Grindelwald

It was a quick weekend getaway planned at the very last minute as I was not at my fittest. And we had three brilliant sunny days nestled in the foothills of the majestic Alps.
During our first year in Germany, we used to visit Switzerland almost every other weekend. We were so enchanted by its beauty. It is for sure one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Despite several visits, we have never once taken the ever popular train to Jungfraujoch, top of Europe. This time, we decided to drive to Grindelwald although we have been there several times and Papa and Mummy have been there last year as well. Grindelwald is full of beautiful chalet hotels and holiday apartments and it is difficult to make a bad choice. Although we have been booking only apartments for all our recent vacations, this time we went for a hotel.
We reached there on Friday afternoon and went for a stroll in Grindelwald. Three Apline mountains - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are visible from Grindelwald. The views are beyond decription and can only be experienced. It is so heavenly to wake up in the morning and look at the majestic peaks - one can only marvel at nature's glory. Another amazing thing is, how sunny and bright it is - in all my visits, I cannot remember a single cloudy day in Grindelwald.

On Saturday, we saw an Indian movie being shot in Grindelwald. The hero was old enough to claim the senior citizen benefits and the heroine was probably a teenager. They were doing some ridiculous dance steps on the road and quite a few people were watching and having a laugh. We drove to Strechelbach to take the cable car to Mürren via Gimmelwald. It is quite cheap at just 21 CHF per person and totally worth the money. There are many farms at Gimmelwald and several hiking tracks for the fit and athletic. We just had a lazy stroll in the almost car free village. I say almost car free because we saw a few agricultural vehicles and a couple of beat up all terrain vehicles on the roads. One can sit down on the old benches on the hiking trails and soak in the spectacular views of the mountains. There are a couple of restaurants offering very cheap fare as well.
It is possible to hike to Mürren and to several other villages from Gimmelwald, but we took it easy and took the cable car. Mürren is another quaint little alpine village and there are more hiking trails there, some going all the way up to Schilthorn. But that is for someone looking for adventure and with Sunshine, his pram, Papa, Mummy and our own tired feet, we wanted nothing more adventerous than a stroll in the village. We had our picnic lunch and Sunshine drifted off to sleep after all the 'hiking' that he had to do. The rest of us continued our walk around the village and then sat down for coffee on the terrace of a cafe from where we could watch paragliders. In summer, the region is full of sport enthusiasts - cyclists, hikers, paragliders and I felt like a couch potato even though I was outdoors all the time.
On Sunday, we decided to take an easy hiking trail in Grindelwald and enjoy the mountain air before driving back.

Sweet tooth

We had to drive back on Sunday, but there was just enough time to once again indulge our sweet teeth at one of the Viennese cafes. We went to a cafe chain called Oberlaa and had brunch there; and ofcourse our coffees and hot chocolates and most importantly, our cakes. We bought some Sachertorte for later as well. The funny part is, it didnt really survive until much later. We ate it up all during the drive back.

Rainy day

Saturday was a wet wet day after a night of thunderstorms. So we decided to spend it indoors in museums. We visited the Hofsburg Palace which was the winter residence of the Habsburg dynasty. It was a huge palace and part of it is currently the sear of the President of Austria.

Hofburg Palace

The first of the museums that we visited was the silver collection which housed the very grand and very vast cutlery, crockery and other tableware, kitchenware and household utensils that belonged to the Habsburg dynasty. The collection was magnificent and many pieces were extremely beautiful as well. Mummy, Papa and I took the tour and left DH and sunshine behind partly because DH is not interested in any kind of museums and partly because Sunshine would get bored.

An exhibit in the silver collection

The next museum was the Sisi museum, also housed in the Habsburg Palace. It depicts the story of empress Elisabeth who was a renowned beauty, but led a very tragic, reclusive life. There were several personal items on display - things right from her infancy to her death. The displays and the intelligent lighting in the museum captures the enigma of all accepts of her personality - an extremely beautiful empress who was a restless soul, a misfit in the imperial society, a rebel, a poet, a slave to her own beauty and finally a depressed, melancholic woman who withdrew from public and her own family. While I was fascinated by the museum I was happy to get out because it was a bit depressing.

The next museum that we visited were the imperial apartments, which were the actual rooms that were occupied by emperor Franz Joseph and empress Elisabeth. This felt like any ordinary museum especially after the Sisi museum which captured my imagination. The emperor lived in a quite spartan surrounnding as he was apparently not very interested in luxuries. The empress' rooms were slightly more luxurious and she even had a personal gym, but they were also not out of the world.

