Our Adoption Experience

DAY SEVEN: Nanjing

Today was probably the quietest day yet, and as such, time is starting to move slowly and we're getting the itch to get home. But alas, we are only halfway through.

This morning we were going to make a two-stop sightseeing trip, but ended up only doing one as it took longer than anticipated, and given the opportunity to make another stop or go back to the hotel, the majority said to go back to the hotel and try again tomorrow. Today's one "sight" was the mausoleum of some historical Chinese figure whose name escapes us. It was mentioned several times and we saw it on signs, but we'd prefer to just say "famous historical figure" than butcher a name we don't really remember. There were a lot of Chinese tourists there, and it's supposedly a very famous place. After the Great Wall experience, we weren't exactly excited to hear that we had 392 steps to climb, and Shane preferred to be carried, so it was work for us old folks. Regardless, it was quite a nice view once we made it to the top. We continue to turn a lot of heads with the image of Caucasian folks with a Chinese baby...and we think the fact that Shane is a boy adds to the curiosity.

We returned to the hotel and hit the streets once again looking for lunch. This time we found a pizza place, and it turned out to be quite good deep dish stuff. Kevin's tummy has returned to normal. Once again, these jaunts out into the city streets always turns up fascinating sights. There is always a new thing being carried on a bike that we hadn't seen before or a new smell (not always good) that we hadn't experienced.

For dinner, our Nanjing tour guide arranged a nice dinner for us in one of the hotel dining rooms and the food was good. Shane eats pretty much everything and really likes tofu and watermelon. We would guess that our three boys at home wouldn't touch 90% of what he eats, so it will be interesting to see if and how that changes as Shane makes the transition to becoming an American kid.

Well, we think that's it for today. We still stay in Nanjing on Friday and make our next change in cities on Saturday.

Today's Photographs:

	<- Here's one of the buildings at the mausoleum
Shane takes a break on one of the 392 steps up ->
	<- Mom and Shane pose
View from the top ->
	<- Mom and Shane in downtown Nanjing
Wow. We actually found a place that would serve us pizza. A real lunch for a change! ->
	A couple of Shane's adoption pals, Sarah Haas (soon to go home to Wisconsin) and Sara Folk (soon to go home to Michigan), enjoy dinner in Nanjing...and yes, that's a french fry.