbooks for vocabulary and character reinforcement. (As if the land of Chinglish is the place to turn for such things!)

Do these street vendors know they're offering rejected parts?

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at a small street-side food stall that offered about 20 different bowls or platters of various local foods. I chose two dishes, ordered some steamed rice from room service and proceeded to disrupt Kung Fu Panda with my enthusiastic enjoyment of the garlic-and-ginger-infused crunchy fungus and chewy tofu skins.

Just like mom used to make.

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The next two mornings, we were up early to watch live English broadcasts of the MLB Home Run Derby on a rainy Tuesday the 15th and then the All Star Game, featuring MVP Mike Trout, on Wednesday the 16th. The other Tuesday highlights were avoiding the persistent downpour by sticking to the indoor pool and using the subway for our second bakery visit for some egg and meat sandwiches, breadsticks and chocolate pies. 

We had to get out on Wednesday so the kids and I decided to check out the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. We discovered animal exhibits, space and communication technology, medical displays and a ping pong robot that humbled both boys. All of the descriptions and guides were in Chinese and several of the video stations and interactive opportunities were out of order but the museum had a nice flow and the displays were generally user-friendly.

This is what happens when  science meets technology.

Sadly, these and three toy souvenirs were the only pandas we saw on our trip.

Our favorite parts were the rooms with dozens of stuffed and mounted animals from all around the world, the pathology displays with examples of real arteries, veins and organs and the space equipment including satellites and rockets. After a 2½ -hour visit, we wandered around the adjoining subway area where we found a shaded garden and one of the area's several fake-goods markets, complete with aggressive merchants enticing passing shoppers and tourists into every store. 

Our choice of eateries won out over a nearby competitor, which lost - or maybe gained - a point for promoting this entree on their front wall:

While a bargain at just US$2.60, we deemed this R-rated dish to be unsuitable for minors.

After the waitress told me which chair I was to sit in (so I could be in a better position for them to serve me all the dishes for distribution she said, when asked by Xander)  we finally ordered some duck to go with some wide noodles, a big bowl of eggplant and our favorite, sword beans. We would be advised later that we should have had the famous Peking duck of Beijing but we agreed the meat and sauce were pretty tasty - once we picked away the thick, rubbery skin that is included here with poultry dishes.

A major theme of this trip: Pretty Tasty.

Hope you're enjoying. There's still more to come covering our last three days in Shanghai and our week in Tokyo.

Shanghai Times (Days 12-14)

The longest leg of our trip, a 12-day stop in Shanghai, began with our late Wednesday-night arrival at the Marriott Executive Apartments near People's Square in the heart of the city. Our suite had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and, to our surprise and great delight, a washing machine/dryer! 

We immediately lit some incense and said a prayer of thanks.

Although we were completely unable to decipher the settings and dials, I secured a manual in English (regrettably, no Chinglish) and proceeded to plow through two or three small loads a day for the next week.

Shanghai, the largest city proper by population in the world with over 24 million inhabitants, is known as the Pearl of China. It is a modern metropolis serving as China’s commercial and financial center and a symbol of the country's economic success, but also has its own deep history and long standing traditions. To me, if Beijing is your grandparent's house with old books and heirlooms on dusty shelves providing constant reminders of generations past, then Shanghai is your rich uncle's modern pad with both a shiny new sports car in the driveway and several cherished family mementos carefully displayed.

Our hotel in the background. Vaughn had to ditch the souvenir Mao cadet hat because placing it atop his juan tou fa (curly hair) proved too irresistible to the citizenry of Shanghai.

On Thursday, July 10 - a workday for Betsy - the kids and I started off in the heat and humidity for a walk through People's Park located adjacent to our hotel. The beautiful park was developed beginning in 1952 and currently features a waterfall, a lotus pond, fitness areas and a small amusement park.

One of the "fitness areas." We wondered if their wives know about their daily gambling exercise.

Our plans to meet up with our friends from Guilin came to fruition as we miraculously rendezvoused with Danne, Layla and Ahmad Johnson on Nanjing Road, a nearby pedestrian shopping plaza. After bathing in the air-conditioned comfort of a three-story M&M shopping emporium we made our way back to People's Park. All five kids screamed and hollered their way through a thrilling swing ride before we wandered toward the exit through the beautiful park grounds.

NOT a busker; only in the parks do people seem to play for pleasure instead of pocket change.

Danne had a lunch place in mind in the French Concession, an area once designated for, go figure, the French that still retains a unique charm with its tree-lined avenues, small cafés and many fine old houses. The Johnsons had experience riding the subway and were happy to guide us on our initial plunge. Having navigated the much older subways in London, Paris and Brussels two summers ago, I can say that the 11-year old Shanghai subway is far cleaner, a bit cheaper (kids ride free!) and has an easier payment system. 

I'll never forget spontaneously belting out the Laverne and Shirley theme song with Danne and sharing obscure childhood memories as we walked past the Shanghai Museum on our way to the subway station. We also got a laugh out of being the ONLY non-Chinese riders on the train (which pretty much always seemed to be the case) and we wondered what the locals must have made of this crazy Brady Bunch of smiling American faces. Danne's choice of eateries did not disappoint as we all devoured the fried rice, sautéed sword (green) beans with minced shrimp, braised pork (amazingly fresh and deliciously fatty) and mixed pan-fried mushrooms. We said goodbye to our friends as we separated before boarding different subway lines with plans to meet up later at the Bund. 

Tragically, that meeting was not to be as our good luck ran out and we failed to find each other that night. We have little doubt that the Hughes and Johnson families will ride again and can't wait for our next adventure together. 

On that foggy night, we did make it to The Bund (more on that area later) to pose for some photos - some with just us in them! - before we strolled back to our hotel along the brightly-lit Nanjing shopping plaza.

Everyone say "qie zi!" The word for eggplant is the Chinese equivalent of "cheeeese!"

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Day 13 was a quiet one as the kids and I beat the heat by exploring the businesses adjoining our hotel; we flipped through the menus of ultra-fancy restaurants, peeked into the Ferrari and Maserati dealerships and found the best places to pick up snacks and drinks. After an afternoon swim and a dinner cooked in our very own kitchen that satisfied our cravings for good old pasta with tomato sauce and steamed broccoli, we settled in for a movie and a good night's rest.

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Betsy had organized a tour of the towns of Suzhou and Zhouzhaung on Saturday, July 12 and we were up bright and early to meet our guide in the lobby. Joined in the van by a family of three from Panama and a lady from New Zealand, we were whisked 75 miles west to Suzhou, the “Hometown of Silk.” Our first tour stop was the Master-of-the-Nets Garden, a World Heritage Site that contains a series of halls skillfully sculpted since 1140 to synthesize art, nature and architecture into one grand masterpiece.

One of our favorite photos so far. Hooray for Pano.

Each of the rooms blends elements of feng shui to create the most ideal arrangements. The windows and doorways - all of which have a raised trestle to ward off evil spirits (bad form to tread on them, by the way) - are all carefully oriented with the surrounding water, rocks and vegetation to create inspiring views at every turn.

We were then transported to the "Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory Co. Ltd." The factory, built in 1926, now combines fascinating elements of the ancient practice of silk production with the obnoxious heavy-handed salesmanship of a Chinese tourist trap. Still, it was worth it to see the complete process of sericulture (silk farming) including mulberry cultivation, the silkworm life cycle, silk reeling, silk weaving and silk quilt making. Our first sight was a mat of wriggling worms munching on mulberry leaves. 

After one month, the larvae stop eating and spin the cocoons that are sorted and harvested. A quick steam bath loosens the silk and kills the pupae inside. Workers then brush each cocoon to find one end of the single, mile-long filament and thread eight ends at once into this reeling machine that winds them together.   

The reel deal.

Those thicker threads are then fed into automated looms that use programmed punch cards to create the intricate patterns seen in silk clothing and blankets. Other cocoons are treated and stretched into sheets for quilts. 

Several child labor laws were broken at No. 1 Silk Factory Co. Ltd. that day.

The end of the tour is a typical Chinese sales assault where purchase is highly encouraged. (Anywhere there are shops, the proprietors will holler at and motion to foreign passers-by in broken English to spark interest in their wares. A bargaining process usually ensues unless the prices are clearly marked. Buyers should rarely pay more than ⅓ to ½ of the original asking price.) At this silk factory, the prices were clearly marked and we purchased one of the king-sized, medium-thickness quilts for a reasonable US$130. 

The next stop was a really tasty lunch that featured yu xiang you si, a new favorite. Yu xiang literally translates to the unappetizing "fish aroma" but it is a flavorful sauce that is incorporated into many meat and vegetable dishes. This one had thinly sliced pork and vegetables and was so good we didn't even stop eating to get a photo. Sorry, foodies!

The final tour stop was a visit to the “Venice of the East.” Zhouzhaung, the most popular ancient water village in China, has preserved a direct link to the past for more than 900 years. Classic courtyards, carved-brick archways and Chinese-style gondola rides offer a unique perspective of life in this fascinating town surrounded and divided by lakes, rivers and canals.

Over 800 households still call Zhouzhaung home so one gets a glimpse of the ancient way of life while still having the opportunity to explore the many shops, food stalls, temples, famous houses and historic bridges. The Twin Bridges, comprised of Shide Bridge and Yongan Bridge, are the most famous and considered the symbol of Zhouzhaung. Together the two bridges resemble an old-style Chinese key and brought notoriety to the region when painter Chen Yifei's depiction, Memory of Hometown, gained international attention upon being displayed in New York in the mid-1980's. 

  
We visited a beautiful open-air opera house where we saw a brief musical performance before we boarded a gondola for a pleasant and scenic 20-minute canal cruise through the town.

An even briefer performance.

Our request for 'O Solo Mio' went unfulfilled.

A short rainstorm brought a bit of relief from the relentless heat and drove us into the shopping area where we were accosted from all sides. We ended up getting this artisan down to 100 yuan from over 300 for a trio of intricate glass orbs that are painted from the inside. Each of the kids got their Chinese names inscribed in these treasured mementos.

It takes a steady hand!