By the time we finished the tour of the three museums, the weather had cleared slightly and Sunshine had his nap on DH's lap. We drove to the Wiener Riesenrad which of one of the earliest Ferris wheels. By the time we reached there, it started drizzling again. So we couldn't do nothing much except some souvenir shopping. Sunshine got to take a ride on the banging cars with DH and it was time to retire for the day.

Outdoors

On Friday, we woke up very late, since Sunshine also slept in, to a brilliant morning. After a quick breakfast at home, we packed enough snacks for Sunshine and drove to the Schönbrunn Palace, which was the summer residence of the Austrian monarchy.
It was such a glorious day and we didnt want to spend it indoors. So, we skipped the palace tour and went straight to the vast palace gardens. It is so huge and divided into several sections with each section featuring a different style of landscaping. It was too vast to be covered in one day, atleast at our pace, so we did not rush ourselves. We just wandered around aimlessly soaking in the beautiful day outdoors, lazing around on park benches. Sunshine chased countless ducks and pigeons, screamed 'hosh' every time he saw a horse drawn carriage with tourists and threw stones into the fountains. He is an outdoor boy and is happy anywhere in the world as long as it is sunny and he gets to run around.

Gloriette

After spending most of the hot afternoon in the garden, we decided to walk to the monument Gloriette which is on a small hill across the palace. On the way, we stopped at a cafe and indulged ourselves again with some local delicacies both sweet and savoury. At the top of the hill, one gets a beautiful view of the Schönbrunn palace set against the backdrop of the city. We spent some time there enjoying the view and letting Sunshine explore around.

Schönbrunn Palace

We called it a day rather early as all of us were tired after all the walking around.

Gruess Gott Vienna

It was yet another long weekend in a series of long weekends here in Germany. Thursday was a holiday and we took Friday off and drove to Vienna for four days. It was about 7 hours drive with a couple of breaks. We had booked a small apartment very close to the Ringstrasse, where all the cafes and most tourists can be found.
After checking in, we headed to Stephansdom, the ancient cathedral and probably the most important landmark in Vienna. The square next to the cathedral, Stephansplatz, is lined with many cafes and all of them were brimming with patrons both local and visitors. We took a table on the terrace of one of the cafes and it was so close to the church that it was like sitting in the churchyard. The square was full of street artists and small crowds around them. Sunshine ran after the pigeons on the square while we drank our coffees and had our cakes. Vienna is a cake lovers paradise with an amazing variety of delicious cakes and pastries available in numerous cafes dotted all over the city. So much so that Mummy who is a vegetarian decided to eat cakes as long as she is in Vienna. ;) Papa, Mummy and I stuck to the most famous fare, sachertorte  while DH had a cardinalschnitte.

Stephansdom

We had a lazy walk back to the apartment through the cobbled streets and past many old and historic buildings and had frozen yoghurt on the way. That is right, we eat a lot while on vacation (and otherwise as well;)) although one would never guess that by looking at DH. After visiting so many European cities with well preserved historic buildings, we seem to take them for granted. I remember in the initial days, when we had just moved here, we would click so many snaps in front of every building and take the trouble to find out what it was. Now, we just walk past them although we still enjoy the flavour that they bring to the city.

Tick tock Triberg

My parents in law are here for visit and our initial plan for the long weekend was to go to East Switzerland. However, we decided against it as it would be too much for them right after the long flight. So, on Sunday, we headed to Triberg, the highest waterfall in Germany set in the scenic Schwarzwald aka Black Forest.

Part of the drive was through the Black Forest and therefore very scenic. It is so green and full of live on a sunny day that one can almost forget the dark, grey, dull days that one has to constantly face in Germany. I think when it comes to bad weather, Germany should be right up there with England although England seems to be more notorious.

There is a small entry fee to the waterfall - 3.50 € per person. It is a good place to take a not so difficult hike and get some good views of the fall. The fall itself is broken into several levels and is not a single big fall. There is an easy route and a difficult route available for the hike. The routes are lined with beeches, pines and other trees which I cannot name due to my extremely limited knowledge in botony. :) There are plenty of very friendly squirrels all over the place and one can buy a bag of peanuts to feed them at the ticket counter.

We took the easy route as Sunshine was there with us and had a small picnic of bulgur and gigantes plaki that we had packed. Sunshine was so happy to be outdoors on a fine day - he ran all over the place - up and down the slopes looking for squirrels. We didnt go all the way up but had a good time nonetheless.

