We woke up early to see W and D off to work, and also because our east-facing room has a big window and no curtains. Guy made us some poached eggs for breakfast, which was a really nice change from baozi and oily Chinese food. We walked about 15 minutes to the metro station and rode it to the south gate of the old city, where we had some fast food and then some overpriced tea to sit and work on our blog at a "French Bakery" that served Mexican pizza.
In the afternoon we went up to the south gatehouse and rented bicycles to ride on the walls. We had a leisurely ride, stopping often to admire watchtowers and guardhouses, and read plaques that described some of the buildings below. It was a warm day so biking up there was refreshing. Everywhere in China they seem to have background music playing from speakers, and it's really starting to get on Leia's nerves. They even had it on the wall. The bike rental is for two hours and it took us one hour at that pace to bike around half the old city: from the south gatehouse to the north. We returned the bicycles there and took a bus back into the center of town. From the north gatehouse we had to cross the street to get to the bus stops, so we were certain we were going to die. The drivers here don't stop for pedestrians or any other reason.
Somehow we made it across and to the bell tower, from where we went to the Muslim quarter to search for fruit for Leia. We bought kiwi juice, pomegranate juice, some sliced watermelon, and a mango chosen by Leia and carved while we waited... as well as a whole deep-fried squid the size of Guy's head, and a box of peanut candy, which we brought back to our hosts. Altogether it was 80 yuan, that is 50 shekels.
The metro brought us back to W and D's house in time to find W cooking dinner. Guy had just time to take a shower before D arrived home and dinner was served. It was a delicious meal of local Shaanxi cuisine: pumpkin soup with rice, dry noodles with beef and beans, pork with zucchini, and some kind of big Chinese cucumber with vinegar and peppers. We had some tea with them after dinner and practiced hooping again.
In the afternoon we went up to the south gatehouse and rented bicycles to ride on the walls. We had a leisurely ride, stopping often to admire watchtowers and guardhouses, and read plaques that described some of the buildings below. It was a warm day so biking up there was refreshing. Everywhere in China they seem to have background music playing from speakers, and it's really starting to get on Leia's nerves. They even had it on the wall. The bike rental is for two hours and it took us one hour at that pace to bike around half the old city: from the south gatehouse to the north. We returned the bicycles there and took a bus back into the center of town. From the north gatehouse we had to cross the street to get to the bus stops, so we were certain we were going to die. The drivers here don't stop for pedestrians or any other reason.
Somehow we made it across and to the bell tower, from where we went to the Muslim quarter to search for fruit for Leia. We bought kiwi juice, pomegranate juice, some sliced watermelon, and a mango chosen by Leia and carved while we waited... as well as a whole deep-fried squid the size of Guy's head, and a box of peanut candy, which we brought back to our hosts. Altogether it was 80 yuan, that is 50 shekels.
The metro brought us back to W and D's house in time to find W cooking dinner. Guy had just time to take a shower before D arrived home and dinner was served. It was a delicious meal of local Shaanxi cuisine: pumpkin soup with rice, dry noodles with beef and beans, pork with zucchini, and some kind of big Chinese cucumber with vinegar and peppers. We had some tea with them after dinner and practiced hooping again.
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