We were all happy to get back to the hotel at the end of a long and interesting tour, eager for a few days with very little planned except for wandering around Shanghai, doing some knock-off shopping and meeting some of Betsy's friends and colleagues for dinner.    

We Kowtow in Lantau (Days 10 and 11)

On Tuesday, July 8, fully intending to get caught up on our hotel-sink laundry effort, I signed the kids up for a two-hour Chinese Art class in the Kids At Art studio in our hotel. (That effort would be thwarted as I spent most of that time trying to contact Wells Fargo in an effort to allow us withdraw even more funds even more frequently.) However, with a promise to return with full payment, I left the kids to enjoy the full focus of the attentive staff. 

I asked the teachers to use Mandarin as much as possible as they guided Xander, Vaughn and Quinn through new techniques with ink and paint. The kids created several paintings each with the intent of presenting their favorites to Betsy for her upcoming birthday.

That afternoon I continued to shirk my laundry duties, opting instead to sit and write by the pool as the kids frolicked in the cool water. When Betsy joined us after work, I commented on how very friendly the pool service staff was as they brought us our sandwiches, lemonade and beer. When we got the bill for HK$1,457 (US$188), we realized why. Holy hot pot, there went our dinner plans!

Pictured: $57 worth of beverages

Still the pool was the most beautiful one we’ve seen so far; overlooking the harbor and with a waterfall at one end. Plus we were treated like kings so we decided it was worth it and retired to the hotel room for the evening and curled up with some ramen and Chinese television.

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July 9 was busy and memorable Wednesday as we left the hotel early for a day-long tour of Lantau Island before departing for Shanghai that night.

Lantau Island is twice the size of Hong Kong Island and the largest among the approximately 256 outlying islands within the territory. The tour began with a 40-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong to Lantau through the busy harbor filled with cargo ships heading off to or returning from long voyages. Luckily for us on a day where temperatures climbed over 100 degrees, we hopped from the air-conditioned boat to an air-conditioned bus that offered salvation after each broiling tour stop on the island. A sign posted at the front of the bus offered this sobering advice:

I've always been suspicious of my right thumb and now I'm on high alert.

Many of the 120,000 inhabitants of Lantau have jobs in Hong Kong (2 million total) and must make the daily ferry trip to work. They ride their bicycles from home and leave them parked together on the dock. 

But not a bike lock in sight.

Our guide says there is very little crime on Lantau because most people can trace their family lineage back for centuries and very few people migrate to the island so basically no one can get away with anything. There are, however, several prisons (apparently for criminals from elsewhere) including a juvenile detention center that offered a nice incentive for good behavior for the day.

The first stop on the tour was a refreshing visit to the pristine Cheung Sha beach. We were pleased to see a barrier ringing the shore after hearing about the six fatal shark attacks around the island over the last 15 years and happily waded into to the warm surf.

The bus then took us to the unique Tai O fishing village, a former haven for smugglers and pirates that is now a popular tourist destination. We enjoyed a short boat ride that gave us a close-up look at some the remarkable, yet dilapidated, pang uks; fisherman's homes that are built on stilts to better endure flooding. 

Fishing long provided the primary means of income in the village but overfishing has forced the inhabitants to rely on tourist spending. We passed stall after stall of very ripe, sun-dried, salted  examples of meager fish, shrimp and mollusks that neither we nor anyone else on our tour dared to bring back on the bus.

There's something fishy going on around here.

We visited a temple where we had our first experience burning incense as a symbolic offering. In Chinese Taoist and Buddhist temples, worshippers light and burn incense which they wave our raise above the head as they bow to the statues or plaques of a deity or ancestor. One makes says a prayer of hope or thanks and then places the stick or sticks in a receptacle in front of the idol.

Next, our bus climbed the winding road up the mountain to the Ngong Ping plateau for a visit to the majestic Tain Tian Buddha Statue and the nearby Po Lin Monastery, where we were served a delicious vegetarian meal.

The monastery was built in 1907 and plans for the Big Buddha were made over sixty years ago with the project finally coming to fruition in 1990. The 202 separate pieces of bronze were gradually shipped to the island and then trucked up the hill before they were assembled in 1993 to form the 112-foot, 250-ton statue. The serene and dignified Buddha rests on a bed of lotus flowers with his left hand in his lap, signifying the giving of the moral treasures known as dhana, and his right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction.

The structure beneath houses three separate exhibition halls of worship and six smaller bronze statues surround the Buddha praising and making the various symbolic offerings required to enter into nirvana. 

Our tour of Lantau ended with a ride aboard the Ngong Ping Skyrail, a 25-minute cable car that offered stunning views as we descended from Hgong Ping plateau to Tung Chung New Town near the airport, from which we would depart a few hours later. 

We shared our ride with a South African/Australian expat and her daughters, aged 10 and 8, who gained our admiration as they described their earlier four-hour ascent by foot to the Big Buddha in the day's intense heat and humidity.

Our flight that evening from Hong Kong to Shanghai took just over two hours, transporting five sleepy travelers to the third stop on our journey for new round of adventures, cuisine, friends and hilarious mis-translations.

Harboring Contentment (Days 8 and 9)

An early in-room breakfast in Guilin followed by an intense round of re-packing occupied the morning hours of Sunday, July 6. A short 1½-hour flight took us to a dramatically different landscape. We found a city of densely-packed skyscrapers, fancy cars and a bustling harbor as we switched currency from Chinese yuan to Hong Kong dollars. 

Several years ago, Quinn wondered where Mommy was during one of her overseas business trips. She searched her memory for potential destinations and asked, “Is Mommy in Beep Beep?” It took us a moment to realize she heard “Honk Honk” whenever we mentioned Hong Kong and just had things a bit mixed up. Ever since, we have called the city Beep Beep in her honor.

Sisters say the darndest things.

Waiting for us in the lobby of the Renaissance Harbor View Hotel was a very special reunion with our good friend, Wen Ching, a classmate of Betsy’s from the Purdue Statistics department. We hadn’t seen her in seven years but we picked up right where we left off and had a nice afternoon together. She was especially excited to see the kids again as she was one of the first to visit Xander in the hospital and held Quinn as a baby the last time we were together. 

We ventured out into the blistering heat of the afternoon for a city stroll toward the tram that takes visitors to Victoria’s Peak for a reportedly spectacular view of the city. Unfortunately, we saw only a long line that drove us into a nearby air-conditioned mall and the comfort of a Starbucks for some refreshments. The kids were dragging from our non-stop sightseeing schedule, the rush of the plane flight and the dreaded - perhaps inevitable - onslaught of Mao’s Revenge. Yes, you can brush your teeth with bottled water, keep your mouth closed in the shower, avoid raw fruits and vegetables and walk around with a bottle of Purell but it it’s going to catch up with you eventually. Fortunately, two days and one overworked hotel restroom later, our box of Pedialyte packets were gone and everyone’s appetite was back.

ANYWAY, Wen Ching had just enough time before heading to the airport to join us as we met some friends for dim sum across the harbor in Kowloon. Evelyn and Ricky Chow and their boys, Kevin and Joman, were kind and informative hosts on two memorable nights in the city. 

Evelyn is the sister of Yin Wang, a second-grade teacher at Xin Xing Academy and our family friend. Betsy had visited Evelyn on a previous trip and both families were excited to meet each other. 

After we enjoyed a delicious array of snacks that touched our hearts and said an all-too-sudden farewell to Wen Ching, the Chows helped us find a taxi that took us back from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island via the tunnel underneath Victoria Harbor. Since the kids were exhausted, we called it a night but made plans to see the Chows again the next evening.

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On Monday the 7th, as Betsy headed off for a day at the office, I gave the kids some extra time to rest before we explored the amenities of our hotel where, on the sunny 11th-floor concourse, we found a playground, tennis courts, a mini driving range and a pair of beautiful pools. We also wandered around an extensive art gallery located between the hotel lobby and the subway stop underneath that includes an intriguing Kids At Art studio that holds classes for young artists. Inspired, Vaughn drew the harbor's edge as seen from our hotel window.

You can see how construction continues to expand the city through reclamation of land from the sea. This has been going on for centuries with major projects having been conducted since the mid-19th century. Buildings that once enjoyed waterfront views are now several blocks inland. It was amazing to see (and difficult to ignore the incessant sounds of) new construction all up and down the shoreline. Boats dredge up sand and silt from far offshore and pump it into cordoned-off zones, then dump trucks and bulldozers add rocks, soil and clay before deep cement mixing makes the ground firm enough on which to build. It is reported that up to 25% of Hong Kong Island is reclaimed land; both HK Disneyland and HK International Airport were built entirely on areas that were once water. 

That night, we decided to try the ferry to cross the ever-shrinking channel to Kowloon for dinner and enjoyed the leisurely sunset ride. 

We met the Chows at a Thai restaurant for another marvelous meal with many new dishes introduced to us by Ricky. We are fortunate to have opportunities throughout our trip to dine with locals who can introduce us to the most interesting restaurants and dishes to sample. Not only might we have settled for closer, "safer" places to eat but there's no way we'd have been able to get as deep into the mysterious menus as we've gotten thanks to friends like these. 

I only stopped stuffing my face long enough to keep the camera still for a moment.

We were glad that the kids had the energy for a pleasant postprandial stroll along the waterfront in the relative cool of the evening. The bright lights of Hong Kong reflected beautifully off the harbor and gave us the opportunity to take some great photos.

Also to appear in several other families' Kodak/iPhone moments. Here Betsy gets the star treatment.

We said our goodbyes to the Chow family and confirmed our plans to host Kevin and Joman at our home in Edina, Minnesota later this summer. We can only hope that we show them as good a time as Ricky and Evelyn showed us during our first two evenings in Hong Kong. 

Blackout and Best Chinglish

We're wrapping up four exciting days in Hong Kong where unfettered access to Blogger and Facebook has enabled us to get caught up through the first week of our trip. Unfortunately, the next eleven days in Shanghai will necessitate another stretch where we will be unable to post due to internet restrictions.

Expect another run of entries covering our time in HK and Shanghai to begin when we reach our final destination, Tokyo, on July 21. Until then, we are accessible for questions or comments at bhuge@me.com. But first, we leave you with these lost-in-translation gems…

Here you can buy a photograph of yourself eating (drinking?) some beerfish. 

