Day 6 - Chongqing

Today was a day on our own. After breakfast, we took a walk around the hotel. They have a beautiful garden area on the 10th floor that leads outside. It had a little slide and play area for kids, and was very peaceful.

Then, we took a walk around the hotel. Just outside this hotel reminds us a lot of Times Square in Manhattan -- tall buildings, tons of people, large shops, flashy signs, and huge TV screens, with a large clock tower right in the middle. Most of the shops are either clothing or electronics (lots of cell phone stores). It was foggy, again, but there wasn't much to see past the buildings, anyways. We went to a 'Children's Place' store and bought some socks for Hannah. 'Hello Kitty' and Mickey Mouse are pretty big here for kids. We also went to a tiny shop that sold chopsticks. We bought a few sets -- the man there was very nice, so we took a picture with him.

Today was a milestone day for Hannah -- as far as we know, today was her first trip to McDonalds!! She had a great time, and chowed down on some squash (not provided by McDonalds, but the Ithaca Target, I believe). Darese got a Happy Meal because she had heard they had better toys here...they were....she was happy (so, the meal worked!).

After lunch, we walked around a little more. Hannah is definitely teething. She's taking great naps, eating everything, chomping on our fingers (and her own), and has a runny nose every now and then. Darese and I enjoyed a really good cup of latte at a local coffee shop.

We had our last big dinner in Chongqing tonight, and our guide joined us this time. He's a real nice guy -- young, only 22 years old, so we've all been teasing him about finding a nice girl to settle down with, and he gets really embarrassed.

We leave for Guanzhou tomorrow afternoon, and then just a few days after that, we come back home!! We can't wait!! We talked to Alex and my mom again this morning (our time). He got to see Hannah in her pink 'Madagascar' pajamas....

Well, that's all for now. Here are a few pictures from today... Enjoy!!

Joe, Darese, & Hannah










Bouncing with mom in the lobby of the hotel, while trying to stick something in her mouth....















Daphne and Olivia celebrate Eva's first trip to McDonalds.
















Us celebrating Hannah's first visit to McDonalds.