Once we came back into the town, we bought a cuckoo clock at a shop called Elbe. The largest cuckoo clock in the world is situated right next to the shop, but it was already closed by the time we reached. We had been inside the clock a couple of times before, but it would have been interesting for Papa and Mummy.We then had a very late 'Kaffee and Kuchen' pause at a local cafe. Mummy and I had some delicious eggless sachertorte, DH had Apfelstrudel and Papa had a piece of Schwarzwaldkirschtorte which was a bit too full of liquer for his taste.

Black Forest is so nice when the weather is good. Since we travel far so often, we havent spent much time exploring Germany. Need to do this more often.

Goodbye Shanghai

The last few days in Shanghai passed by too quickly. We did some last minute shopping on Saturday at an outlet mall just outside Shanghai. It was totally not worth it. The discounts were not as high as what we were used to Germany and definitely nowhere near the hard to believe bargains that we found in USA. Nevertheless, my ever smart DH managed to find some good deals in the Armani store for us and in the Osh Kosh store for Sunshine.

People's Square

On Sunday, we decided to spend one last day with F and B and Sunshine's little friend before we left for Germany. They took us to the Shanghai zoo and Sunshine enjoyed it a lot. There was a small safari, some shows with animals, a very vast park and many many animals and birds. The kids had loads of fun running around, tugging at each other and fooling around. Good food is an essential part of any outing here and after a tiring day at the zoo, we went to a restaurant called Southern memories for dinner. It was housed in the World Expo cultural center which was shaped like a flying saucer. There is a huge balcony which goes all the way around the building and we got some awesome views after the very delicious dinner.

Shanghai Zoo

It was goodbye time and we were really sad as F and B had become our good friends in a very short time and hopefully they will visit us in Germany very soon. On Monday, we left the hotel early since we wanted to be in the airport with plenty of time to spare. It was struggling getting all our luggage into the taxi. Travelling light has never been one of our virtues and now we have a baby to boot. We left Shanghai with a very different view about China and its people. We had an amazing time and the Chinese are one of the friendliest, most hospitable people we have ever met. We would love to visit again when Sunshine is a little older so that he can also understand and learn something about this enchanting country and its culture.

Birthday time

It was birthday time yesterday. I called up my mom early in the morning and wished briefly and had a quiet rest of the day. In the evening, PS called and invited us to dinner. PS shares her birthday with my mom. :) DH, PS and a friend of hers decided to meet us at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum metro station and proceed to the next station, Century Avenue. We were planning to dine at Southern memories recommended by our friend and local cuisine expert F.

Bithday cake

I bought a cake for PS from the Century Avenue station right in front of her. Chinese desserts are an insult to my sweet tooth! Most of them have the texture of desserts but are quite tasteless. They generally don't do a very good job of baking cakes, muffins and other stuff either. Thankfully, PS's birthday cake was not half bad. The sweet lady at the bakery gave me a small card with Happy Birthday written in Chinese on it when I asked her to write it on the cake. A couple of candles and we were all set for the small party.

After getting lost in the mall and a bit of waiting time we finally managed to sit down for dinner. I let everyone order so that I can eat a bit from all dishes. It is Chinese custom that if you go out together for dinner, you share all the dishes ordered and eat directly from the dish using chopsticks. The only exception seemed to be rice or soup which you take into individual bowls and eat. DH ordered super hot crabs and prawns and a fiery chicken dish, the birthday girl ordered another chicken dish and a mutton dish, her friend ordered a vegetable dish and a pork dish. Everything was exteremely delicious and way too hot for me, so I had to eat some sweet millet which I had ordered for Sunshine after every bite. I wonder if they dont bother much about dessert because their savoury dishes are so scrumptious. At most restaurants, I saw people eating fruit for dessert - no wonder there are so few overweight people here.

Rural China

The Canal

The best way to explore China or for that matter any place in the world, is to take the help of a local friend. On Sunday, DH's colleague Y and her friend M took us to Zhujiajiao, a suburb or Shanghai so that we could experience rural China away from the glitz and glamour of Shanghai. An hour's bus ride from Shanghai, Zhujiajiao could not have been more different from Shanghai. It had many canals like Venice which were full of gondolas, boats and ferries intended at tourists, umpteen bridges and narrow streets full of small shops selling local crafts, food and clothes. After walking around a little bit, Y suggested that we have lunch.

