Great Wall

(I apologize for the mass amount of "couple" photos in this post. You may want to skip it to avoid the "MP/LP show"). 

 The Great Wall was amazing. 

 Such a surreal feeling to be walking on something built in the 7th Century BC. 

I honestly, never thought I'd make it to the "Great Wall of China".

Never say never. 

 The section of the wall we walked was called the Mutianyu section. It was about a 1.5 hour drive outside of Beijing. We arrived early in the morning and for about the first 45 minutes we seemed to be the only ones around. Never what I expected, and such a great surprise!

We spent about two hours walking the portion you see (and some more behind us). Some parts were super steep, and we were almost on all fours crawling up the stairs. 

We ended our journey with a ride down. 

Such an incredible morning.

We made our way back to the city and saw the Temple of Heaven. 

 The Temple was visited by members of the Ming and Qing Dynasties for prayer ceremonies. 

 It was constructed from 1406-1420. 

In 1998 it was termed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

We saw these door-knockers all over China. 

I was quite smitten with them!

We spent some time walking the beautiful grounds. 

Our day isn't over yet, but this post has gotten too long. 

More to come on our afternoon-

xx,

Lauren

Back from Beijing

We had a great weekend,  and I'm now gearing up for my last week of work before heading out again on Friday. 

 I feel like I'm running in a thousand directions and time is racing past me. Do you feel like this after you've been out of town too? It always takes me a few days to get back in my groove. 

 We spent 3.5 days in Beijing, and I think it was plenty of time. The Great Wall was amazing and definitely the highlight of the trip. I didn't love Beijing, but we ventured to some cool spots and had some great meals. Pollution? Oh, it's terrible. 

We started out at the Forbidden City. 

 The Forbidden City really is a "city". It goes on forever, and you just keep walking through palace after palace. 

 ...and the tourists love this place. The Chinese tour groups were everywhere and dodging past them became somewhat of an an art form. 

 Don't you love their hats?

 We walked through the Hall of Clocks. Actually, quite amazing clocks were found here. 

 Can you find me?

We stopped at Tieneman Square on our way out. 

 I especially loved the man checking out his false teeth. Ha!

We wandered through some of the Hutongs and stopped for lunch. 

We ended Day One with an early dinner before MP had to hop on a call. 

We're off to the Great Wall in the morning. Much more to come on Beijing, but this tired girl has got to get to bed!

xx,

Lauren

To China!

We're heading out tomorrow night and making our way to Beijing.

We'll be climbing this beast on Friday,

and sightseeing the rest of the weekend.
I'll head back Sunday night and MP will stay on for work next week.
This is my first trip to Beijing!
 Do you have any tips for me??
xx,
Lauren

Monday.

While MP was with the guys on Saturday night

(trying to win us lots of money)

I was having a girls night in. 

MP was here.

We were here.

It's okay though, considering I just spent a long weekend in Phuket. 

I cooked. We chatted. It was perfect.

MP won money. 

 All in all, it was a great night. 

**********************************

Tonight, though, we're spent.

 The late night calls are happening. 

 ...and we're all really excited about them. 

Can't you tell?

I should be packing, but I'm not.

(More on that tomorrow...)

Aren't the peonies just beautiful though? 

Fresh flowers in the house can make any day just about 100 times better.   

xx,

Lauren