Venice, Italy

Aaaaah Venice. SUCH a gorgeous city! It was one of the amazing layovers I did in my second month of flying. I just remember having such a great time and it being ridiculously HOT in June! A little smelly too since the heat kinda "baked" all the junk in the sewers & canals. Anyways with that smelly thought.....

 

 

I'm a tourist. I had to take a picture with a gondolier!

 

 

THE best tiramisu I have EVER had in my life!

Recovering....

So Beijing #3 came and went with me fighting off the flu. I shopped some more on that trip and basically did little else.  Unfortunately when I arrived back home the flu finally caught up with me. 2 days off and 4 sick days later I feel better but still not 100%.  I'm too bored sitting at home so back to work I go. On standby duty this evening so hopefully I just get a quick turnaround flight. That way I get to keep my Dublin flight I bid for in a few days.

Anyways....decisions decisions. What destination do I feature next?

Beijing (Part 2)

I was determined to make it to the Great Wall on this trip and I succeeded! We were up bright & early. Left the hotel at 7:00 am to beat the traffic & tourists. Definitely a wise decision even though we were all sleep deprived after getting to the hotel at midnight.

Over the Himalayas

 

 

Chinese food in China! Sweet & sour pork

Cable car up to the Great Wall of China

On the cable car up....check out the toboggan track on the left. EEK!

The Great Wall!

View from the top

Toboggan to get down from the Great Wall

(SUCH a fun experience!)

In the Forbidden City

Old Throne

I'm so happy I finally managed to visit the Great Wall. This was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. Since we made it there so early it was incredibly awe inspiring and peaceful at the top.

Beijing #3 tomorrow. Gotta spend my hard earned cash! ;)

Beijing (Part 1)

After landing in Beijing I literally passed out in bed (without dinner)! My feet & body were killing me so I decided to leave the sightseeing for my next trip. Clearly I couldn't just do nothing this trip so I settled for doing my shopping. I was looking for handbags in various colours. Nothing fancy or branded. Unfortunately finding anything unbranded in China is difficult. I had to settle for some knockoffs.

Here's my bag haul!

 5 bags for $90 total. 

Also picked up some soup bowls for my mom. 

And what does one eat in China???

Greek pizza of course!! ;)

Until my next Beijing....