After a very short night, we were down in the Lobby at 5:45am. Armed with our boxed breakfasts, we (along with five others from our group) headed off to the airport. This was our first and only bus ride that was not in heavy traffic.
Luckily, our bags would be checked all the way to JFK
. Jo stayed with us through check-in. The only hang-up was that Brennan's swagger (sword/dagger) caught Security's attention in his checked bag. We had to go to a back room and open the bag. Happily, the inspector gave us the green light and we were on our way.
On our flight from Shanghai to Beijing, Sue and Brennan had the worst food imaginable. Brennan had the "Western" breakfast, an omelet that looked like yellow mashed potatoes and Sue an "Eastern" breakfast of a brown hard-boiled pickled egg and some white "mush". to quote them both, "Disgusting!" Dave skipped breakfast because he went through some type of vertigo episode that had the plane spinning and hot and cold spells. It had to be some equilibrium experience caused by altitude, cabin pressure or something. By the time we landed in Beijing, he was fine.
We did have to go through Security again in Beijing but had nearly a three-hour layover so we took advantage of the Priority Club where we had drinks, snacks and wi-fi. It was about Noon when we sent Bligh an email and within minutes she called on Face Time. It was 11:00pm for her so she was able to talk to Brennan.
Before boarding our flight to JFK, we spent all of our yuan in a gift shop on Chinese chocolates, a magnet for Bligh and Dan and a couple of Chinese beers. They took our beer as we boarded the plane -- after Security and before the door of the plane!
Fourteen hours later (1:00pm EST) one hour after we left Beijing, we landed at JFK. After waiting over an hour for our bags, we took the JFK Airtrain and the NYC Subway to NYC's Penn Station and arrived about 5:00pm for a 6:45pm Amtrak train to Baltimore.
We had dinner at a TGI Fridays within the station (two $20 sandwiches and a $9 kid's meal)! Don't ask what a glass of wine cost. After dinner, we went out to look for our track number only to see that the Vermonter to Washington DC was delayed. Our 6:45 train eventually left at about 8:40pm. Bligh was at curbside when we arrived at about 11:45pm. It was over 30 hours ago that the alarm went off in our Shanghai hotel. Brennan did get about four hours of sleep on the plane and maybe two hours on the train. Grandma and Grandpa maybe got half of that. G&G had it made. Bligh and Brennan had another 45 minutes to Annapolis and then a 4:00am wake-up for their eight-hour drive to North Carolina for a Kwiatkowski Thanksgiving.
Now, four days later and bodies recovered, would we do it again -- in a heart beat!!! Go China Spree!!
Planes, Trains and Automobiles -- Going Home!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Shanghai, Shanghai, China
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Comments

2025-02-17
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NANCY VASKE
2014-12-05
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! I've not yet been to China & would love to go some day. Some of the scenery/temples reminded me of Thailand which I really loved.
You are wonderful grandparents. It looks like you & Brennan had a great time. Fabulous memories. Nancy Vaske 12/5/14