10/21/2025 – Louie, Louie
“Louie, Louie
Oh, no, you take me where ya gotta go
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
Louie, Louie
Oh, baby, take me where ya gotta go” Song by the KIngsmen
Our guide Louie did just that – take us where we gotta go. Shanghai is a big city filled with lots of glass buildings with lots of unique structural architecture to highlight the lights at night. We started off as usual, herded onto a bus where we went down to the Bund, which is a historic river promenade that faces the towering skyscrapers. Let loose and on our own, we opted for strolling along the promenade. Along the way, we saw a inland “lighthouse” on one end and on the other end a Monument to the People’s Heroes. The monument, while written in Chinese, poignantly depicted the achievements of the revolutionary martyrs and is considered a memorial to those who gave so much during this time. While not as large as the National Mall in D.C., it is still a reminder of those who valiantly gave so that others may be safe in the future. We also spotted a few water birds – none to add to Dave’s life list, but still a nice reminder of how nature and man can coexist. It was surprisingly peaceful given that there are almost 25 million people in Shanghai. Soon we were back on the bus where Louie took us to several shopping areas, including the French quarter. We opted to not shop, but instead enjoyed a drink with our new friends, Muriel, Paul, and the Jasons. The rest of the day was really one shopping spot to the next shopping spot; Paul did buy several watches on this trip taking advantage of the significant discount to be had from buying directly from the source.
That night we opted to join a group from dinner at a local greasy spoon. We had one of our best meals of the trip there! We shared our meals and it was, without a doubt, one of the spiciest meals we had during this time. Still, all and all, it was amazing. Dinner and drinks for the two of us was less than $10 USD. Meals here are nice.