Dorothy's diary Our longest day

Our first ride on the cable car

Thursday 21^st May

Today is going to be very long.

We got up early and left the hotel at 7.15 a.m. We managed to get a Taxi easily. Laziz had written down our instructions for getting to the airport and they worked perfectly. Traffic was busy but we had given ourselves plenty of time and we arrived at the airport at 8.20. The desks opened just before 9.00a.m. and we got rid of our checked in bags and went through to the departure lounge. Beijing Airport is very modern, it was renovated for last year’s Olympic games.

We had to go by driverless train to our departure gate. We found a small restaurant that served an English Breakfast so we took advantage of having European food.

By the departure gate there was an American couple. The woman was being ill and staff were very concerned that she wouldn’t be able to fly. It appeared that she had visited a hospital in Beijing and had got paperwork to say hat she could fly. The staff needed to check it out but she wouldn’t let them have the paperwork so that they could ring the hospital. Another passenger helped, but we were then called to board the plane. A few minutes later and the couple were on the plane, so things must have been sorted. Fortunately they are not too near us so we won’t be disturbed.

The plane is not full so we are able to stretch out and use extra seats. We leave Beijing on time at 12.00noon. We settle down for a good flight. After our meal the lights are dimmed so we can rest easier. We are not quite sure what to expect as we cross he dateline. It seems just like a night flight, and we are given breakfast before we arrive in San Francisco at 8.40a.m. Thursday 21^st May.

Immigration was very pleasant. We had two officers as one was training. Both of them were extremely pleasant and we had a good conversation with them, best ever experience of US Homeland Security.

Once we found our luggage we went through customs but didn’t have to open our cases. We found a Taxi straight away and we had left the airport by 9.15a.m.

A lovely sunny day but much cooler than Beijing. On arrival at our hotel we were able to check in immediately, which was great, we could freshen up and have a rest before hitting the town.

We found an Irish Pub that served Fish and Chips, and the waitress understood us. We didn’t need help in translation.

The city is very easy to get around so we are looking forward to discovering all it has to offer.