Beijing re-visited

This time around we had more time and were less tired as we spent a night in Beijing.  We arrived very early in the morning as the flights from Australia always seem to be at an ungodly hour both arriving and leaving, such as 4am and midnight.  After navigating the metro system in the early hours of the morning, to our delight, when we arrived at the hotel at 8am they allowed us to occupy our room which meant a nap before venturing our to sight-see. We were immensely grateful.  The hotel staff were  helpful and attentive and we have no hesitation inn recommending the Jade Garden as a good place to stay in Beijing.

There are quite a few attractive statues in the streets which I think are made of lead or cast iron.

These bullocks were actually within the Forbidden City not on the street.

The entrance to the Forbidden City.  Closed to the public until 1914, the Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty through the years 1420 - 1912.  It is the centre of Beijing and now houses the Palace Museum.  It served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government for almost 500 years.  The vastness of the spaces is very hard to capture.  The complex consists of 980 buildings.

The Forbidden City is immensely popular with Chinese tourists as well as with foreigners.  European faces are however insignificant compared the large throngs of Chinese visitors.

Not sure what functions these traditionally dressed ladies served but they were rather photogenic.

One of the buildings housed watches and clocks from the time of the emperors.  Foreign dignitiaries visiting China brought all sorts of fancy clocks as gifts to the emperor and these were treated with great enthusiasm.  This gold encrusted clock with a rhinoceros motif is one of the more bizarre clock designs in the museum.

We visited the former residence of one of China's foremost poets, Qi Baishi, in a fashionable hutong, or residential area in a Chinese city, especially Beijing.

The colourful corridor outside the house.

Entrance to Beihai Park.

One of the many, many soldiers we saw standing to attention in green uniform and white gloves.  We don't know if the 19th Communist meeting being held this week was the reason for so many soldiers or if they are always so prevalent.

Eating out seems as popular in Beijing as elsewhere in the world.  We had lunch at a small worker’s café which was really cheap and then dinner at a much more upmarket one but not too flash. The food at the Peking Duck in Donghuamendian Street, just opposite our hotel was extremely nice and very reasonably priced.  We would go as far as saying it was one of the best Chinese meals we have had.  The soup came out in an enormous bowl and we had not several but a never ending stream of servings from it.  When we ordered two soups the waitress advised that one was enough and when it came out we were extremely grateful for her sound advice.

This photo does not provide the dimension and depth required to appreciate the size of this bowl of soup.  You need to see it in relation to the bowl you eat out of.

On this note we will leave our visit to Beijing.  It was quite an experience and enjoyable too.  An interesting city.  I wouldn't like to live there but is was well worth a visit.

Beijing observations

We returned to Beijing on the homeward leg of our trip.  These are our observations of this interesting and populous city.

Google is banned in China so we could not update our blog or use gmail.  Accessing the internet via wi-fi was not the problem, but most of our activities are google-based.  The hotel did have a computer so were able to access the internet but not our email.  

There are a lot of public toilets in China and they are free which is impressive but what is not so impressive is that they do not have any toilet paper.  It seems that users must bring their own which we were not aware of.  And, while spitting is banned in China, there is still an awful lot of phlegm clearing noises but thankfully nothing comes out.

Restaurants are plentiful and seem very reasonably priced.  People seem to eat out as much as they do in Australia.

  

The metro system is very good and reasonably priced.  People seem well fed and well dressed.  We saw no signs of beggars or poverty but then tourists do not always get a chance to see the underbelly of a city.

All in all, we enjoyed this visit more than the day we spent in Beijing six weeks ago.  The temperature in October was much more comfortably cooler than in September when it was still quite warm out.  Our hotel was comfortable and welcoming.  They allowed us to check in much earlier than most hotels would and they allowed us to check out much later too.  We were extremely grateful for the treatment we received at the Jade Garden.  It is not a flash hotel but a comfortable one with very good service in the business sector part of the city.  We were told that it is an old Communist hotel where a lot of party functions used to be held.