Also seen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The next one is long, but we can't get enough of it. If you don't want to read the whole thing, here are the highlights: 

1. "In case of fire it is difficult to put it out and easy to lead to group dies and wound."
2. "Please be calm and comply with the instruction of the securers, bend over and proceed to the nearest emergency exit."
3. "Use (fire control devices) to put out the initiative fire, and ensure the safety of fire."

Finally, two signs we passed too quickly to snap a photo but are worth sharing: 

• A shop advertised its goods or services as "Personalized Self Help Rinse Roast." We don't know if it was a psychiatrist, a health spa, a laundromat or a butcher but this is the reason we're doing laundry in the bathtub.

• "Please take sidewalk to cross the street." This one courtesy of M.C. Escher.  

We can only hope that Japanglish is just as good. Thanks for reading, we'll be back soon!

Rollin' on the River (Days 5, 6 and 7)

We arrived in the mountain paradise of Guilin on Thursday afternoon and took a forty-minute taxi ride to the Sheraton Hotel through some of the most lush and beautifully manicured terrain we've ever seen. Guilin is known for having the best landscaping in the world and we found that to be true everywhere we went. If ever presented with the opportunity to make the 17-mile bus or taxi ride between the Liangjiang International Airport and Guilin, one is rewarded by scheduling at least one way during daylight. We've never seen a longer stretch of road more beautifully maintained on our travels.

After briefly exploring the streets near the hotel, we opted for a restaurant that claimed to have authentic cuisine from around the world. Although the menu offered such fare as "double-bailed eggs with ham, bacon and intertines" (?) and cucumber-flavored milk, we opted for (what they considered) pizza. Oops. No tomato sauce, just a thick coating of mayonnaise between the crust and cheese. Still, we enjoyed the novelty of it.

The best part was the beer-flavored beer.

To our delight, as we waited for our Li River tour guide in the hotel lobby on the morning of the 4th of July, a family we noticed at the pool the night before joined the group. Danne Johnson, her daughter Layla (11) and son Ahmad (7), were as eager as we were to partner up and an instant friendship was born. We would hardly separate for the next two days as we enjoyed eating, swimming, waiting out rainstorms and exploring together.  

The 3½-mile cruise on the large, air-conditioned ship included tea and lunch but we mostly devoured the scenery. The verdant limestone hills jut and roll as if a child had drawn them in a unique topography known as karst and minerals have turned the rock faces various striking shades of yellow, white, black, gray and green. 

A very famous view available for just US$3.22, far lass than the cost of a seat on the riverboat.

We saw water buffalo grazing and a line of trained cormorants which are diving birds around whose necks fishermen tie nooses to keep them from swallowing their catch. A few merchants standing on thin bamboo boats rowed right up to the fast-moving tourist boat and latched on to sell their fruits and vegetables. 

Many of the hills along the river have been named based on distinguishing features such as the famous Nine Horse Mural Hill on which one is supposed to be able to see up to nine horses in various poses.

Some of the highlights for the kids were their rain dance on the deck above the captain's head, getting soaked by intermittent showers and encouraging passing boats to lay on the horn.

A brochure we received reminds us that the reflections of the hills in the clear and greenish water provide bright, beautiful images: "One hundred miles Lijiang River, one hundred miles art gallery." Both ancient and modern literary works appreciate the beauty of the region. Han Yu, a great poet form the Tang Dynasty, wrote a popular work praising the scenery:

The river winds like a blue-silk ribbon,

While the hills erect like green jade hairpins

The tourist town of Yangshou is the terminus of the cruise and is visited by 20 million people a year. 

We had about four hours to wander the streets before catching the bus back to Guilin but ended up spending much of the time chatting and avoiding the rain and intense heat by talking our way into the deserted dining area of a hotel. We did manage to break away and head through town to check out the many shops and visit a park across from the bus station before we left. 

We woke up on July 5 to torrential rains, a swollen Li River and flooded streets outside our hotel; not enough to do damage like some areas we've seen on the news, but enough to divert traffic here and there. We relaxed in the lobby to ride out the rain with Danne, Layla and Ahmad after the first of our two extravagant hotel breakfast buffets. The kids all had a wonderful time together and Danne and her husband, Reggie, share so many of our interests and values that we are excited to have found these life-long friends. We've already made plans to see them again in Shanghai on July 10th and have been sharing travel tips and stories with each other by text and email.

After the rain slowed and before Danne ushered the kids to the train station for their 18-hour journey to Shanghai, we ate lunch together at a conveyer-belt sushi restaurant in Guilin. Vaughn and I plucked various delights such as cuttlefish and seaweed from the passing plates while Quinn, Xander and Betsy ordered noodle soup, fried shrimp, sushi and broiled fish from the menu. We were going to wait until Tokyo to have sushi, but we couldn't pass up the presentation and it was well worth the visit. 

Our last great memory of Guilin was when we took some sports gear to a nearby sprawling plaza to get some exercise. Quinn garnered her usual share of attention but when the boys and I pulled out our baseball gloves and started whipping the ball around we ended up becoming a major tourist attraction. Scores of people stopped and gathered to watch, fascinated by the unusual sport and the boys' ability to throw accurately and catch hard liners and high flies. We encouraged young and old to try their hand at throwing the ball and even tossed our gloves to a few willing participants and challenged them to catch a popup or two. As darkness brought the activity to a halt, everyone whipped out their cameras and wanted to meet us face-to-face. Right at the end, I gathered a part of the group together and asked them to pose. It was a great joy to be ambassadors of goodwill and sportsmanship and to be a part of so many people's enjoyment of the evening. The smiles we saw and the oohs and aahs we heard from the crowd are moments we won't soon forget.     

Sadly, there were no scouts on hand. We'll have to try again in Japan.

The Greatest of Walls (Day 4)

Wednesday, July 2 was a special day for the Hughes on the Loose crew. Our guide, John Jiang of China Adventure Ltd., and his driver picked us up at our hotel in a large van that we had all to ourselves. John studied English and Chinese history and provided an informative tour of a long section of the Great Wall of China.

After about an hour’s drive from Beijing, we began our hike with a steep ascent that included 1400 stair steps.

They can build a wall visible from near-Earth orbit but can't build a chairlift?

Two local women joined us at the entrance gate, led us on the ascent, pointed out several interesting details on and around the Wall and even helped make sure we didn’t slip on the steep parts. 

She has multiple layers, we were roasting.

John said they do this every single day in an effort to sell as many t-shirts, books and chopsticks to tourists as possible. Today we were their primary target and it was impossible to say no to these two incredibly fit and sweet women. 

I picked up this boastful beauty mostly because it was dry. John probably has a couple dozen at home.

We started at a more weathered part of the Wall than the most frequently-visited, renovated area to the west at Jin Shanling where we would make our descent about two hours later.

As you know, the Great Wall of China was built as a defensive fortification against nomadic invaders over the course of centuries beginning as early as the 7th century BC. It has been maintained and enhanced for thousands of years but the majority of the existing structure is from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The barrier stretches about 5,500 miles and includes man-made walls and trenches as well as natural defensive formations such as mountains and rivers. The earth, stones, wood and, later, bricks and tiles were quarried or gathered from the surrounding region and carried up by workers.

It was fascinating to imagine the life of the soldiers guarding the wall, ever watchful for approaching invaders. There was evidence of their activities such as ceilings charred black from fires and names carved into the stone. 

Either that or an ad for the new Transformers movie.

Still intact are the many archers' windows as well as holes near the base of the wall through which rocks or boiling liquids could be released. We also learned about the various signal towers, barracks, stables and armories we saw along the way. 

The views were simply breathtaking. The winding walkway rolls with the terrain into the clouds as far as the eye can see in either direction. We marched almost non-stop and only covered about a mile and a half but still felt like we saw a tremendous variety of construction and conditions. 

Your new desktop image.

As we neared Jin Shanling, the appearance of the Wall changed dramatically. This is the area where most tourists and visiting dignitaries climb up, walk a few hundred feet in either direction and then climb down. The pathway, gates and walls here have been completely renovated to provide a look at the Wall in its original form. 

After the descent, John took us to a local farmer’s clean and comfortable hostel, the "Yu Jie Hotel," where we had a very memorable meal. The farmer and his family built the rooms themselves to provide lodging and food to visitors. If you desire to spend more than just a day exploring the Great Wall, this would be an great place to stay overnight. But, at the very least, we’d recommend making a lunch stop here part of your journey. 

As I write this a week later, it is still the best food we’ve sampled so far thanks to the fresh, traditional home-cooked ingredients and, perhaps, by the appetite we’d built up on our long, hot hike. Email the hostel owner directly at wangyujiejsl@aliyun.com and/or our guide at johnjiang@chinaadventureltd.com for more information.

Our new favorite Chinese restaurant.

All in all, it made for a perfect last day in Beijing. Tomorrow, we’re off to the airport for flight number three on our way to beautiful Guilin, where we’re looking forward to a cruise up the Li River on the 4th of July. Not a bad way to commemorate our 11th anniversary!

I may not be able to set up the typical celebratory fireworks she's come to expect but this will do.

Forbidden City and Taboo Foods (Day 3)

On Tuesday morning, our friend Sun was kind enough to pick us up and take us to the front gate of the Forbidden City, where we gained free admission thanks to her job with the Beijing Museum for Cultural Heritage Exchanges.

As one walks through the succession of gates to go deeper and deeper into the palace grounds, it is impossible not to feel a sense of awe. To think that, for centuries, the inner workings of the City were a mystery to even those living in the shadow of the 26-foot high walls makes it all the more unbelievable to wander around and explore freely.

The only yellow roofing tiles seen in China throughout history were those in the Forbidden City, for no one else could decorate using the color of the Emperor. In addition, only the most revered buildings would display as many as ten figures between the customary man-riding-phoenix at the head and the imperial dragon bringing up the rear. This is still an important part of Chinese architecture. In fact, we can see two figures between the  symbolic bookends on the roof of the hotel across the street from us. 

Ten figures in the Michelin Guide means it's worth a special journey.

