Wandering Browns

Lanterns Cool statue near side entrance Tianji Pavilion is smack dab in the middle of downtown Ningbo, close to Moon Lake park. It is not, however, on the shores of Moon Lake. I read this in a Trip Advisor review so we had a nice walk in the heat trying to find the entrance! Fortunately, we eventually found it and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. It is one of the oldest private libraries in China, as well as the world. It is filled with an eclectic mix of civil records, books and other texts. Main Entrance Small fish pond near the entrance Antique Chinese furniture in another building Intricate outside lantern The "pavilion" is actually a housing complex where Fan Qin lived. He was a defense minister in the Ming dynasty, and began collecting a wide variety of local civil records, books about jinshi (the highest level of examination done in front of the emperor), and contemporary anthologies. While most book ...

Puddle jumping in the parking lot We are all settled in here in the Netherlands and WOW! it is awesome. I am hesitant to start on a bunch of posts about Europe when I still have some thoughts to post about our time in Louisiana, as well as my left-over phone pictures of Landon. In my first impressions post, I think I commented on how people are just a little rough around the edges down here. Looking back, there were all sorts of people in Louisiana, but the ones that stayed at our hotel were mostly staying longer term working construction or at the refineries and plants, so that might be why I thought that at first. Church was amazing, the people here are so generous, loving, and kind. They invited me to their homes, lent Landon some Thomas trains to play with, and even kept me in the loop on park play dates going on during the week. Landon made friends with a little girl and boy that were precious and he talked about them incessantly while we were there. Actually, he still talks...