Another Monday Vacation

Since this is our last full week in China time is running out to get things done, and having Monday off turned out to be no different. We were up bright and early so that we could head up to the area that sells bikes and purchase some for ourselves.We have wanted to do this for the last 6-9 months so that we could take the time to bike around and explore some other areas of the island, but we always managed to get sidetracked. Finally since we are out of time the bikes had to be bought, we will have to be happy with the short ride back to the apartment as the extent of our biking in China.

At home we spent some time working on completing the moving sort that we have been slowly working on over the last few weeks. The movers came in first thing on Tuesday, so we needed
to have everything sorted clearly as to what was staying and what is to start on its trip back to the States. Once we got most of that organized we were off to a late lunch and then a quick trek through the markets on our way over to Gulang Yu.
On Gulang Yu we finally made it over to see the piano museum, another thing we have been talking about doing for close to two years. It was worth it, small but amazing to see the progression of pianos through the ages, and the entrance fee includes access to a good sized garden that includes some nice ponds, paths, and a 12 cave rock grotto.
Some more wandering through the beauty of the island and we met up with our friends Dan and Howard for a quick drink to watch the sunset.
Once dark Dan invited us over to see his apartment, since he has been talking about having a party there for at least a year. He's got an amazing place, and although he's on a hill that requires hundreds of steps to get there, the beer was cold (and free) so we didn't complain....
After a quick ferry ride back to Xiamen we made our way over to the Wyndham to visit with Jasmine for what could possibly be the last time, and then planned to return home via the night market so that we could enjoy yet another great meal there.
Alas, the night market only had about half of the normal stalls set up, we aren't sure if this was because it was a Monday or because they presume that it's winter and 24C is too cold for people to head out, but since our favorite seller wasn't there we just headed home and picked up a small chicken sandwich from a new shop that opened just down the street from our apartment...