Previous Trips- 2003 : China & the Great Wall

I paid these mercenaries to accompany and protect me in case any Mongols remained  in the area .

Along the way, there were lovely bridges and small shrines making  the path so pretty.

Natural formations were equally lovely.

Isn't nature magnificent?

The wall stretches as far as the eye can see. The total length is 5,500 miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

Japanese tourists were everywhere and usually fashionably dressed.

There are quite a few entrances, or gates,  to the Great Wall. Badaling is the closest to Beijing. This time I went to Mutianyu  accompanied by my embassy friend and his young son.

The people in the background give a indication of how wide the wall is. I heard you could fit two average size sedans side by side

The snow began to fall  as we climbed up making the path and, especially the steps, slippery and dangerous.  My embassy friend had on hiking boots but I had on sneakers. He called down to this lady who was selling soda and snacks at the bottom of the steps. She came up to us. He told me to hold on to her waist and to give her a small tip at the end.   I was embarrassed but, what the heck, I was safe.

On the road to Southern Virginian

The Trip To Southern Viginia

We had so much fun driving from Charlottesville to Roanoke and stopping at places along the way such as Bedford, Lexington, Poplar Forest and Roanoke.   We laughed at a place called the Pink Cadillac Diner and became most somber at the D- Day Memorial.

Bedford, Va.  suffered the highest per capita number of deaths during the  Normandy Invasion of any city in the U.S. To honor the sacrifice of its sons, it built the National  D-Day Memorial.

It not only honors its own sons  but lists the names of the 4,413 US and Allied soldiers who died in the invasion.

https://www.dday.org

We visited a number of antique stores in the area, some were even called "salvage" stores.

Her are some of the items on sale.

I guess not all customers were honest . Thus the need for high tech security.

Everyone knows  Jefferson's home, Monticello .  But how many know about his home in Poplar Forest?  He said Monticello was for entertaining but Poplar Forest was for relaxing.

Learn more about Poplar Forest:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Forest

Everything Jefferson built was classy.  Here is a lovely  brick structure  . It is an outhouse

This is the Roanoke City Market. Now a collection of small stores and shops.

This was the center of the city as far as we could tell.   Many of the buildings were red brick. None were taller than the building on the right.

The lovely red brick, once again.

We showed up hungry one Sunday at the Roanoker hoping the line would not be too long.   We were seated in less than ten minutes. The Roanoker had a huge area, rooms off rooms, to accommodate people.  It also had a "booths only" lay out.  No problem.  I prefer a booth to a table.






Gosh, here again we find the customers are less than honest. What kind of an area had we come to?

 Just kidding.  In point of fact, we had visited an area that had old time charm and friendly, well meaning people.

Virginia: The Natural Bridge

Last week, we drove to the Natural Bridge and to the towns along the way. We had set our sites on the Natural Bridge, mile marker 70 .

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles and goes from Rockfish Gap, Virginia to Cherokee, North Carolina.

The views from the road were magnificent.

Stopping at one of the many overlooks was a treat . We took in the view and savored the experience. Traveling with our dear friends, Sara and Doug Sheldon,  made the trip more special.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway

We expected to see quaint houses and we did !

We also came across quaint shops along the way.

You never know what you would find.

We stayed overnight at the Natural Bridge Hotel - a grand old establishment in its day but still attractive.

My mother saw the Bridge in the 70's when she toured Southern Virginia by bus with two of her friends from the bank. She loved the trip and talked about it a lot. Her favorite place was the Natural Bridge.

The Natural Bridge

"Once owned by Thomas Jefferson and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 215-foot tall Natural Bridge is a limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_(Virginia)

We bought tickets as we entered the building and climbed down endless steps where we surrendered them to a bored ticket taker.   (Is there such a thing as an excited ticket taker?)

Medi was ready to climb up to the bridge itself.

I was more inclined to contemplate the bridge.

From under the bridge looking out.