The Bucket List

Perhaps it’s because I am 70 years old at heart, but I have had a bucket list since a young age.  Perhaps I am even older than 70, because most of it centers around ancient sites (or maybe I have been reincarnated a lot).  I have gotten a good start at this in the last five years: Stonehenge, Coliseum, Parthenon, Great Pyramid.  Most recently, I went to one of the most amazing of my bucket list locations: The Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.

Complete with dorky touristy panda hats, we explored these ancient sights (sorry: I had to have a shot with these hats- they are so cool, right?  I started making the analysts at work wear the hat when they were bad.  I call it the "panda hat of shame"). 

The Forbidden City is just across from the stark Tiannamen Square.  I really appreciated the city for its use of red and forbidden-ness.  I always like going places where I am not supposed to be (rooms with "Do Not Enter" on them, my sister's bedroom, etc.).

Someday I want a red house with my giant picture on the front.

Token artistic shot

The Great Wall: it was majestic.  There are actually three different “Great Walls” in the section I visited; in case the Mongols got over one, there were another two to go.  It stretches infinitely in each direction, zig-zagging like a giant rocky snake through the country side.  I could almost see the Mongols trying to climb it, with no one but Mulan to stop them.  Or me.  Hi-yah!

Look it how tall it is...or how short I am.

Let me show you how snakelike I can be....

Is that your mother or your sister?

When you hear those words in regards to your mother a few thoughts shoot through your head.  First thought is always: good lord, yes it’s my mother: how old do I look?!  Followed immediately by the slightly shallower (yes, I can get shallower):  please God don’t tell me that my mother looks prettier than me again.  And finally, the rationalization: at least this bodes well for my future years.  I have gone through all of this particular thought loop several times, one for every time my co-workers saw my pictures from China.

I traveled to China two months ago to visit my Mom.  She was in China for a business trip so we decided to attach on a “Bushy Women Hit Asia” tour for four days at the end of it.  We arrived at Beijing Airport within an hour or so of each other and then we were off!  Here are some fun facts from the beginning of the trip:

My Mom eats literally everything.  I mean she ate jelly fish...how gross is that.  She was even up for eating these scorpions at a fair we went to, but I jumped in and prevented her.  Because really, scorpion breath?  That can't be good.

My Mom and I both rode the short bus...at least in China.  We needed to hold cards out to point to our destinations (written so nicely by the St. Regis hotel staff): point to this for your hotel, this for the Forbidden City, etc.  We might have felt pathetic, but it got us where we wanted to go!

Here are we are at the Summer Palace.  This was renovated by the Dragon Lady, one of our favorite historical characters.  This woman ruled the country for 47 years through weak-willed men.  Her story is quite inspiring: beware weak-willed men of the world, here I come!  As for the marble boat in the background, our tour guide joked that Confucius once said that the emperor and his people are like a ship and the ocean: the ship needs the support of the ocean to stay afloat.  In response, some emperor built a marble boat that can stay "afloat" on its own.  Aw...snap.

We played a game of steak, steak, duck (very similar to duck, duck, goose) for our three "Chinese" dinners.  Yes, people, I still don't like Chinese food so props to us for the trying the Peking duck (as Mom chows down above).  End result: I liked the steak better.