Yummy food

I am amazed at the Chinese hospitality - Y and M are very young, probably a decade younger to us (we are getting old!)- and yet Y treated us to lunch, paying no heed to our protests. Earlier, they had even paid our busfare, as if spending the whole day to show us around and looking after Sunshine when we browsed the local shops was not enough! We had fish head, shrimps, two chicken dishes, bamboo, greens, rice, soup - too much to eat, which we know by now is the Chinese way of treating your guests well. These youngsters were extremely friendly and Sunshine also had a great time with them. We took a short boat ride in the canal which was lined with beautiful red lanterns from the spring festival. We bought a traditional Chinese outfit for Sunshine, a black bead bracelet to ward off the evil eye,a silk painting and a local snack made of peas. We wanted to buy some tea, but M offered to give us some as his hometown is very famous for good tea. Our attempts to bargain for a couple of beautiful chinese vases came to a naught and it was time to get back to the city.

After the hour long bus ride, we thanked our kind young friends and bid adieu with a promise to meet for dinner later in the week.

Temples

Jing'an Temple

On Saturday, we went temple hopping. The first stop was at the beautiful Buddhist temple Jing'an which is about 2000 years old. It was ofcourse rennovated several times, the latest in 1990s, but there are several ancient artefacts and idols in the temple. The pagodas with beautiful bronze statues all over them looked ethereal especially against the backdrop of the city skyscrapers and malls.

A short taxi ride from Jing'an took us the Jade Buddha temple - although it didn't look as royal as the Jing'an temple, it had a very old world charm about it. We were lucky enough to get there at the worship time, without actually planning it, and got to listen to some very calming chants and hymns. We wanted to try out a tea house and was led to the tea house in the temple compound by a helpful official. But as we were entering it, a monk signalled to us to not go there and we realised soon why he did that. They were charging a bomb for the tea as well as tea drinking session. It was almost closing time, so we left the place. Outside the temple, we bought a jade Buddha pendant for me and our must buy souvnier of every trip - a fridge magnet with Shanghai written on it.

The reclining Buddha at the Jade Buddha Temple

After all the spiritual rejuvenation, we decided to indulge our material selves and headed to Nanjing Road. There were several stores selling knockoffs on this street as well, replicas of brands like Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger etc with slightly different names and probably a different orientation of their logos. We walked into what looked like an authentic mall of children's wear, but it was difficult to say if the wares were real or fake. Besides the shopowners seemed to quote outlandish prices and were willing to bargain. So we gave that a skip as well.

We were famished after all the walking around and decided to grab a bite at a chinese restaurant. The first two places we checked out had huge waiting time, but we were third time lucky and got a place straightaway at a slightly upscale restaurant called South Beauty. DH chose a couple dishes he liked when he went dining with his team and they were delicious although the eel dish was a tad too spicy for me.

A relaxing steam bath back at the hotel and the day had come to an end.

Do you like malls?

The past few days were relatively quiet - Sunshine and I would just walk to the local shopping mall Thumb Plaza to pick up some essentials or to another local mall Laya Plaza to let Sunshine play at E Kids Island or just hang out at the hotel swimming pool and spa area.

E- Kids Island

We took a walk to Thumb Plaza again after breakfast to checkout some of the outlet stores there. I do not particularly enjoy shopping - it is difficult for me to decide on something and I always feel that the time could be spend in a better way. I prefer online shopping especially from stores where they offer free shipping and retour. When I do go to highstreet stores, I go with DH who has a very good eye and can quickly find things for me that I like. If I go alone, more often than not, I get frustrated and confused and pick up something just so that I can get over with it; which is what happened to me later in the day.

We got back and after his afternoon nap, we headed to the famed Super Brand Mall. It was just 3 metro stops away. Shanghai is as accessible as most European cities, but I guess no city in the world is 100% accessible. Despite my decision to avoid escalators when I am with the stroller, I was left with no choice on many occasions. A couple of times, some kind strangers helped me carry the stroller down the stairs.

I was disappointed once we were inside the Super Brand Mall. I have been to malls in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Frankfurt, Viernheim, Kuala Lumpur, Astana and probably more cities, but they all look the same to me. If I actually want to do some shopping, they intimidate me with too much choice. If I just want to spend some time on the weekend and I have nothing better to do, I dont mind them as long as they have some kids' play area. Anything to keep Sunshine engaged will do. Super Brand Mall had nothing of that sort. Sunshine enjoyed just walking around and seeing people and being photographed (again! rolling eyes) for a while and then got bored. So he decided to entertain himself by biting me, pulling my hair, scratching me and in general being very mean to me. :( I checked out a few stores, but most were international brands and I guess this was not sale season here. I didn't see any point in buying something I can buy in Germany and carry it all the way back. What I would have liked to see was some local flavour. So as it happens to me often while shopping, I got frustrated went to the next shop which was Next ;) and picked up some sleeping suits for Sunshine. DH pointed out to me at night that they were 3 times as expensive as the usual sleepwear from DM or Tschibo that we buy for him. He thought it would have been better if I had bought something he can wear outside for that price. Still it was a far better buy than most of frustrated buys because Sunshine is growing out of his old sleeping suits.

