With an early start, we made the journey to the Great Wall of China. I loved this math bridge. The engineer in me was freaking out because I like the idea of equations as wall decoration in a room one day.
When we got to the section we were climbing for the day, it looked really intimidating.
And it was. The steps were very steep and very tiny in some sections. It was easy to get winded.
About halfway, we stopped for water and to stuff something sugary in our mouths.
Low blood sugar is not cute.
We pressed on. Past the first two watch towers, trying to make it the the 5th one at the top of this photo.
We made it though and it was totally worth all of the sweat and all the quad work to get up there.
Of course, I took a selfie with my girls on the trip for tradition's sake.
The view was breath taking and so green.
I know why they didn't have invaders because the terrain is pretty but dangerous!
The walk down was worse than the walk up because steep steps going down are hard to perceive.
All of us had shaky knees by the time we got down - it took about 45 - 50 minutes.
As a reward, I bought a sun hat and an pineapple ice cream. It was so glorious.
After the Great Wall, we headed to the Ming Tombs. It was hard to understand our guide but basically 18 empires of a dynasty are buried in the hills around the tomb. We went to the 8th emperor's tomb.
While there, I used a 4 star bathroom which had me cracking up for days!
After, we enjoyed a trip to the fake market and dumplings at the restaurant. This man was welding during dinner time - it was like 8 pm. China always had surprising things like that.
I stayed up all night and after a crazy not called taxi situation - I took Uber to the airport. Again the Chinese outdid themselves with the fancy airport things - this fountain had beautiful carving.