I finally made it to Xi’an around noon today, and I tried to make the most of the rest of the day. I’m posting a bunch of pictures as an appetizer right now. Text will follow when I’m not falling asleep at the keyboard.
Cuttlefish on a stick. Delicious!
The view from the bell tower
Climbing the steps to the Drum Tower
A view back to the Bell Tower
Of course!
Purveyor of the best energy drinks in all of Shaanxi Province
The Muslim Quarter
I was afraid that I would miss cherry season this year
The Great Mosque: the uncanny combination of Chinese architecture, Islam, and exhausted Swedish tourists
Side gate - the Great Mosque
Xi'an's intact city walls
I wonder if the Chinese invented the Flemish bond, too.
The South Gate
The view from the ancient wall
The 3.8m-long noodle and its two soup accompaniments
I have absolutely no idea what this was, and I probably don't want to know. It was tasty, however, and my mouth is still burning. I think that the image is blurry because my hand was shaking with anticipation.
The woman who prepared the mystery skewer
The Long Road to Venice 
wow, great pics!! you should carry a small notebook and have the food vendors write down what you’re eating, then at the end of the trip you can have it translated and see what bizarre stuff you actually ate! I can tell you are having trouble with the time change….isn’t it the middle of the night there?? haha!!
I would pass on the cuttlefish (what is a cuttlefish??) but the soups looked good. thanks for sharing the pictures. I wonder if they have cuttlefish in Squam Lake?
Tad, I’ll be looking for your post everyday. No pressure or anything, but we armchair travelers need our vicarious travel kicks.
I particularly like this line: “I have absolutely no idea what this was, and I probably don’t want to know. It was tasty, however, and my mouth is still burning.” I also like the line about flemish bond. You know, it’s so hard to invent anything anymore. I believe that the Neanderthals actually invented the Flemish bond, but I could be wrong; it could have been the dinosaurs. Here I thought that I had invented it… tough one to swallow… movin’ on!