Our celebrity status was at its highest this day as we could hardly walk ten feet for the first half hour without a dozen or more people stopping us (well, the kids) for photos. Even when they didn’t stop us, cameras were constantly pointed our way. Throughout our tour, if we paused for more than ten or fifteen seconds a crowd was on us. It finally got to the point where the kids got little wary of all of the attention but people kindly backed off when we politely declined to pose - after they nonetheless snapped a quick photo of course.

We should have followed local customs and charged a few yuan.

We paid a small admission to visit the Hall of Clocks and Watches where about two hundred timepieces made by foreign and Chinese artisans and presented to or collected by the Emperors of the Qing dynasty (18th century) are on display. There were some remarkably intricate pieces including this 19-foot tall hand-carved wooden clock with stairs to access the winding mechanism and whimsical pieces like this sunflower. Others had figures that performed various tasks such as dancing, striking bells or even writing Chinese characters. 

Just killing time, waiting for the dumpling stands to open...   

We saw birthplaces of Emperors, gardens where princes and princesses once played, halls that housed the catty concubines as they jockeyed for royal favor, a fascinating display on the life of Puyi (The Last Emperor) and throne rooms where business and ceremonies were conducted and dignitaries were received.

The wooden eaves and some of the building exteriors are meticulously repainted every forty years or so. However, much of the ceramic artwork adoring the walls was in the very inner part of the City was in excellent condition.  

Including this dragon greeting visitors to the Big Hunk O' Love Hall.

Since turnabout is fair play, we corralled a dancer in traditional dress who was preparing for a show and asked them to pose for pictures with us. She was happy to comply, gratis!

That evening we undertook one of the more memorable adventures of our journey as we set out in search of the strangest street food we could find. The little alley off of Wangfujing we scouted out the day before turned out to be quite fruitful. We saw trios of live scorpions squirming on a stick next to inanimate seahorses and various entrails-on-a-stick. I opted for the scorpions and Vaughn was eager to try the seahorse. After a quick bath in boiling oil, we energetically dove in. Vaugn shared a bite of seahorse with me and Xander ate one of the scorpions. Both reminded us of fairly flavorless shrimp tails. Neither good nor bad.

The scorpions found it very distasteful.

Next we found a safe-looking series of stalls on Snack Street all staffed by people wearing the same uniform. This gave us confidence that we weren't eating items cooked in gutter oil. Below you can see the giant brown grubs and the white strips of snake meat we (I) sampled next. Note the grubs are sold on sticks of four or five. I was able to convince them to just fry up just one grub for me and that was definitely for the best. It was not pleasant to mix the exoskeleton with the mushy bug-paste inside but I guess the aftertaste wasn't that bad. While that was not something I'd eat again, the snake was quite tasty. It was cooked and then dipped in a spicy sauce and felt like a cross between chicken and good, thick squid mantle when chewed. Snake is often eaten in the winter months in China because of the pleasant warmth it leaves behind. They say it's also an aphrodisiac (not pictured).    

Who needs Viagra when you've got Wangfujing Snack Street?

But we didn't have the balls to try the balls.

Tomorrow we head to The Great Wall for our next bucket list item.  

We Visit Heaven (Day 2)

With more humidity and a high approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, we set out early by foot for the Temple of Heaven via Wangfujing Plaza, making sure to note the various shops and eateries we might visit later.  

Very promising bizarre foods just around the corner. We'll be back.

The Temple of Heaven, or Altar of Heaven (Tiāntán), is a complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. 

The temple was visited by the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer and fasting for good harvest. It was built in the early 1400s under the rule of the Yongle Emperor, the same one responsible for the Forbidden City. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design” that laid the groundwork for centuries of Far East architecture and planning. 

Much like Jingshan park, the beautifully maintained Temple of Heaven gardens are a popular place for locals to exercise and relax or participate in ethnic singing and dancing. 

Betsy found her "dream pergola."

Tourists and locals alike visit the temple halls which still house sacred altars or new displays about the history of the grounds. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the most prominent of these. The magnificent triple-gabled, completely wooden and nail-free circular building (in panoramic shot, above) was exactingly rebuilt in 1889 after a fire caused by lightning destroyed it.

Detail of rainwater spouts on the terraced steps of the Hall of Prayer.

Once again we enjoyed meeting people who were excited to see us. One funny moment came when we sat down for a rest in one of the display halls and found ourselves drawing as much attention as the exhibits in the room. Families would mosey by, pause to consider and discuss us, then move on.

The line marking the 2008 Olympic marathon route through the temple remains.

We were happy to get a taxi back to the hotel and made a beeline for the pool to cool off before jet lag got the better of us and we crashed. We were out for eleven hours but of course up again at 3 a.m. We are fortunate the World Cup games start here in the middle of the night because the games are a nice early-morning diversion.

Some travel notes:

In an effort to avoid unwanted microbes, we not only purchase bottled water constantly but we then drink that through bottles we brought with us that have filters inside. We’re even brushing our teeth with it...so far, so good.

We are doing almost daily bathtub laundry and hanging our clothes all over our hotel room to dry. With the heat, we’re going through it about as fast as we can clean it. Not only haven’t we seen a laundromat but our confidence in successfully utilizing a washer and dryer with Chinese instructions is very low. It was hard enough in Europe!

We are able to communicate quite effectively with people we meet. The kids understand much of what they hear but find that the people speak very fast. Xander, having completed 4th grade, is our go-to translator. All the kids have been congratulated for their excellent pronunciation and all have been able to ask and answer questions to help us out or make new friends. On occasions when we are unable to connect because our Chinese or our conversant’s English is too weak, someone is usually close by to help out.

Compared to our experience in Europe, the streets are actually a little cleaner, there is slightly less smoking, people are generally more friendly and everything is so much cheaper. One has to bargain just about everywhere, especially in tourist areas but the price always comes down and things are quite cheap. Breakfast of wonton-noodle soup and dumplings for five, for example, at one local eatery cost us only the equivalent of US$5. We may never leave!

Finally, the winner for best Chinglish of the day goes to this sign a few blocks away from the temple:  

For modest people with aches and pains, this is the way to go.

Arrival, Sunday in the Park and New Friends (Day 1)

Finally in Hong Kong with unrestricted internet access! 

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We arrived in Beijing at 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 28 and quickly found the car Betsy had arranged to take us to our hotel. Though sleep on the long plane flight was tough to come by, it was 10 a.m. Minneapolis time when we reached the Crowne Plaza Wangfujing so we stayed up and watched some World Cup action (Brazil over Chile) before we finally settled in for a long nap.

On Sunday morning, we set out by foot to wander in the general direction of the Forbidden City, just a half-mile from our hotel. It was a quiet morning in Beijing; families strolled with their children and/or dogs as we delighted in the new sights and avoided some of the new smells. The kids and I bought some pork buns for breakfast and we stopped for a taste of authentic Chinese food.

They didn't have any ketchup.

We strolled around a bit of the exterior of the Forbidden City but with plans for a visit on Tuesday, we opted to explore a park immediately north of the former palace. 

Jingshan Park encompasses 57 beautifully maintained acres dating back 1000 years and featuring a 150-foot high hill made of material hauled over from construction of the moats and canals in and around the Forbidden City. That and four other similar, smaller peaks are all topped with centuries-old, elaborate pavilions once used by officials for gathering and leisure. A climb to the top of the Wansui (Long-Life or Ten-Thousand Year) Hill gave us our first glimpse at locals worshipping and afforded a wonderful bird’s-eye view of the Forbidden City.  


In what will be a running theme in the blog, we also delighted in our first lost-in-translation Chinglish. Enjoy along with us, won't you? 

Since it was Sunday, many people weren’t working and instead were gathered in groups singing songs accompanied by traditional instruments (though we did hear a rousing accordion version of “Roll Out the Barrel” from one corner), doing tai chi, dancing or engaging in some other form of exercise. One popular activity is kicking around the jian zi, a cross between a hacky-sack and a badminton birdie. Many ladies twice my age were more adept at keeping it aloft than any of us will ever hope to be but we bought one of our own so we can start practicing. In fact, most of the people relaxing at the park seemed to be “grandmas and grandpas” as Quinn says. We figure the weekend is their time for themselves as the grandparents usually take care of the kids on weekdays while mom and dad are working.

We were initiated into celebrity life as we could hardly walk a few steps without being asked to have a picture taken. Walking around with the kids here is like being with Tom Hanks. Heads turn everywhere we go and people nudge their companions to share the sight. If they don’t ask us to take a picture with them or their kids, they have one sidle up on the sly and then snap a photo. It’s unusual to see blond hair, let alone a family of five. Of course, when the kids open their mouths to say hello in Mandarin and then respond to questions, the crowd really picks up. So far, they mostly enjoy being ambassadors of goodwill, happily answering questions and posing for photos. Betsy says she usually gets the same amount of attention but people are less likely to approach her or ask her to come over when she’s by herself.

One highlight of the day for us and some locals was when one offered a large paintbrush so the kids could try their hand at writing characters on the sidewalk. I doubt anyone expected Quinn to write her Chinese name and the characters for “Chinese” so beautifully! Each of the kids had a go as the people around us beamed.

They quickly dispersed after she wrote some controversial statements on Taiwan/China relations.

It is extremely humid here this time of year with temperatures in the high nineties so we beat the midday heat with the first of our almost daily visits to a hotel pool. After cooling off, we entered the heat again to meet up with some wonderful new friends that Xander's 4th-grade teacher, Lixia Shi, electronically introduced us to prior to our visit.

Sun Miao picked us up from our hotel and drove us to her office on the grounds of the Zhi Hua (Wisdom-Attained) Temple, a 600-year old Buddhist construction. The complex contains one of the only wooden structures and group of buildings from the Ming dynasty to remain intact in Beijing, and provided our first close-up view of traditional, nail-free Chinese architecture. It’s amazing to imagine the artisans assembling the hand-hewn pieces like a giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle and to see it standing strong after all these years. Thanks to our hostess and her friends, we gained access to the second-story of the main temple too view more of the rarely-seen 10,000 gold leaf-covered Buddha statues and had all of our questions about the history of the temple answered. (Photography is not allowed in side the temples.)

