Bye Bye Beijing

Wednesday, March 9, the day of our leaving was just as sunny and beautiful as every day in Beijing had been. You will recall that we had not been able to get to dinner with Chen the night before. She graciously asked us to breakfast today and sent her driver to pick us up.

Chen and her husband, along with others of her extended family live in a group of connected buildings very near our hotel. Ironically, we had walked down her street the day before, and I had wondered what sort of homes there might be off this very ordinary street. We were about to find out.

What we found was a lovely home.

Chen was a charming hostess. She put us completely at ease as she talked about her family and her home while offering us a lovely breakfast. We were completely charmed.

All too soon it was time to go. Chen had work to do, and we had a plane to catch.

That's about it, really. I took a few more photos of Beijing as we drove to the airport.

And then there we were. Everything went well, except for the over zealous airport inspector who insisted I remove my nearly empty scotch bottle from my checked luggage. Of course, I couldn't just throw it away, so my memories of our time in the airport and of much of our flight home are a bit hazy. But get home we did. Thanks, Bern, for pushing us to go to Bali. Thanks, Ben, for hosting us in Hoi An and again in Shanghai. Thanks, Amy, for showing us around Shanghai and thank you, Chen, for inviting us to breakfast. It was quite a trip. We had a wonderful time.