On the Way Home

It was raining when we woke up, so we took our time heading down to breakfast. 

We had lots of time and secured a 2pmcheck out, so we headed out to do some exploring.

Our first stop was the National Chiang Kia-Shek Memorial Hall including the National Concert Hall and National Theatre. We toured the facilities and enjoyed watching the kids practice dancing and the adults doing Tai-chi. 

After seeing the massive statue of Chiang and the two stationary guards, we walked over to the National Cultural and Creative Gift Centre to buy some souvenirs.  We were able to find a Christmas owl decoration for our tree and a small lion for our mini Christmas tree, and a few things for our friends. 

We then walked over to Lungshan Temple that was bursting with activity. The temple was filled with people saying prayers, lighting incense, making offerings of food or flowers, praying from sacred texts, and posing questions to the gods. It was really crowded and really interesting to watch. 

From there we took the Metro back to our room, packed up and checked out.

We walked across the street to Jolly Brewery to have some beer and a bite to eat.

We went back to the hotel to collect our bags, then took the metro to the main station, then caught the train back to the airport.

We arrived at the airport with lots of time, so after immigration and security we walked up to the cafeteria, ordered a beer and watched a few episodes of Mozart in the Jungle. 

Before boarding we exchanged our leftover cash and headed to the gate just as we began boarding. We settled into our seats for the 14+ hour flight. We watched more episodes of Mozart in the Jungle, slept several hours, listened to music and read to pass the time. 

The flight was uneventful and we were able to be home around 11pm. It has been an incredible trip, but it is good to be home and spend time with the girls, especially for Bill as he has been away for a month.