On to Xian

Today was a long hot day but we made it safely to Xian, home of the terracotta warriors. But today, we left about 10:30 for the plane ride from Shanghai to Xian. It was a sunny day but you could barely tell it through the haze. All our luggage was weighed together as a group and was taken from us at 9AM and we didn't see it until we got in our rooms. That was nice. Security was much easier than other flights. Steven got Jim a wheelchair for the airport and that is huge help. He also said we can pay about $7 tomorrow at the Terracotta warriors place and have one so we will definitely do that. Jim has had to walk a lot-just getting out of bus and into stations or such is a lot of walking. His trusty cane is huge help. He could not do the trip without it. The plane ride was uneventful and they even had an auction for a free plane ticket on their airlines and money goes to help their charity. So that was neat to watch. After we arrived in Xian, we went to the Bell Tower and toured that. It is very near our hotel. Our hotel is very near some of the little shopping alleys-I spotted a genuine uh huh North Face Goretex Jacket.....Anyway, it will be fun to be close enough to be able to shop some in the next day or two. Then we went for a Dumpling meal that was provided. It was not the greatest for me as so much had onions in it, but they made special ones for me, such as they were! I did get to try several that we knew would not have anything so it was a good discovery event. I did find out that I actually like saki. Scary. That is rice wine and as you know, I do not drink so it was a surprise to sample it and actually like the taste.

The hotel here is right in the middle of all the major stuff so that is awesome. When we are not touring, we can go some places on our own and have some fun. There are street peddlers here too so we all have to watch our purses,etc carefully. Our friend Richard almost got pickpocketed at the grocery store last night. He had on the travelsmith pants that had a zipper inside the pocket and the guy got it half way down when it stuck. He said if it had been regular khakis, it would have been gone. So we all have to stay very vigilant.

I'm going to make this quick tonight and not put any photos. Our internet is free here so that will help us be able to use it more easily. And Allen can take it to his room to work on it as well. The hotel is nice-hard beds but most unusual room. There is a glass wall beside the bed that looks into the bathtub or shower or anything else going on in the bathroom..... Thank goodness it does have a curtain you can draw so you can have some privacy! lol.