Author: Kristin
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Shanghai
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At 7 a.m. we headed to the train station which was very modern and clean. We traveled about 190 miles per hour. It took about six hours for the trip to Shanghai. Shanghai is very different from Beijing. It looks more like a European city. That is because the English, French, and…
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Final Day
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Arts District Today we toured the Arts District. Mr. Wong picked us up to go there. Artists congregated there during the Cultural Revolution. It is a sprawling community of contemporary galleries, studios, cafes, and shops housed inside unique, Bauhaus-inspired decommissioned military and electronics factories from the 1950s The art is all Modern, and…
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Daily Life
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Everyone goes to the park on Sunday morning. We were no exception. After breakfast we headed to Jingshan Park. The park is a historic, 57-acre imperial park located directly north of the Forbidden City. It was originally an imperial garden for the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and served as the backyard to the Forbidden…
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Chinese History
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The Great Wall Today was the Great Wall Day. The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made architectural project in the world, stretching over 13,171 miles across 15 northern Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, this immense system of fortifications winding over mountains and deserts…
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Beijing
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While I had traveled some to this point, it was the trip to China that awakened my desire to see the world. Over spring break, I went with some students and other faculty to Beijing and Shanghai. We arrived after a long 14-hour overnight flight to hot, humid, smoggy Beijing. We were met…
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Prague, Old Town
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Our tour of the Old Town started with the Charles Bridge. There are 30 sculptures of saints and other important people. The two most visited are St. Wenceslaus, the Duke of Bohemia and patron of the city, and St. John of Nepomuk. If you touch his statue it is supposed to bring…
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Prague, Lesser Town
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Budapest to Prague It was a six-hour trip Prague. The journey took us through the towns of Bratislava in Slovakia; Brno in the Czech Republic and Kutna Hora were we stopped to see the Bone Church. We could not take pictures, but the inside was built with the bones of people. Creepy. We…
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Hungary
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Budapest Budapest is the union of two cities and straddles the banks of the Danube River. Buda, with its traditional hillside, is on one side, and modern Pest on the other. The Chain Bridge unites them. We began in Pest, where we saw the National Opera House and historic Heroes’ Square. The…
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Croatia
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Before we docked, we were serenaded with a Tamburica Band. I got a picture of one of the musicians with a Tamburica. It is a stringed instrument believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia. We drove through Vukovar to get to Osijek is the fourth largest city and is located where the…
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Serbia
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En route to Serbia, we traveled through the Iron Gate, one of Europe’s most dramatic natural wonders. The narrow gorges that slice through the Carpathian Mountains to the north and Balkan Mountains to the south are spectacular. The towering white limestone cliffs draped with forest hide ancient remains. On the Serbian side, Trajan’s…
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Bulgaria
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Our river boat, The Lif, was very long and different from the ocean cruise ship. The name means Life. In Norse mythology, Lif and the male Lifthrasir are two mortals who are foretold that by hiding in the forest of Hodmimir, they will survive Ragnarok—the end of the world, when Heidal…
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Bucharest
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On our first day in Bucharest, we toured the city. We started at Piata Constitutiei, one of the largest public squares in Bucharest with the Palace of Parliament. It is the heaviest building on Earth and the world’s second-largest administrative building after the Pentagon. Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu commissioned it in 1984 as the “House of the Republic.”…
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Transylvania, Day Two
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Brasov to Bucharest In the morning, left for Bran Castle–Dracula’s Castle– a national landmark and legendary fortress. Built between 1377 and 1388 by King Louis I of Hungary. it was to be a fortress against the northern expansion of the Ottomans into Transylvania. In 1388 the castle was completed and…
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Transylvania
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Bucharest to Brasov We arrived in Bucharest, Romania, about 3 pm. We got to the hotel, unpacked, and ventured out to find dinner. Walking a long block along a busy street, we crossed and saw a small Bistro. We entered and were ushered into a booth. It was family run, and the…
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Palaces
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Buckingham Palace Of course visiting Buckingham Palace for a tour and the changing of the guard was requisite. Buckingham Palace was originally known as Buckingham House and was built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham. King George III then bought it in 1761. Construction of the 775-room palace we…
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Bath
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We left Stonehenge and traveled through the Salisbury Plains to the Georgian city of Bath. Arriving we could see rows of Roman stone houses in circles in the hill, very impressive. Even today, all of the buildings must be built with Bath stone. Here we toured the Roman Baths and the Abbey where…
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Stonehenge
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After leaving Hampton Palace, we traveled through the English countryside to Stonehenge. The approach was breathtaking. We took an audio guided tour of the Monument and learned so much. We had 2-1/2 hours there, but it wasn’t enough. We barely saw the exhibits. I remember when I was there in 1965 that we could walk…
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Wales
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Llangollen, Wales, was our only taste of Wales and only for half a day. In 1282, King Edward I of England conquered the Principality of Wales; afterwards, the heir apparent to the English monarch has borne the title “Prince of Wales.” In 1535 Wales joined with England. Then in 1707, it became…
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Chester
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We arrived in Chester for dinner and settled in for a long day ahead. We started with a walking tour of Chester (it was raining). Chester is a walled city with the most complete city walls in Britain. It was founded as a Roman Fort in 75 A.D. King Arthur is…
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The Cotswolds
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Today we went from Bath through the Cotswolds to Stow-on-the-Wold and to Stratford-upon-Avon. I have never seen so many sheep. The fields are full. Stow-on the-Wold is the highest of the Cotswold towns standing exposed on 800 foot high Stow Hill at a junction of seven major roads, including the Roman…