The great compromise

The great compromise 

When I was pregnant with Coyle one of the first things people said to me was “you’ll have to give up your traveling and start going to Disney World instead”.  At the time I said “no way” but of course I now have a “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” obsessed kid which makes “no way” a little harder to say.  So here it is, our great compromise for this trip - Hong Kong Disneyland!  

We flew into Hong Kong on Wednesday and have spent the last few days in Disneyland. Coyle has been having a blast and so am I. This place is completely over the top. It’s a lot smaller than Walt Disney world which is really nice. We’re staying on the property (there are 3 hotels) and we ended up with a free upgrade to a suite which is just nuts. Coyle is obsessed with the fact that we have 2 bathrooms!  It’s certainly a different experience to be living large on a vacation. Yesterday we spent the whole day at the park. Coyle loved the tea cups, carousel and the boat ride (it’s a small world). I am still trying to get that ridiculous song out of my head. The hotel also has the chance to say goodnight to a character before bed so we’ve been able to see Mickey and Minnie in their pjs!  

This morning we were woken up early by the blaring alarm and announcements yelling that we had to evacuate the hotel. Carrying  Coyle downstairs from the 7th floor was not the way I planned to start the day!  He was very upset that he didn’t have shoes and “forgot to take his jammies off”. 

When we were let back in the hotel we did some early morning tai chi with Goofy before heading out to the park again for more rides. It’s been raining on and off our whole time here so we’re going to have some fun around the hotel this evening before heading out for our very long flights home tonight. 

A trip down memory lane - and making new memories along the way

A trip down memory lane - and making new memories along the way

The second city we visited in China is a little off the beaten path when it comes to Chinese tourism but it’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. Kunming is the capital of the Yunnan province and is where I spent 4 summers volunteering. I was very excited to see how much the city had changed and to share it with Coyle. 

Kunming is in southern China near the border with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Yunnan province has one of the largest concentrations of ethnic minorities in China making it much more diverse. The people are incredibly friendly and welcoming and I was so excited to see that hadn’t changed in the 10 years since I’d been there. 

One of the first places we visited was the Yunnan safari park. This was built after I had last been in Kunming. Coyle is fascinated with animals so he was thrilled by it. He got a chance to see lions and tigers and feed bears and most exciting for him he got to see more pandas. 

Next we went to the ethnic minority village. I’ve always enjoyed this place. It is a park where many of the ethnic minority groups found in Yunnan have model villages and homes set up. Many of them put on performances throughout the day in their traditional dress. Coyle loved feeding bananas to the elephants and thought it was hysterical that they even ate the peel!  

We got the chance to eat cross bridge rice noodles which is a traditional Yunnan dish (and one of the few I like!). Coyle was a master slurper and was amazed at how long the noodles were. 

Coyle and I had some time just to wander around the lake as well. Green lake park is a beautiful park in Kunming and full of people taking pictures in traditional costumes, exercising, listening to music and just hanging out. We spent a ton of time wandering around, blowing bubbles and watching the birds. Of course Coyle made friends everywhere he went once again. 

The Great Wall, pandas and face painting - oh my!

The Great Wall, pandas and face painting - oh my!

Coyle has been obsessed with pandas for forever - we even dressed up as them for Halloween a few years ago. He is also clearly my child because ever since he saw it on an episode of the Mickey Mouse clubhouse months ago he has been fascinated by the Great Wall.  So of course these two things were our must sees and really the reason we went to Beijing. 

We visited a section of the Great Wall that I have never been too so it was a new experience for me as well. I was a little nervous about how Coyle might react to the cable car but he loved it!  It was a little bit crazy because when we arrived they said they were shutting everything down in 2 hours because of bad winds being forecasted so we had to be up and back fast. Good thing we went when we did cause apparently the next day a bunch of sections had been shut down due to landslides (don’t tell my mother that one!). Unfortunately it was really misty out so we didn’t have great views but Coyle loved it anyway. Even Mr. Snuggles made the trip up with us!  We’ll have to come back again when he’s older to take the toboggan down. 