We fondly remember tossing around a football (American) with some friends of the Miao family after the tour and a spot of tea. We taught a father and son to throw spirals and when Abu caught a tight one from his dad on a slant route, we all raised our hands in triumph! 

They were flagged for holding but it was still a nice play.

Sun, her husband and seven-year-old son Bo Han then welcomed us into their home where Sun's parents had been working all day to prepare a tremendous home-cooked meal in our honor. 

This was an amazing opportunity to see the daily life of a Beijing family with some gracious and inquisitive hosts. We enjoyed dumplings (jiao zi) and noodles (mien tiao) along with other delights and great conversation as we compared and contrasted home, school and work life in the U.S. and China. Bo Han got out his English workbook and read some passages for us. 

“Banana starts with B. Yellow is the banana.” Direct quote.

It was tremendously eye-opening to see how this happy family of five shares a living space about half the size of our basement. A small apartment in the city can easily run the equivalent of US$1600 per month. The meal they produced was even more amazing when we saw the kitchen (with a single sink and no dishwasher) where two people could barely fit side by side. 

A meal worthy of a fine dining establishment is cooked every day right here.

The rest of the apartment is a main living/dining area that also has three beds, a single separate bedroom, a thin balcony and a bathroom. The bathing area consists of a shower curtain and a stack of five basins on the floor. Our hosts accepted us proudly into their home and we felt the warmth, friendliness and comfort of a family that lives, loves and laughs together. It was a night we’ll never forget and some day we hope to return the favor in some way. 

Until next time, friends…

Who's bad? Here are three candidates.

And We're Off

Packing for five people for Asia while preparing the house for a month alone is really quite an experience. There is far less trepidation than last time thanks to having done it before; we know better what to bring and what to leave behind - and the kids are all two years older!

July, 2012

June, 2014

We're enjoying a well-earned, relaxing visit to the Delta Sky Lounge and preparing for 17 hours in the air. Stay tuned…next stop: Beijing.

We’re Packing Our Bags Again!

This weekend , we begin a month-long journey through China and Japan that will include two world capitals, eight separate flights, as much dim sum as possible, the Great Wall, rice paddies, the Forbidden City, street food, Japanese baseball and maybe our second international Disney visit. 

WHERE?

• 5 nights in Beijing
• 3 nights in Guilin
• 3 nights in Hong Kong
• 11 nights in Shanghai
• 7 nights in Tokyo 

WHO?

We are a family of five from Edina, Minnesota. Brett is a stay-at-home father and writer, Betsy is a mother and businesswoman, Xander (10) is a fifth grader, Vaughn (9) is a fourth grader and Quinn (7) is a second-grader. All three kids have attended Xin Xing Academy, a Mandarin Chinese immersion program, at Eisenhower Elementary School in Hopkins, MN since preschool. 

WHY?

Betsy travels internationally several weeks a year as Director of Market Intelligence for St. Jude Medical. Her work has taken her to exciting locales such as Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, and Sydney; the kids and I accompanied her to Brussels, Paris and London two years ago (see previous blog entries) and now we’re ready to join her in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo for our second Family-Trip-of-a-Lifetime.

We’ve been researching, packing and preparing for this trip for some time and will feature all the highs and lows with lots of photos and videos on this interactive blog throughout the trip. We’ll be checking the comments frequently for your questions and suggestions and make them a part of our explorations.

Share in the adventures and misadventures of family travel in a foreign land: 

• Find out what it’s like for American kids who can speak and read Mandarin to visit China and speak the language in real-world opportunities.

• Learn along with us about the history and people of the places we explore. We are excited for two visits to “host families;” one coordinated by Xander’s fourth grade teacher, Lixia Shi, and another by Xin Xing second grade teacher, Yin Wang.

• I will attempt to incorporate my new Google Glass (sponsored by Armaverse Armatures) into our travels. If I can marry it to my iPhone and hack a couple of travel apps in time, the Glass could immensely augment our experience - or I could be arrested by the Chinese authorities for espionage. 

• It’s a blog with suspense!...Will They Survive? After submitting a phonebook-thick stack of paperwork to our local Chinese consulate and securing our visas, we spent a morning as pincushions at our local Travel Clinic in an effort to ward off typhus, hepatitis A and B, avian flu, tetanus, and more! We also hope to avoid getting bitten by mosquitos and contracting malaria or dengue fever. We’re prepared for the crowds and shoving in elevators and lines; we have our respirator masks for the pollution; we’ve packed toilet paper to carry with us at all times and I’ve got my sneer ready to repel the tourist scammers. 
  
  

  Paper holders and toilet bowls not included.

• We will, however, eat as many delicacies and unusual foods as we can safely sample and share the results. 

We'll just save the fugu for the last night.

DE HAAN, AMSTERDAM, HOME (DAYS 40-44)

The scent of manure from the neighboring farm fields was so thick you could taste it as we pulled in to the CenterParcs resort village in De Haan, Belgium on Friday night. Fortunately, the olfactory malefaction passed by midday Saturday and was quickly forgotten as we enjoyed five relaxing days with little planned but exploring the resort and nearby beach on the North Sea, visiting Amsterdam for a day and meeting up with friends one last time.

Our roomy, three-bedroom cabin had a kitchen, two-stories and plenty of room to spread out; a welcome layout for the last accommodations we would call home on our trip. The park had a general store (with a great beer selection) and was packed with activities including an indoor kids' play area, a swim park with a wave pool and waterslides, an indoor sport park where we played a family round of badminton, a bowling alley (didn't), mini-golf (did) and more. Needless to say, along with Disneyland (Day 38) and our afternoon at Stardust park in Brussels (Day 31), DeHaan ranked as one of the kids' favorite destinations.

The town is quiet, picturesque and very European; there are flowers in every window box on the police station and signs exclusively in Dutch in the laundromats. We were pleased to once again find ourselves at a charming refuge favored by locals, even if English is an afterthought in De Haan. The only way I found out that one business was a small grocery/convenience store was by walking up and opening the door. Because their sign wasn't a helpful indicator:

After a breakfast buffet and our first visit to the water slides on Saturday morning, our friends Frank and Carlos made the drive up from Brussels with Frank's mom to explore the area with us.

While we endured some heavy winds and really the first plan-altering precipitation of our entire trip, we still rode a tram to the center of town and the kids hit a trampoline carnival ride before the rains drove us back to the resort. Fortunately our first order of business had been a stroll to the seashore to feel the waves, collect some shells and poke a dead jellyfish with a stick.

After a quiet day around the resort on Sunday, we made our last major sightseeing trip on Monday - Betsy's birthday! - when we got up early to make the three-hour drive to Amsterdam. The Netherlands struck us as being very clean, well-organized and healthy - at least the rest stops, vehicles and roadside fields, buildings and waterways we saw. We arrived in the city shortly before lunchtime and, after hunting down a parking spot, set out on foot to wander along the canals and see what we could find.

Amsterdam, the fourth world capital of our trip, was busy and alive on the crisp, sunny day of our visit. People were milling about everywhere, causing Betsy to wonder, "Don't any of these people have jobs?!"

She left me to ponder that at one of the local coffeehouses while she and the kids took a little walk. It was some of the best coffee I've ever had (not pictured).

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The most watery city in the world gets its distinction from three main canals, dug in the 17th century, that form concentric belts through the old downtown, which boasts 1550 monumental buildings. We enjoyed weaving our way along the numerous connecting canals and seeing the houseboats and old crooked warehouses, many of them refurbished as cool living spaces.   

Since we decided to forego the art scene and save the Van Gogh and Rembrandt museums for another time, the one place we really wanted to see was the Anne Frank House. A moderate queue and a look at some information in the museum's shop gave us time for a family history lesson on Anne Frank and WWII.

We saw the warehouse for Mr. Frank's former business and where the family's hideout was built in a secret rear annex. We walked through the offices where the refugees' only support worked by day and where Anne, her sister Margot, mother Edith, father Otto and four others would occasionally sneak by night. We walked past a reconstruction of the bookcase that hid the access panel to the annex and walked up the stairs to the tiny living space shared by eight people from July 6, 1942 until August 4, 1944 when the German police stormed in after an unidentified informer exposed them. It was difficult to place one's self in their shoes; terrified to cough, sneeze, flush a toilet or crack a window shade lest they be discovered and thrown to the Nazi devils; bored, trapped, alone, cramped and fearful for day upon day. While the annex is completely unfurnished, the walls and layout have remain unchanged and walking through Anne's bedroom with the pictures she pasted up on the wall still intact, seeing the map where Otto Frank marked the advancing Allied forces and the section of wallpaper where Anne and Margot's height was marked during their stay was very moving. The original diaries, handwritten in Dutch and spanning several books were also on display.

Anne Frank was important not only because she chronicled a chapter of world history from a viewpoint that usually goes unheard but more so because of the life, love, hopes and dreams for mankind she expressed so beautifully in spite of her dire circumstances.

No photography was allowed inside but here are the kids in front of the exterior of the warehouse right after our visit.

Next we took a relaxing one-hour boat tour through the canals and enjoyed learning about the grand buildings, beguiling houseboats and intricate bridges lining the channels.

Betsy slipped on her fabulous birthday gift, the shimmering Swarovski ring purchased that day from their Amsterdam retail store.

At one point, we consulted our GPS to determine which route we should take next to explore the city and decided on a corner that we hadn't reached previously. Three blocks later, we failed to notice the crimson light bulbs above the windows but we did see the woman in the window who was, as Vaughn put it, "pretending to be a mannequin but with no shirt on." As she pulled the curtain closed with a frown, we made a u-turn and made our way back towards more familiar territory.

Following our day in Amsterdam, two lazy days back at the De Haan resort with nowhere to be and nothing to do closed out our vacation. We bought a shovel for the beach and had a blast digging in the sand and leaping in the waves.

On Wednesday evening we enjoyed a visit from our friends Max, Els and daughters Jill and Anna -Paulina. A pizza feast, lots of laughs, and hopes for many reunions in the future preceded this beautiful sunset on the beach.  