Talking of party functions, we were once again unfortunate in our timing for visiting a major city.  Tienanmen Square was closed as the 19th Communist Meeting was being held all during the week at the square and surrounding buildings.  There was strict security all around and people had to produce identification when entering the road leading towards the famous square.  There were large queues and it is vaguely possible that we could have got near and seen something but we decided it was not worth the wait.

Immigration control both entering and leaving Beijing is enormously inefficient and cumbersome.  According to someone who comes and goes regularly from Germany, procedures have become more stringent in the last month or so.  They government has introduced a new level of control adding to the already bureaucratic, cumbersome system.  It has completely put me off another visit to China.  Returning to Australia was a such a welcome contrast.  Here, they have substantially streamlined immigration control with computers taking the place of bureaucrats stamping passports.  Getting through immigration control in Sydney was a breeze.

The party is over but the party is on

Our last night at the Diamond Bridge holiday was a celebration after dinner and a short round of bridge.  The Diamond trophies were presented and photos taken of the festivities.

Mike always manages to take a good photo of me which is not often the case.  Here we are with the Gibsons and Margaret Ainsworth.

Such a good photograph needs to be treasured so here I am again with Andrew and Joan Gibson.  Andrew always photographs well but we both look as happy as we felt.  We had enjoyed the holiday tremendously

Mike Swanson with the Dimond trophies.  Sadly, neither Andrew or I succeeded in obtaining one although I came first equal in the Individual but Sue Corbet won on the count back.  So, no trophy this year.  I had won the previous year and I would like to have retained the title but, alas.

Colin Porch and Carol Yates.  Colin and Andrew were pipped for the trophy for the Men's Pairs.  They came second by one match point.  Colin and his life/bridge partner Amy are now keen Quiddler players.  We introduced them to the game last year and they took to our favourite word game like ducks to water.  Another couple, Ann and Arthur from Scotland together with Ann's sister Marion also bought Quiddler and they play it with their families.

Four of the nice ladies from Guernsey, Megan, Mary, Barbara and Liz.  There were seven ladies from Guernsey on the holiday.  One of the nicest was Liz on the right with whom I had a session of the Diamond trophy.  I really enjoyed her company and liked playing with her.

Liz was a trophy winner with Peter.  Not sure of the category but they won one of the pairs events.  Liz is coming to the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast next year and she will be representing Guernsey at bridge.

Derek and Jean Frobisher, another nice couple who won a trophy.  Jean was a stalwart at the stretch classes at 10:30 am every morning.  She is also a rummykub player but we did not get a chance to play this year - everyone too busy.

It was a very nice end to a lovely holiday.  Here are two more shots of the hotel which go some way towards capturing the beauty and the ambiance of the Rodos Palladium Hotel.  It remains to be seen where Mike and Carol decide to hold next Sept/Oct Diamond Bridge holiday before we decide to go again.  But come what may, Diamond Bridge holidays are one of my very favourite bridge events.  Always held at great locations and the hotels are superb and luxurious.  We always do a four week adventure trip beforehand and then the bridge holiday is the icing on the cake at the end.  Perhaps again next year????

A very pretty bay around the corner

Andrew of course has been wandering around the beaches and the hills around Kalithea.  This afternoon he took me around the headland from our hotel beach and we visited a very lovely small bay which had a couple of tavernas and some deck chairs as well as a wonderful swimming opportunity among the big rocks.

To get an idea of sizes, this is the beach where our hotel is.  Our hotel the Rodos Palladium is the one on the far left.

Just around the headland is this little beach with a cafe and deck chairs.  The same beach below.

Further along is our destination, Nikolas beach.

Nikki in the water which is wonderfully warm and smooth.  Just a delight to swim in.

Another shot of Nikolas beach.  It is really difficult to capture the sheer loveliness of it.  I wanted to drink it all in and have the memories embedded in my consciousness.

The cafe on this beach is quite a lot bigger, more of a taverna really.

We had a cafe frappe in the sun.








