The Bell Tolls For ME!

6/22

Since I'd booked this hostel ahead of time, I'd also arranged for a free pickup from the train station.  My train got in at 5:22 a.m. and they'd told me previously that the service didn't start until 6 a.m. so I said I'd just wait.  At about 6:10 there was still no sign of anyone so I called them and they told me the service didn't start until 6:30.  This annoyed me because if I'd known that from the beginning, I just would've caught a cab, but now it didn't make sense to.  I asked if the person would be there right at 6:30 and they said he would.  Surprisingly he actually was and I found him right away and he took me right back to the hostel, so it was okay.  I couldn't check into my room, naturally, but they said I'd be able to at 12.  After the first Beijing hostel debacle, I didn't trust them, so I asked them if they were sure I'd be able to actually go in then and if it would be cleaned and everything and they said yes.  They also gave me a coupon for a free coffee in their Cafe and a coupon for a free beer at their bar for each of the two nights I planned to stay.  And they had four very young adorable white kittens to pet.  They must've been more than two weeks old because their eyes were open, but they couldn't really walk properly yet.

At the Cafe, I got a Jasmine tea instead of Coffee and had a decently sized Western breakfast, screwed around online, played with the kittens, Skyped my Mom and Grandmother and tried unsuccessfully to sort out/ plan my train ticket to Mongolia (which took quite a while, though everyone was very helpful- it was just a difficult thing to do and explain).  I also saw Terry again, which was lucky since he was leaving that day so he gave me his email so I'll message him and maybe we'll meet up again in SE Asia.  At 12 I went up to my room and was thrilled to find that my keycard worked and my room was clean and ready for me.  I took a long nap (about two hours) and felt much better upon waking.

I decided I'd just wander around Xi'an to try to find some food and get a feel for the city.  The food was forgettable, as seems to be the law in China, but I found my way to the Bell Tower in the middle of the city.  The tower itself wasn't that exciting, but I arrived in one of their several daily concerts and the music was really lovely.  With my student ID card (the one thing B.U. really did right was to not put an expiration date on our cards), I paid just over half the price of a regular ticket for entry into the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, so I walked over there next.  The performance wasn't for another hour or two and I didn't want to wait so I put my two years of fifth and sixth grade drumming experience to work and pounded on the giant ones outside (except for the one or two that randomly had a sign saying not to) quite happily.  There was an odd little type of museum of furniture and some cute guy stared at me, but he was too young, sadly.

At night I went to the Big Goose pagoda to watch the water and lights show, which was superb- the best one I ever remember seeing.  It also lasted for about thirty minutes, which impressed me, though I will admit that after a while it got a little boring.  Even though it was a Tuesday night, the place was packed with viewers and since I wanted to be able to see well, I got closer and got a little wet.  The thought occurred to me that it would be really romantic and a nice thing to share with someone.