After the two-hour dinner, the kids were eager to stretch their legs as we began to stroll around De Haan. Shortly after leaving the restaurant at dusk, all three kids ran around a corner and were clotheslined by an almost-invisible cable strung up between pillars at the bike-rental store shown in the second picture of this post. Xander took the worst of it on his neck and the height of the wire was evident as Vaughn got it on the nose and Quinn on her right eyebrow. 

We went to the floral police station and made a report so I'm sure the bike store got a stern reprimand in the morning. Of course, it took an some Americans sprinting blindly around a dark corner in an unfamiliar town to point out the problem, but we did our civic duty and - finally! - a Belgian cop wrote my information down in his little book. 

Thursday morning started early as we made our way to the airport first thing in the morning. One of our strategies was to put a packed suitcase inside an otherwise empty larger suitcase to make our return trip a little easier. It was a great idea that made packing easy but cramming everything into our little Skoda Octavia a lot like playing Tetris. Here's us pulling everything out upon arrival at the Brussels airport for our flight back home. Vaughn has the print we bought during our visit to Monet's house and gardens.

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This is the last installment of the Hughes on the Loose: Europe 2012 blog after 27 posts covering 44 days. We've had over 1900 page views and we're delighted our friends and family could share the true joys of Europe right along with us:

Our trip ended with our return to the Twin Cities on August 30. We will have to find a local resource for some of the thirty new varieties of beer we've sampled during our travels (several of them way more than once). The true highlights were our stays in London (during the Olympics!) and Paris, living in Brussels, the day trips to Amsterdam, Dinant and Monschau, seeing all the castles, walls, cathedrals, palaces and boobs, just being together and the countless little joys and discoveries that happened every day. 

goodbye laundromats, 

hello dishwasher

goodbye museums, 

hello classrooms

goodbye pigeons, 

hello piano

goodbye great beer everywhere, 

hello all English all the time

goodbye Bob l'eponge,

hello NFL

goodbye subways, 

hello Hopkins

goodbye cigarette butts, 

hello water fountains and trash cans

goodbye suitcases, 

hello baseball gloves

goodbye new friends, 

hello home

 Ha ha ha ha ha! Weiner Circus!

EURO DISNEY & MONET HOUSE (DAYS 38, 39)

Xander, Vaughn and Quinn had their first Magic Kingdom experience with a visit to the Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios Parks just outside of Paris and the long, expensive day was truly a memorable one.

We rushed out of the hotel first thing in the morning to undertake the forty-minute drive, intent on arriving as the park opened at 10 and staying until the last firework burst over Sleeping Beauty Castle at 11 p.m. We rode Le Carousel de Lancelot (1) and Dumbo the Flying Elephant (2) before rendezvousing with our friends Jeannine and Dylan Cavallo. 

The whole group first took a spin on Les Voyages de Pinocchio (3) and then, after a quick lunch, enjoyed the feel-good splendor of It’s a Small World (4). By that time, we were pushing 6 p.m. and decided to hit a couple of rides at Walt Disney Studios Park before that area closed at 7. There we were jostled by the Cars Quatre Rous Rallye (5) and thrilled by Crush’s Coaster (6).

Our friends bowed out at that point but we kept at it after dinner back at Disneyland Park by hitting Autopia (7) where the kids got to drive their own 50's-style race cars. As we left the ride and began figuring out where we were going to set up for the final fireworks extravaganza, we stumbled upon a perfect spot to take in the Fantasia Parade. Disney princesses, heroes, villains and supporting characters streamed by us on shimmering floats and all three kids beamed and shouted as their favorites waved back at them.  

As we headed back toward the central castle with twenty minutes to go before the ending show, I realized that I could get on Space Mountain 2 (which the kids were unfortunately all too short to ride) in just ten minutes - a far cry from the ninety minute wait we had to endure for everything else we rode that day. It was not your father's (my) Space Mountain. An opening blast-off followed by a glimpse of the park at the peak of the first hill, background music and sound effects in the headrests, three inversions, a laser tunnel and the infinite black star field that has always defined Space Mountain made it one of the coolest coasters I've ever ridden. 

If you've been keeping track, that made a whopping eight rides that at least one of us rode during our Disney experience. Combined with parking, lunch and dinner we shelled out about $500 for the day. Still, we were glad we did it - especially since we made it through the multimedia spectacle of the Showtime Spectacular Finale.  

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On Friday we left Paris for good to head to the final stop of our odyssey; a seaside resort in De Haan, Belgium. On our way, we stopped in Giverny, France to visit the house and gardens of impressionist master Claude Monet.

The painter and his large family lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926 and the estate has has undergone few changes over the last hundred years. Monet was fond of painting controlled nature and produced countless works of his own gardens with its flowers of almost every color imaginable as well as the adjoining pond with its bridges and famous water lilies. 

The extensive garden was designed by Monet himself and is maintained to this day according to his wishes. Many of the stunning views we enjoyed were evident in paintings on display in the gallery/gift shop and it was worth the price of admission just to see the stunning array of flowers.

Visitors can also tour the house where photographs of Monet posing in some rooms are displayed next to the same furnishings and decorations by which he stands. Unfortunately, once again, no photographs were allowed of the interior but it was a perfect stop on our four-hour drive from Paris to De Haan.

EIFFEL TOWER & SIGHTSEEING (DAYS 36, 37)

On Tuesday we spent most of the day around the most iconic landmark of Paris…so the day's blog will consist primarily of pictures of us reveling around the Eiffel Tower. 

Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to that year's World's Fair, the 1,063-foot structure was the tallest in the world until 1930 when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed. Although the Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled in 1909, its usefulness as a communications transmitting tower saved it from becoming scrap metal - though con artist, Victor Lustig still "sold" it twice for that very purpose.    Many artists and writers expressed outrage over the design, though most ended their criticism when the tower was built. Others remained indignant. The popular writer Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's cafe every day. When asked why, he replied that it "was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure."

The day was made even more memorable when we met up with newfound friends Jeannine Cavallo and her daughter, Dylan (like Quinn a gymnast at TAGS in Eden Prairie) and joined the ranks of the 250 million people who have visited the tower. 

We had a great time strolling and chatting with the Cavallos while the kids rode scooters on the walkways surrounding the tower. After a delectable Chinese lunch, we went to the nearby Trocadéro Fountain where we cooled off by dipping our feet into the water.

We considered joining some local boys who were sliding down the concrete embankment until one of them came out of the water clutching his leg; a piece of glass had sliced a two-inch gash on the bottom of his left foot. I whipped out my omnipresent and imminently useful Dr. Dad First-Aid Kit and was able to provide some assistance until an ambulance came and whisked him away. 

After a return to our hotel room to freshen up, we took the Metro back to the Eiffel Tower area for a sunset boat tour of the major sights along the Seine.

We enjoyed seeing the houseboats lining the banks of the river and listening to the recorded audio guide talk us through the history of the palaces, museums, cathedrals and overpasses. The ornate Alexandre III arch bridge, seen in the background below, is regarded as the most ornate, extravagant span in all of Paris and includes gilt-bronze statues, gilded masonry and wrought-iron accents.

We picked that night to enjoy some fine French cuisine and, ooh la la, enjoyed a very fancy meal and excellent service aboard a floating restaurant with a fantastic view of the Seine and the tower. We finished our Eiffel experience with another stroll over to the Trocadéro to capture some shots of the reflection of the tower in the water before settling on a spot along the river to take in the nightly show of shimmering lights that further accentuated the tower's grace and beauty.

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Now that we had become underground travel experts in our third European city, we were determined to ride the rails to hit several must-see Parisian sights on Wednesday. We began by visiting the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica.

Unfortunately photography is not permitted in the interior of the Roman Catholic church, but intricate mosaics made with tiny shimmering tiles laid into the walls make up the stations of the cross and crests of the families that privately funded the building's construction which began in 1875 and was completed in 1914. The popular landmark is located at the summit of the butte Montmarte, the highest point in the city, and afforded an expansive view of the streets below.

Our next stop was the the Peré Lachaise cemetery, the largest and most famous in Paris. Reputed to be the world's most visited cemetery, it attracts visitors from around the globe to the graves of luminaries who lived or died in France over the last two hundred years.

The cemetery is a fascinating mix of very old and very modern memorials. Moss-covered graves with illegible markings are next to sleek, black marble headstones with etched photos of the recently deceased. Many stone slabs and posts have caved in or toppled over, making it appear as if the undead fought their way out or grave robbers pried them open. Row after row of vertical tombs with rusty metal doors, many slightly ajar, invite passers-by to peek in if they dare.

Like most others wandering the narrow passageways between crypts, our primary aim was finding the internment site of Doors lead singer Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971. We also made sure to find Frédéric Chopin's final resting place where we sat and listened to the composer's Nocturne in Ebm Op. 9, No. 2, while we enjoyed the peace of the moment. 

Our last major goal was visiting the interior of Notre-Dame (Our Lady) de Paris, the historic Roman Catholic cathedral on which construction began in 1163. Completed in 1345, the building is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is thought to be the most well-known church in the world. As we entered, we enjoyed looking at the statues of saints and biblical kings adorning the exterior walls, including that of the martyr Saint Denis holding his decapitated head.

The interior is, needless to say, a magnificent work of art that holds a variety of items of historical, religious and architectural significance. The stunning five-foot chandelier below had been lowered to the ground for cleaning.

The stations of the cross and other religious artwork on the walls are massive, morbidly-detailed wood carvings that shine with gilded paint.

Important religious men are entombed in the sanctuary and their crypts are marked with bejeweled stone replicas of their deceased bodies. I am unable to find out more information on this fellow but in all the cathedrals we've visited in Europe, none of the memorial statues had this much finery.

Our sightseeing complete for the day, we walked back to the hotel in search of some crêpes and found a stand near the Georges Pompidou building. We sat to rest our tired legs while we enjoyed our sweet snacks and watched street performers working for change on the busy square before calling it a day.

LOUVRE (DAY 35)

We started off Monday, our first full day in Paris, with an early lunch at McDonald's. Yes that's a Heineken next to the Royal With Cheese on our tray. C'est Tout Ce Que J'aime...which is the French way McDonald's should be paying me to say I'm lovin' it in my blog.