Alright enough of whining. It is probably not targeted at people like me and what can they do if I dont like malls. There were many beautiful people there in very sophisticated attire and I liked watching them. Yeah I like that about malls. One can watch people. :)

Sightseeing

City God Temple

On Sunday, we decided to Be tourists - destination old city. We took the metro to Yuyuan garden station. The Shanghai metro is very modern, fast and efficient, English maps are available and the stations are all well marked with instructions and directions in English (and ofcourse in Chinese). The staff are very helpful and do their best to give directions with their limited English skills.

We got out of the metro station and arrived in a different world! The streets were packed with people, tourists and locals alike, hawkers and vehicles. There were many buildings with pagoda like roofs which turn up at the corners. We went to the City God temple and were mesmerized by its vibrant beauty. There were a large number of people worshipping there and entry was free. Both of us prayed there, took some customary snaps, soaked in the culture and proceeded to our next stop- Yuyuan garden. Sunshine slept through all this and woke as soon as we were inside the garden.

We decided to feed him his lunch in a quite corner. He started running all over the place and started being his extermely restless self as soon as I started feeding him. Soon many domestic tourists in the garden started noticing him, petting him and taking his snaps. Yes... they were taking his snaps like he is a celebrity. The adults were picking him up, children were holding his hands and posing with him and a crowd gathered around him. We were concerned that strangers were photographing our child- even DH who normally enjoys and appreciates all the attention that Sunshine gets which he incidentally gets a lot, because he is exotic in Germany and he can be a real monkey. But my little monkey acted like a star, striking different poses and making cute faces and generally enjoying the attention with no stranger anxiety whatsoever. All our attempts to coax him to leave the spot were summarily dismissed. People did click Sunshine in Century park and the restaurant the previous day, but that was like 2-3 snaps. We did not want to say no since it seemed to be an acceptable thing to do in the local culture and we did not want to be rude. DH tried holding Sunshine very close to him so that he wouldn't be alone in the snap, but I pointed out the futility of doing this as they can later photoshop it. Anyway, finally we managed to coax Sunshine away from there with a chocolate.

Yu Garden

The garden dates back to the 1500s and has many water bodies, fountains, bonsais and rare plants, pavillions and many beautiful stone carvings. We were not artistic enough to appreciate or understand everything there, but enjoyed its uniqueness.

After leaving the garden, we had some seafood dumplings from one of the local eateries where we seemed to be the only non Chinese patrons. That must mean that it was authentic, right? Anyway, I liked it, DH found it very ordinary. A lady tried to give Sunshine some candy, but this time we put our foot down and refused it although we felt bad about it. We wanted to shop for some scarves which seemed pretty and cheap. But after checking out a couple of shops, we decided that we were too tired to bargain and did not want Sunshine to get cranky since it was already a long day for him.

We got back to the hotel tired but happy with our old Shanghai experience and a bit more enriched. We almost had an accident because Sunshine's stroller got stuck on the top of the escalator, but thankfully DH managed to push the stroller with Sunshine in it and me out before anything bad happened. No more taking the stroller up escalators; it is either the elevator or the stairs from now on!

Chinese hospitality

The Bund

We had an awsome weekend. On Friday evening, we (DH, his colleague A, Sunshine and I)  went to explore The Bund and the Nanjing Road. Did I say that I did not see many tall buildings here? I could not be more wrong! Move over Manhattan... Shanghai has arrived. The ever expanding city's skyline is tall and beautiful at night. The Oriental Pearl Tower and all the adjoining skyscrapers lighted up with huge LEDs featuring ads make a very imposing, very glamorous sight at night.

We could not do any shopping on Nanjing Road as we were quite late and most shops were closing down. We were approached by several hawkers offering 'designer' bags and watches though.

