A boat in Shanghai with a giant video screen on it!

The Shanghai Grand Theatre

The famous Pearl TV building/antenna in the background.

The Pudong area of Shanghai...but muggy skies. The 'Cloud 9' bar is at the top of the building in the middle of the picture.

The Bund on the riverside.

Nicole on the Bund.

Shopping on Nanjing Road, famous shopping street in Shanghai.

Olympic art made with budweiser cans, throughout Shanghai.

The Yu Gardens with famous rock quarries.

The Yu Gardens famous tea house, which has hosted Richard Nixon and others for tea...

Zigzag walkway leading to the teahouse, which has been said to ward off evil spirits.

Well, the last day of our trip was in Shanghai, seeing the older parts of the city. We first went to the Yu Gardens, these really nice and famous Gardens within the city. Part of the gardens has been converted to shops and stores, and there's a really neat teahouse in the middle of a pond. The gardens themselves are really nice, home to former emperors. We then went shopping through the flea markets and open markets selling everything from raw seafood and veggies to "antiques" to even Mao memoribilia...I bought one of Mao's "little red books" that were handed out to all Chinese people during his reign. It comments on all of Mao's thoughts on government, laws, rules, and even the role of women, and is surprisingly progressive. Then we took a break back at the hotel, got some massages, and went to dinner in a totally non-Chinese restaurant - Pasti, an Italian place. We went to the Bund that night, which was supposed to be amazing during the night, but it was raining pretty hard so we didn't get to enjoy it. So we headed to a bar, apparently one of Shanghai's ritziest bars, called 'Glamour' which was pretty swanky with plush couches and fancy drinks. And that was our night! We headed to the airport the next morning, and flew back, ending our wonderful, hot and tiring, and busy journey in China!

We are glad to be home, back with Sofie who apparently had a tough time with us gone, but was well taken care of. Thanks again Stephanie! We're so happy and fortunate to have gone on such a cool trip, had a place to stay, and be a part of the Olympics and see the world.

Thanks so much mom and dad for even proposing the idea of the Olympics! I wouldn't have ever thought it would be something we would do without you. And thanks for providing us with such a nice place to stay, breakfast every morning, and translating for us when we coudln't communicate with the taxi driver or the guy arranging our Great Wall trip! We love you so much and had so much fun!

Thanks also to all our friends and family reading the blog and keeping up with us! I hope you enjoyed it! We really miss you!

Now we're back at home, and back to work. I'm back in the intensive care unit and have already finished one of my 30-hour shifts. Luckily it wasn't too busy. Nicole is back at work as well...and I have to admit its tough getting back in the swing of work. But we've had a fantastic 2 weeks and we won't forget it!

Love,

Nicole and Alan