With our sponsor satisfied for the afternoon, we walked to one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, the Musée de Louvre. A palace was first founded on the site in 1190 while the first wing of the gargantuan edifice as it appears today was begun in 1546. You can see remnants of the original fortress' foundation in the lower depths of the basement.

Generations of kings made their marks with a series of additions and renovations to make the renowned palace the repository for art, archaeology, history and architecture it is today. The museum was first opened to the public during the French Revolution on November 8, 1793 and improvement to the facility is virtually ongoing. The latest major addition, the Crystal Pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei, was inaugurated in 1989.

Nearly 100,000 objects are displayed from prehistory to the 19th century in 652,300 square feet of exhibition space but, like most people, we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. The room in which the painting is displayed is always filled with a crowded mass of people jostling for a closer look.

After slowly barging our way through to the front, we were rewarded with a view of Leonardo DaVinci's 1503∼1506 magazine-sized masterpiece. We lingered taking photos as long as we could before we left to wander through the halls toward the Vénus de Milo. The famous statue of a goddess, perhaps Aphrodite, was sculpted around 100 B.C., then was discovered on a Greek island in 1820 and gained instant acclaim upon being placed in the Louvre a year later. How her arms were positioned and what she may have held are questions that hold the key to her identity and are points of endless speculation. 

Of course we saw many other stunning works of art such as this painting of Leonidas at Thermopylae (1814) by Jacques-Louis David. It shows the Spartan king and his soldiers preparing for battle in their uniquely Greek way. Apparently 300 could have been a way more historically accurate and titillating movie.

Speaking of titillating, this oft-photographed sculpture in a main foyer of the museum captures the metaphor of Roman charity in the image of a young woman giving her breast to an old man. Let's just say this piece of chiseled stone embodies the essence of the Louvre in our children's eyes. When Betsy asked them what they liked best about the museum, they each agreed it was "all the boobies." We're pretty sure they were kidding and that they really did enjoy the, um, exposure they received to the world of classic art.

Of course the visit was informative and inspirational and we enjoyed the opportunity to seriously contemplate the size and depth of the collection. The kids had many questions about what they saw and we enjoyed discussing the history and meanings behind the more provocative pieces. One of Betsy's favorites was another by Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon's official painter who, in 1807, completed The Coronation of Napoleon. The massive canvas is over 500 square feet and is an indulgent and servile commemoration of Napoleon's self-imposed ascension to power. Here's a fascinating history of the painting including details about how David had to change the pope's attitude and include Napoleon's mother among the onlookers to appease the new king.

After our fill of artwork, we enjoyed a snack and some refreshingly cool, intermittent rain around a fountain in the Jardin des Tuileries where we shared some of our cookies with the bold parisian pigeons.

Next we visited the Jardin du Luxembourg which is the second largest public park in Paris. Statues, fountains, play areas and a famously calm atmosphere made for a relaxing end to our busy day of sightseeing.

Finally, after dinner at a pizzeria across the street from our hotel, we settled in back at the room to watch Dark Shadows, an underrated Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie that we all found funny and clever.

By the way, several fans of our blog may have noticed our tendency to place our treasured offspring smack in the middle of many of the photos showing the incredible locations we've been visiting.

Well a painting we saw in the "History of the Louvre" gallery proved that it's been going on for centuries...and it used to be a lot more expensive and time consuming than just pulling a camera phone out of dad's pocket!

HERGÉ MUSEUM & BOTANICAL GARDEN, ARRIVAL IN PARIS (DAYS 33, 34)

For our last full day in Brussels, we hit two spots that were in our plans from the beginning but had never been squeezed into our busy schedule; The Hergé Museum and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. The former opened in Louvain-la-Neuve in June, 2009 and was well worth the visit for fans of the local icon, comics writer and artist.

The museum is expansive and neatly organized and everyone gets a headset and iPod loaded with entertaining details and interactive activities that guide you through the archives of Hergé's work.

Visitors get closer to the characters and stories through biographical information, examples of Hergé's influences, lots of props, artifacts and artwork from the Hergé Studios as well as specimens of his work outside of the Tintin series. Some of the most interesting items were the original pencil sketches of familiar scenes such as this draft of the cover of The Castafiore Emerald.

After lunch, we drove to the Botanic Garden, or Plantentuin, in Meise and were glad we made time to do so. The garden covers 92 hectares through winding, shaded pathways and holds 18,000 varieties of plants.

The Plant Palace is the largest greenhouse in Belgium and comprises a series of rooms with vegetation from all over the world including edible tropical fruits, Mediterranean greenery, a Dry House full of cacti and the Victoria House with carnivorous plants and other marsh-dwellers such as the world's biggest water lilies. 

One of our favorite rooms was the Evolution House with examples of plants from the beginning of their evolution to land 500 million years ago through the Jurassic period to today's varied flora. Below you'll see two herbivorous dinosaurs munching on leaves and one carnivore on the prowl. 

In the tropical mountain rainforest room, the mist was so heavy that drops fell like rain from the canopy above.

And of course, since it was a European greenhouse, they also had some melons on display.

The grounds also contain the renovated 12th-century Castle of Bouchout which is unfortunately only open to the public during special exhibitions, and the day of our visit was not one of them.

The weekend was brutally hot and we stayed out as long as we could so we could ride around in the cool comfort of our rental car. Our flat, like many places in Belgium, doesn't have air-conditioning as it's not typically needed (though I think the climate change we're seeing will make it a lucrative business in the coming years). After dinner, Betsy was kind enough to send me off to the relative cool of our local movie theater where I saw The Dark Knight Rises. This one was in English with French and Dutch subtitles and was the first thing I've enjoyed watching besides Olympics on TV and Angels baseball online since we got here.

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Sunday morning was spent packing, sweating and preparing to leave the flat once and for all to begin the Paris leg of our journey.  As excited as we were to explore the City of Light for five days, we may have been even more eager to check in to our air-conditioned hotel!

After an uneventful three-and-a-half hour drive, we made it to the Crowne Plaza on the Place de la République and got settled before an exploratory stroll. Our first order of business was introducing the kids to the world of French cuisine by hitting a KFC across the street. We then lingered at the Stravinski Fountain outside the Centre Pompidou and enjoyed the sixteen surreal structures that move and spray water.

Our main target was the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Since the day was winding down, a walk around the exterior and a plan to visit the interior in a couple of days were enough to keep us happy.

The bridge crossing from the cathedral to the left bank of the Seine, the Pont de l'Archêvché, is one of the "love lock" bridges on which people have fastened their symbolic tokens of love. Couples from around the world secure an engraved lock to the railing and then toss the key into the river as as symbol of their unbreakable bond.

Our sunset walk up the Seine gave us our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower before we grabbed some ice cream for the walk back to the hotel.

STARDUST & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM (DAYS 31, 32)

Thursday and Friday were both quiet days as the kids and I spent most of both mornings getting back to work. I had some serious blogging to do to get caught up on our time in London and the youngsters were all eager to dive back into their arithmetic and reading. Well, they may not have been given much of a choice but they were rewarded with a trip to Stardust, Brussels' largest indoor play park on Thursday afternoon.

Since Belgian schoolchildren are still on summer holiday, we found the place wide open like many local attractions we've visited. We arrived just after four p.m. and shared the facility with maybe fifteen other kids for the two hours we were there. X, V and Q rode bumper cars, race cars and motorcycles, enjoyed climbing, sliding and bouncing on all kinds of activity areas and became expert bumper boaters with all the time they spent bouncing into each other on the water.

Friday afternoon's reward was a trip to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences a half hour's walk from the flat. On our way we stopped by a beer shop that boasted 400 different varieties. I swear a place like this would make a killing in America. If anyone wants to go in on a business with me, I promise to personally sample every one of our products to best advise our potential customers.

We weren't sure what to expect at the museum, but its collection of specimens of virtually every animal species on land, sea and air was vast and the dinosaur hall is the largest in the world completely devoted to dinosaurs. The museum, founded in 1846, gained international attention when it became home to thirty fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in a coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium.

Another highlight for us was the ensemble of stuffed and mounted animals both living and extinct that filled hall after non-air-conditioned hall. The boys can't get enough of the big cats and Vaughn in particular loves the spotted ones.

The fish exhibits reinforced the kids' growing demand for an aquarium upon our return home; they want a clown fish named Nemo and a goldfish named Goldie. Pretty creative. There was a North and South Pole room with great examples of the different animals found at both, including a narwhal, and a whale room that included an enormous skeleton of a young blue whale.

The insect gallery was stunning in its abundance with fifteen million (!) individual specimens of insects, spiders, crustaceans and other arthropods. That wing of the museum culminated in a vivarium with several tanks of live creepy crawlies. 

On the way home we were quite hungry but decided to hold off until we found something a little more familiar than the options offered by one African eatery just off the main strip.

That evening, after catching up with Granny and Grandpa Hughes on Skype, we celebrated the beginning of Betsy's longest vacation in five years with a walk to Grand Place for another look at the Flower Carpet. We were glad we saw it in its full glory on Tuesday as it had lost much of its freshness and fragrance but it was still exciting to take in the scene. We also made sure to hit a waffle spot for a snack as we lingered at the beautiful landmark for probably the last time.

BACK TO BRUSSELS, ATOMIUM & LITTLE EUROPE (DAYS 29, 30)

The kids and I strolled along the banks of the Thames again before our 11 AM check out and enjoyed being in the midst of a busy Tuesday morning London commute. Just as we had finally become accustomed to looking right, left, and then right again when crossing the streets filled with drivers going the "wrong way," we had to be even more alert that morning with all of the cyclists and runners heading to work. Once we broke away from the hustle and bustle, we took a break on some giant turf-upholstered furniture outside the National Theatre. 

We headed for our last trip Underground toward the train station and said our goodbyes to a city which left us really impressed. We saw only a small percentage of London but it was clean and friendly and there was a lot less smoking and cigarette detritus than we've endured in Brussels. 

Oddly, however, it is surprisingly difficult to find a rubbish bin in public and only slightly easier to find a loo. Overall, this European trek has reminded us to appreciate America's ubiquitous trash receptacles, drinking fountains and free public toilets. 