On Saturday, we had a true taste of Chinese hospitality and we were touched. DH's colleague and friend F, his wife B and his cute little son took us out to the Century Park and then for one of the best Lunches we have ever had. All the Chinese food that I have eaten so far, be it in India or Germany was fake. This was real Szechuan food and it was heaven on a plate... many plates actually. F ordered enough for an army and later explained to us that it is Chinese custom to order in excess as a sign of respect to the guests. If just enough was ordered or if the guests could finish everything ordered, it reflects very poorly on the host. I must say our hosts were spectacular; they chose excellent food and our table was full after we had all finished our meals.   There was enough food left on the table for another 4-6 people!

Scrumptious Szechuan food

After our lunch both the babies slept off, so we went back to the hotel room and it was time for the girls to get some 'me time' while the guys baby sat. So B and I set off to the city center for a Facial massage. We had it in a salon right in the middle of the city, right next to the world financial center. Yet it cost me only 200 bucks (thanks to the special 65%discount that B got me)for 11/2 hours of pure luxury. I drifted in and out of sleep as the masseuse worked her magic on my back, face and neck and followed it with some cooling face mask. I felt so relaxed especially after the many sleepless nights. There was no time for shopping as it was time for dinner. This time DH's German colleague A also joined us. It was Chinese hospitality at work again - this time a table full of Shanghai specialities - way more than we could even dream of finishing especially after the kind of lunch that we had. Despite our protests F and B paid for all of us again. We came back to the room very satisfied, very touched, in love with Shanghai and China.

Deep pockets do not maketh a big heart! It is not just that F and B bought us lunch and dinner - they were such great company, they spent their entire Saturday with us so that we can have a slice of real Shanghai and they did it all with genuine affection. I am so grateful to them for this experience.

Nihao Shanghai

A street in Old City

We arrived in Shanghai after a long and almost sleepless flight. Sunshine was not too keen on sleeping as there were too many new things around and he had a cough and a cold to boot. A fellow passenger offered some medicine to calm him down and help him sleep better. At first I refused but he said that it was prescribed by his children's paediatrician as he was travelling alone with his 2 year old and 8 month old. We took it from him and started to give it to Sunshine, but thought the better of it and threw it away. Were we being paranoid or sensible parents? Thankfully DH's magic touch worked and Sunshine went to sleep after a little rocking although he had a restless sleep.

The Airport was impressive - nothing flashy there, but everything works like a well oiled machine. No long queues anywhere, officials help families with young children and disabled people to get to the fast track immigration counters and pretty much everything is automated. The maglev (the train from airport to the city) was FAST, attaining a top speed of 431 km/hr in a short 10 minute journey. As soon as we checked in, we played Holi with some turmeric and vermilion and had gulab jamuns. Then, we called our families in India to wish them. We had an early dinner with DH's colleague (DH is here on business; sunshine and I just piled on). I had vegetable volcano noodles which had chicken in it. :) It was delicious, but thank God I am not vegetarian. In the hotel, everyone speaks English, but in the restaurant that we went to, we had to resort to pointing at the menu. Sunshine made a mess there, as he does whenever we eat out, but they didn't seem to mind.

Back at the hotel, we activated the wifi and I got down to my usual internet activities - checking mail, Facebook etc only to realise that FB does not work in China. A few websites that do not work here are FB, Twitter, Blogger. So I decided to just type my posts and post them once I am back in Germany.

Sunshine was experiencing some serious jet lag - there is a 7 hour difference between Shanghai and Germany. After sleeping a couple of hours of what was probably his afternoon nap, he got up with a very playful mood at 10 in the night.  DH in the meantime got hunger pangs - so we set out at 1 in the morning to tire out Sunshine and to find something for DH to eat. Finally we all slept at 3.30 and poor DH has a long day at work today.

Sunshine is fast asleep now. I hope he catches up on some sleep and adjusts to the new timezone soon because it is the weekend tomorrow and we want to explore Shanghai.

Spring in Shanghai ; hopefully

We are off to Shanghai next week, provided we manage to get the visa on time. Flight tickets and hotel are booked and now I need to do the packing.
We have travelled quite a bit after we moved to Europe 6 years back. In the beginning, the novelty and thrill of discovering a new continent helped etch very vivid images into my memory. But as the kilometers kept increasing, I feel some of those memories are getting vague. So, from this trip on, every mundane detail is going to be recorded (and perhaps never read again ;)).
I am a poor planner and packer. This didn't really matter much, before we had a child, because if we forgot something, we just bought it or did without. But with a baby, life is much easier if all the essentials are properly packed.
So I am off to fetch the suitcases from the cellar, make my shopping list and packing list, ironing... Boy, it is going to be a busy weekend.