The next day it was time for a visit to the pandas. The zoo was incredibly crowded and it was so hot the pandas were not interested in doing much. Coyle was still thrilled beyond belief that he got to see them and he wedged himself right through the crowd to get up front just like everyone else. Once again he also collected an entourage along the way. 

Finally we got a chance to take a stroll and a rickshaw through the hutongs. These are traditional neighborhoods of narrow alleys and small houses close together. We visited one of the homes in the neighborhood which is now a government subsidized home for senior citizens which also offers classes in traditional arts. We had the chance to learn about the traditional face painting of the Beijing opera performers and then had the chance to do our own face painting on masks. Neither of ours looked anything like a traditional opera singer but it was a lot of fun. The little old ladies who lived there of course were all over Coyle and somehow the kid walked out of there with candy a toy and some flowers. 

Our time in Beijing ended with our flight to Kunming last night. Coyle handled his first domestic Chinese flight like a champ - complete with the requisite delays in the terminal, chaotic boarding via buses, delays on the runway and temporarily misplaced luggage. Now we’re on to some fun in our second city (and my favorite) Kunming. 

Beijing welcomes you.

Beijing welcomes you. 

The title is the name of a song that is stuck in my head since we arrived in Beijing on Thursday morning. It’s their Olympic song and I play the video for my students every year when we cover China. The last time I left Beijing was 8/7/2008 - one day before the opening ceremony. It’s amazing to see how much the city has changed in the last 10 years and it’s even better seeing it through Coyle’s eyes. It’s funny what appeals to him. His favorite thing about our room is the over the top bathtub. As soon as we got into the room he turned the tub on and started jumping in!  He keeps asking to take more baths - not a question I get a lot at home. 

Thursday and Friday we had the chance to visit the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. As I expected the main tourist attraction at these places was Coyle. He had a great time interacting with all of the people who came and wanted to take his picture. He would take his camera out and take their pictures too!  I think we have about a million pictures of the midsections of Chinese people!  

As a social studies teacher visiting Tiananmen Square with a tour guide is always interesting to me. After some very pointed questions from me (in the car, not in public) she shared with me that people ask her a lot about student protests but she doesn’t know much about that. 
Coyle also had his first Chinese food and made his first attempt with chopsticks. He really got into his meal - even though I didn’t order the fried croakers!  

Finally we went to an acrobat show where Coyle was way too interested in the guy stacking the chairs. He just kept saying “he’s so high mommy” and then clapping away every time he added another chair. I fear for my dining room chairs!  

One day in Helsinki

One day in Helsinki 

After a long overnight flight Coyle and I arrived in Helsinki. Coyle was a pro on the flight except he was so excited that we were landing that he yelled out. “Passengers - we’re going down” which isn’t something particularly reassuring to hear on an airplane. 

Since we had a long layover in Finland we decided to book a tour to see some of the city. Our flight was delayed a bit but we still had time for a nice day. We drove out to Parvoo which is one of the oldest cities in Finland. We had a great time looking at some old buildings and walking around. Coyle loved the ice cream, chocolate shop and chasing birds. It was a much better way to spend the day than being in the airport. We headed back to Helsinki and visited a lot of the main tourist attractions. It’s a beautiful city and we both loved walking along the water looking at the boats. We also saw the rock church which Coyle said was “beautiful and so many rocks”.  

We even had time for a visit to a playground and some Burger King before heading onto our next flight. 

It’s interesting because Finland isn’t a place I’ve ever been or even been interested in visiting. I didn’t know anything about what we would see, my only goal was really to get out of the airport for the day. I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the city and would love to go back someday when we have more time to visit. 

We’re on our way!

I decided to revive my blog for our next adventure. Hopefully I will be able to send posts to my sister for her to post because most social media will be blocked. This is the first big adventure Coyle and I will take together and we are ready for it!  It’s a very different kind of traveling for me. I’m pushing a stroller and definitely not relaxing in the airport while we wait. But in many ways it’s so much better. I get to share the world with Coyle and there’s nothing better than that. I hope you follow our journey over the next 12 days.