Travelling in Xian, China

After we left Beijing, we spent a few days in Xian. Xian was a really neat city, but to be honest, when we first arrived I had mixed feelings. We took a bus from the airport to the center of town and the smog was intense, as you can see in the picture above, everything is grey, and unlike in Beijing where we had a few days of beautiful blue skies, Xian was grey for the whole time we were there. That being said, Xian was a really interesting city with a ton of things to do. Here are a few fun facts I learned about Xian while I was there - it is the former capital of China, it has one of the most well preserved city walls anywhere in the world, which is also a UNESCO world heritage site, and the city was also the beginning (or end I guess, depending how you look at it) of the silk road. Here are a few pictures from our time there. 

^ a spice vendor ^ 

^^ heading into the muslim quarters, a huge market where we found some delicious food ^^

^^ a traditional soup ^^ 

^^ turkish ice cream ^^ 

^^ making treats ^^ 

^^ treats galore ^^ 

^^ if you watch game of thrones you will understand how excited I was every time I heard someone talk about 'the wall' .... the great wall this, the city wall that... ^^ 

^^ the small goose pagoda ^^ 

^^ mount hua shan ^^ 

^^ this place was amazing, the pictures don't do it justice, I want to go back to Xian just to check out this mountain some more ^^ 

^^ and last but not least the terracotta warriors ^^ 

Travelling through Asia - Travel Shoes

I'm writing this still a little undecided about whether I'm packing too many or too few pairs of shoes for my trip, but I will share them anyway. Normally I live in flip flops in the summer and I find them comfortable enough to wear for most activities, but since we plan on doing a bunch of different activities on this trip, I've decided to bring a few more pairs.

I'm packing a pair or Birkenstocks, the Arizona's, this is my first time wearing Birkenstocks and so far they have been really comfortable (I'm working on breaking them in before I leave). Im also packing a pair of Nike Free running shoes, they are the most comfortble runner I've ever worn and they will be great for hiking and biking and exercising (if that happens :P ). The flip flops that I'm bringing are the Sanuk Yoga joy sandal (they are made from the same material as a yoga mat and are really comfortable). I'm bringing a pair of converse sneakers too for casual days, and a pair or simple leather sandals. I tried to keep them all pretty neutral so I can match them with almost anything...I may be crazy to bring white shoes, but they look better a little dirty anyway, right? ;)

-M