Week of May 4 - Catching Up From Vacation - Our Trip Part 1

Well, we are back from vacation in China. Actually we returned a week ago, but between jet lag, and a zillion things to do to sort of "redomesticate" ourselfs at home, I've been slacking on getting updates posted here. Not to mention that Nancy and I both had to return to work a day after landing.

It was a great vacation, and Emily did really really well being half a world away from home for 2 weeks. That said, to quote Nancy, "Man, vacation is so much harder with a child along". :-P

What I will be doing over the next few days, is catching everyone up on our May vacation in in China through a series of separate posts. So keep checking daily for new posts.

It was May 2 when we actually headed for the airport for the long flight to China. Nancy's parents were going to China the same day (different trip itinerary and staying longer, but departing the same day in the early afternoon). So our trip begins with a long limo ride to SFO. This was Emily's first limo ride, so it only seems fitting that we have at least one photo opportunity. :)

Emily, and Nancy, and Nancy's Mom relaxing on the long ride to the airport.


We departed for Shanghai on time, and everything went smoothly getting bags checked, tickets, and waiting for boarding. I took no photos of airport or plane ride as these tend to be kind of ho-hum anyway. Our flight over was about 12.5 hours, and Emily did really well for such a long flight. We used a Cares Harness for her in her seat and that went well, and afforded her extra safety when we hit any air turbulance. Two thumbs up for the Cares Harness.

We landed in Shanghai on time, at the brand new Terminal 2. I thought Terminal 1 was nice, but Terminal 2 is even nicer. We cleared frontier security in a matter of mintues after the long walk from the gate, and hung around until our bags popped out onto the baggage beltway.

We stayed at the La Meridian Hotel in Shanghai for a day and two nights, while we visited with some coworkers in Shanghai and did a little sight seeing. Great hotel, definitely on our recommend to friends and family list. The hotel is right on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, so we took the opportunity to do some walking around and a little shopping.





Monday afternoon it was time to fly to Hefei over in Anhui province, and for that you go to the regional airport in Shanghai. Here is a photo of Emily as she sits in the waiting area for our flight out. Note: Nancy put a number of Super Y episodes onto her iPod, and Emily seems pleasing engrosed in an episode of Super Y here in this photo, courtesy of Nancy.



[Check back soon for more vacation updates]