We reached the train station with time to spare so were able to visit an Olympic merchandise shop and pick up a few souvenirs of our time in London, including some vaguely phallic Wenlock and Mandeville dolls. After a quick lunch we hopped on one of the pianos in the lobby and tickled the ivory for a bit.

Once we were reunited with Betsy upon our return to Brussels, we joined some friends at a Thai restaurant near Grand Place, where we would get our first look at this year's version of the famous Flower Carpet. However, just a couple of blocks from our flat, we knew our enjoyment of that sight would be nothing compared to this:

Ha ha ha ha ha! WIENER BUS!

Okay, we regained our composure quickly enough to snap a quick photo of the fully-adorned plaza in daylight on our way to the restaurant. The Flower Festival is a biennial five-day event during which hundreds of thousands of flowers are artfully arranged in historic Grand Place.

After dinner, we entered the square just as the nightly fireworks display began. With kids hoisted on shoulders, we all enjoyed the spectacle of rockets shooting into the night sky from the floral mosaic covering the ground. I then disrupted some diners who thought they had made some pretty exclusive reservations when I climbed up to the second story of an eatery to hang out of an open window next to their table to get this shot from above. 

The blueprint for this edition of the Flower Carpet.

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August 15th is a national holiday throughout much of Europe in celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since St. Jude's Brussels office was closed on Wednesday, Betsy took a few hours to join us on our visit to Little Europe at the foot of the Atomium.

We had a good time wandering through the various "countries" and seeing miniature versions of some of the landmarks we've visited during our travels. Here are a couple of shots of the cathedral and citadel at Dinant. Which one is real? I don't know anymore!

Since we're not going to Italy during our trip, we at least got this incredibly original shot of the mini Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Next we rode the escalators and climbed the stairs to visit the interior of the Atomium, which - as noted in the Day 5 blog entry when we first set eyes on the exterior - was originally constructed in 1958 as part of the World Fair of Brussels, or Expo 58. It symbolizes the peaceful use of atomic energy, the democratic will to maintain peace among all nations and an optimistic view of the future. Like other landmark structures around the world, it was intended to be temporary but captured the country's imagination and was transformed into a permanent feature. When we visited, the spheres contained a series of displays on water usage, a cafe at the very top (which was closed) and one room that is used by school groups for educational sleepovers.

We ended our day with a trip to our local Delhaize grocery for a final stock-up before we depart for Paris this Sunday, then it was back to the flat to get caught up on laundry. We're all excited for Betsy to wrap up work on Friday so she can finally join in the vacation full time. 

THE CLINK, TOWER OF LONDON & MUMMIES (DAY 28)

Monday, our third day in London, was the city's first in months without any upcoming Olympic celebrations or events on which to focus. It was interesting to walk around areas that had been filled with fans and vendors only a day before and see structures, booths and signs being unceremoniously torn down and removed. The Olympic rings still hung from the Tower Bridge, however, and we got to see them raise along with the bridge to allow a clipper with sails flying to pass underneath. Even hardened Londoners were stopping to snap photos of the sight.  

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In the morning, we visited the notorious Clink Prison on the south bank, where we were treated to all sorts of medieval torture devices and tales of captives' misery and woe. The Clink, a nickname for jails still used by English speakers today, was established in 1144 and got its name from the sound of the blacksmith's hammer closing the irons around the wrists or ankles of prisoners. 

Quinn was very apprehensive as we swung open the heavy, creaky wooden door to explore the dark halls of the museum. Posed figures and wall placards told tales of filth and terror endured by both upper and lower class malefactors. Once Quinn felt reassured that we would eventually be released, we all reveled in the surprisingly hands-on experience the various rooms offered. 

- EXPLICIT DETAILS BELOW - 

We were able to pick up and feel the effects of thumbscrews and a leg iron with a ball attached.

Here Quinn imagines the damage this swinging mace could do while the boys hold a pair of head restraints used to punish gossips. This "light" punishment for women forced the wearer to endure the heavy headgear complete with a spiked tongue depressor as they were paraded about town. 

Another humiliating punishment were the stocks which were used for unscrupulous traders in the stock market, butchers who sold raw meat, bakers who baked sawdust into their bread or little boys who peed all over the toilet and bathroom floor at the Holiday Inn Express. 

The stocks were better than the pillory since at least an offender's upper body was free to facilitate evasive maneuvers to more easily dodge the rotten vegetables, feces and dead animals that people threw at them.

We learned about the way a prisoner's flesh would fall of his body after a few days in the sewage-filled Hole. We saw how criminals' bodies were left to dangle from the gibbet for the ravens to pick at after they were hung and covered with pitch for preservation. We read about the way hangings progressed from a half hour of slow strangulation (friends could help things along by yanking on the condemned, giving us the phrase "pulling your leg") to the quicker method of dropping the victim from a height to break his neck.

Of course, that kind of consideration wasn't always shown if torture was undertaken in an effort to get a confession. Some prisoners were subjected to pressing; a thick door was laid over their spread-eagle body and huge weights were added until ribs were broken and the stubborn individual was near suffocation. Others endured water torture during which they were tied down and forced to drink large quantities of water, urine or bile until their stomach was filled to near bursting. Then they were beaten until they vomited and the whole process was begun anew. People were killed by being burned at the stake (green wood was undesirable as victims would pass out from the smoke and weren't conscious as the flames set in) or were tossed into a vat of boiling water. Others were hung, disemboweled, then cut into quarters - not necessarily in that order. Kneeling in front of an ax-weilding executioner with your neck on a block of wood was easily the quickest and most merciful way to pay the ultimate price.

All that being said, the museum was kid-friendly and the information was presented in a straightforward and educational manner. Such atrocities are a part of our history and it's important to learn how people were once treated before human rights finally began to take hold in most civilized places around the world 200 years ago. I have a bit of a morbid side so I was hoping to find such a place when we first planned our trip to London and it was everything I could've asked for. The kids got into it and were even rewarded with lollipops for accurately counting the rats throughout the galleries! 

In the end, I came through on my promise and we were released to head to the Tower to see jewels and armor and bear witness to more tales of captivity and torture.

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We spent three hours roaming the grounds of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London. 

Founded in 1066, the Tower has served as a royal residence and defensive fortification, an armory, a treasury, a menagerie housing exotic animals, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office and home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Several of the towers housed prisoners in the site's thousand-year history, some in astonishing comfort and others less so. Many left their mark in often heart-wrenching graffiti carved into the walls. This intricate zodiacal chart and calendar was made by one Hew Draper in May of 1561. 

We learned about the various ways the fortress was defended and read about the only time it was overrun during the Peasant's Revolt of 1381.

Before entering the Jewel House to view the royal treasures, we enjoyed watching a ceremonial sentry run through his regimented paces. The guards are regular Army soldiers and enjoy these duties between deployments around the world.

Unfortunately, no photos are allowed throughout the Crown Jewel exhibition so I am unable to share that part of our tour but the shimmering symbols of monarchy which included 400 years of gilded and jewel-encrusted crowns, scepters, swords, orbs and anointing regalia were truly awe-inspiring. 

Next we made our way next into the central White Tower to view the tremendous collection of armor and weaponry. Among the many suits of armor is this jousting ensemble worn by King Henry VIII, complete with giant codpiece.

Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536 on or around this spot where a monument stands today. The center of the table holds a glass pillow like the one that would have been placed underneath the executioner's block. 

The Wakefield Tower houses the torture display and includes a full rack. In case you didn't get your fill in the section above, you'll be pleased to see an example of the device on which people were tied with their arms and legs stretched out. The wheels were gradually ratcheted to stretch victims and inflict terrible pain on the joints.

Some chroniclers have said the torture inflicted by the rack pales in comparison to the more portable scavenger's daughter which did had just the opposite effect by binding the victim in a compressed position.

In case children didn't get their fill of the graphic displays, the gift shop at the Tower offers these whimsical little folding paper models. Shoppers can choose between the beheading activity set and the rack action play kit. Click to see them in their full animatronic glory.

Needless to say, after such a gruesome morning, we were famished. We couldn't resist, so we set out for the second day in a row to enjoy another dim sum lunch in Chinatown. The kids were even bolder and Vaughn in particular enjoyed speaking to our server in Mandarin. But Chinatown is not all roasted ducks and squids hanging in the windows. One side street also features the KuKlub, which is licensed to 3 AM and has won some major awards. 

On our way to the Underground we passed by a bunch of commotion which turned out to be the red-carpet London premier of The Expendables 2. We were unable to see over the four-deep crowd but we could hear the shouts as Sly and the guys made their entrances.

Our last big stop of the day was the British Museum where admission is free unless you care to make a donation.

  Homer: And uh, what if I wish to pay ... zero?
  Clerk: That is up to you.
  -------------
  Homer: Well, anything you say! Good luck, lady, you're gonna need it!

Fortunately, enough people who haven't thrown their money away on sleazy museums of death are willing to make contributions to keep this higher institution of death accessible to all. Keeping in theme, we went straight for the Egyptian wing and were blown away by the vast collection of mummies and mummy-related items.

An excellent display on how mummies were preserved culminated in one of many examples of a mummified body; this one was 3,000 years old (!) and, like many others, still had hair, teeth and nails.

If mummification was a way to bring eternal life to the deceased, the process must be deemed a success in a way.

I was also thrilled to realize that the museum contains the Rosetta stone and the kids and I enjoyed the opportunity to see it in person and learn more about it. The stone contains a decree issued by King Ptolemy I in 196 BC written in triplicate in Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic script and ancient Greek. Before the discovery of the stone in 1799, hieroglyphics had been indecipherable. On display in the British Museum since 1802, the Rosetta Stone led to today's ability to read ancient Egyptian inscriptions and literature confidently.

As a final nod to the Olympic games, we were also pleased to fight through the crowd to get a great look at an example of a pair of gold medals from the 2012 Games.

Exhausted from our biggest day of sightseeing and already mentally composing what (I hope) will probably be the longest post of the entire blog, we hopped on yet another London icon and enjoyed the view from the upper level of a double-decker bus on the ride back to our hotel.