It was a really lovely way to spend our afternoon, the second to last day of this wonderful bridge holiday.  Tomorrow is our last day and we leave very early the next day to begin our loooooooooooooooooong journey home.  But I will have my sexy black pressure stockings to stop the swelling this time - I hope.

Greek cooking lesson

The best kept secret at the Rodos Palladium Hotel is the weekly Monday cooking lesson by the tall, handsome and talented Athanasios Kotsis, known as Thanasis.  He is Executive Chef here and he is generous enough with his time that he gives a weekly cooking lesson, which is badly advertised, and I only got to hear of it as I had asked Thanasis during the week is I could possibly have the recipe for the wonderful and tasty melitzanosalata/ eggplant salad.  At 11:00 am about 8 from the bridge group, plus an Isareli lady attended the class and we all had a wonderful time.

Chef Thanasis.  He was born in Melbourne but his parents returned to Greece when he was six years old.  He has travelled world-wide as a chef and his knowledge of food preparation is vast.  It was a real pleasure to attend one of his classes.

All the eager cooks.

The lesson in progress.  We learned the recipe for Greek eggplant salad, tsatsiki and dakos.  But  the lesson contained much more than that.  Thanasis told us about the Greek diet, we learned that tomatoes can be grated as well as chopped and we were all in awe of his fine chopping technique.

Aubergines cooked two different ways.  In the oven as well as char-grilled on the barbecue for that lovely smoky flavour.  I also did not know that the eggplant should be pricked all over before cooking.

The end product.  It tasted as good as it looks.

ur numbers had reduced to five by the time we sat down to eat Thanasis' lunch as the other unfortunate ladies had to leave to attend an over eight lunch.  That is an exclusive lunch for those that have attended more than eight of Mike and Carol's Diamond bridge holidays.  Eight is a lifetime away for someone from Australia.





We all enjoyed the cooking lesson and our grateful thanks to our chef.  He obviously enjoys cooking, teaching and talking about his country's habits and cooking and eating practices.  We learned a great deal about what Greeks eat at home, their likes and dislikes.  And it all tasted very good too.

Lindos continued

Like many other Greek towns, the cobbled narrow streets of Lindos are lovely.  The beautifully laid black and white pebbles are here as well.

A traditional Lindos house.  It is fitted out as a shop but it is beautiful inside with traditional plates on the wall.

Traditional wedding bed with steps leading up to it and a beautifully woven curtain as a canopy.

Lindos is one of the most impressive archaeological sites on Rhodes.  The dramatic natural landscape is enhanced by the picturesque quality of the more modern town.  While the most important archaeological monuments are at the acropolis, interesting ruins are also scattered at various points within the town and some just outside.

Lindos Castle is found on the top of the 116 m rock and serves as an entrance point to the Acropolis and the castle, once used as the administrative building of the Knights of St John.  Ascent is still by the same steep road as in ancient times.  The medieval walls are the first ruins one encounters, fortifications built by the Crusaders, ie. the Knights, in early 14th century on the remains of the earlier defences, both Byzantine and ancient.  At the highest point of the acropolis, the remains include the temple of Athena, dating from 4th century BC.

With Joan and Ben.

The walls of the acropolis were reinforced by the Crusaders during the 14th century.

A view of Lindos Beach from the castle.

After we explored the ruins at length we went down to the beach and had a glorious swim.  The water was warm, calm and the sand was a delight.  Most Greek beaches are rocky or pebbly but this beach, the first for Greece, was sandy.  The sea here is shallow and very clean.  Ben took this photo of the three of us, emerging like mermaids, from the water.

The view of the castle from the beach.  What an amazing view as you are swimming in the luscious water.  You look up and you see a castle just above.  I mean how good is that?????????

St Paul's bay, south of the acropolis at Lindos.  From the castle it looks as if the rock completely encircles the inlet.

When you get down to the other side you see where the break is and where boats can enter the small bay.

On the way back to the hotel via the inland road we came across this lake.  A nice oasis in the dry hills surrounding it with patches of olive groves even here where habitation seems scarce.