The Grand Canal

We have had two interesting days at sea. After we left Wuxi and Shanghai the fog rolled in and the Chinese authoritites ordered all traffic on the Ynagtze River to stop. We spent from 3:30 in the afternoon two days ago until about 11:00 yesterday morning at anchor-along with all manner of commercial boats. Finally we got special permission to sail with careful guidance of the Shanghai pilot. We will now have only one day in Kyoto but at least we will visit all the ports.

Went to a class to learn how to reduce the size of photos and now we can add them to the blog. Yeah!
We had a great day in Wuxi on the Grand Canal. Here is a photo of Jim on the small boat we took down the longest and oldest manmade canal in the world. He is drinking a glass of green tea as we sail by the beautiful sculptures and alongside the working barges.

We also visited a wonderful garden. This photo is an example of bringing the outside into the garden. It is how a small area feels like a much larger space. We saw beautiful blooming plants and lovely buildings.

In the area of small world. It turns out the lecturer on board discussing Japan is the person that was our son Bill's college roommate his Freshman year at Davidson. Paul Kowert heads the International Student program at Florida International University in Miami. We met and chatted with his fiance Deborah. We are to have dinner together tonight. The world is small.

All is well with us and we are having a grand time.