Sept 12: Today we decided to slow our pace even more and spent about 2 hours reading right after we woke up and then had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet in our hostel. Took a taxi to the Temple of Heaven and walked around the gardens. I absoluetely love it when Chinese people act like they are taking a picture of a monument or famous sight, but really their camera is aimed right at my 6'3" red headed husband. I was thinking we should make a sign in chinese that says "picture 5 yuan" and sit and read a book in tiananmen square letting the money roll in.

Matt and I have also taken turns this week getting sinus colds and Matt was given some "yellow pills" the other day by the pharmacist. Yesterday my sore throat was so bad after we left the temple of heaven that I decided we needed to go back to the pharmacy to get some lozenges. As luck would have it, there was a huge hospital right outside the south gate of the temple when we left. So we walked in, pointed to the word pharmacy in our phrase book and in about 2 minutes, 8 women in white coats were surrounding us talking in chinese trying to figure out what to give me. I had to use a translation guide they gave me called "2008 medical olympics". After flipping past "I am an olympic gymnast," I found "I have a sore throat." It was so funny.They gave me some "pink pills" and after two I felt perfect. Magic. So I am buying another box to bring home and keep.

In the evening we went to a restaurant recommended by some locals. We were of course the only westerners and no one that worked there spoke a word of English. The waitress was hovering over us and we kept trying to explain that we needed more time to look at the menu. We kept pointing at our watches and in response she would continually point to the clock on the wall. It's hard to keep from laughing in these situations. We ordered a salad with bell peppers, roma tomato (and if you ask Matt, he'll swear they put crack cocaine in it). It was delicious. Also had a whole Peking Duck and sweet pancakes for dessert. All in all a great meal. I'm sure we'll go back. Going to try to rest up for one more day before attemping the 10Km hike of the great wall on sept 14th. Hope all is well on your side of the world :)