Friday, February 25, 2011
After a good night’s sleep, it was time for our first full day in Shanghai. We ate breakfast at the hotel. Interesting looking bacon and sausages - the highlight was definitely the hot croissants filled with chocolate!
Today we walked from our hotel to the Bund - Shanghai’s shopping and financial district. On the way we stopped at People’s Square and visited the Shanghai Museum. Very impressive with lots of artifacts going back hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of years. Following our stop here, we walked over to the promenade on the banks of the Huangpu River with its magnificent views of the Pudong skyscrapers on the other side. Quite an impressive skyline with the futuristic looking Oriental Pearl TV Tower dominating the view. Hard to believe this whole area was built from marshland over the last twenty years.
At this point, it was time to eat and we headed over to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea. An excellent choice. Very similar to its sister hotel in Hong Kong. The sandwiches were excellent as were the various desserts and the darjeeling tea was just what we needed. Well rested and warmed up, we explored the hotel shopping arcade and couldn’t resist each buying a pair of trendy Roberto Botticelli Italian shoes! Very snazzy and comfortable.
We left the Peninsula and went in search of the metro line to take a train back to our hotel. After perilously crossing several roads occupied by crazy scooter drivers, we found a subway station and figured out the right routing. As with the rest of Asia, a very efficient public transit system. Upon getting back to our room, we made the fatal mistake of having a quick nap. Didn’t wake up until the following morning!
After a good night’s sleep, it was time for our first full day in Shanghai. We ate breakfast at the hotel. Interesting looking bacon and sausages - the highlight was definitely the hot croissants filled with chocolate!
Today we walked from our hotel to the Bund - Shanghai’s shopping and financial district. On the way we stopped at People’s Square and visited the Shanghai Museum. Very impressive with lots of artifacts going back hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of years. Following our stop here, we walked over to the promenade on the banks of the Huangpu River with its magnificent views of the Pudong skyscrapers on the other side. Quite an impressive skyline with the futuristic looking Oriental Pearl TV Tower dominating the view. Hard to believe this whole area was built from marshland over the last twenty years.
At this point, it was time to eat and we headed over to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea. An excellent choice. Very similar to its sister hotel in Hong Kong. The sandwiches were excellent as were the various desserts and the darjeeling tea was just what we needed. Well rested and warmed up, we explored the hotel shopping arcade and couldn’t resist each buying a pair of trendy Roberto Botticelli Italian shoes! Very snazzy and comfortable.
We left the Peninsula and went in search of the metro line to take a train back to our hotel. After perilously crossing several roads occupied by crazy scooter drivers, we found a subway station and figured out the right routing. As with the rest of Asia, a very efficient public transit system. Upon getting back to our room, we made the fatal mistake of having a quick nap. Didn’t wake up until the following morning!