Taipei, part 2.

Next to the zoo in Taipei there's a lovely gondola that takes you up into the mountains surrounding the city. The area is known for its tea plantations and it was well worth the long wait. The ride takes about a half hour and in the end you end up here:

That spire in the center is the Taipei 101 tower. (The spire on the right is a radio tower on a nearby peak.) There were plenty of people to share the view with,

but we just walked a little further than many people wanted to go and found a little tea house perched on the side of the mountain to have a cup of tea and a bite to eat.

 We had a dinner reservation with Simona's family at 6:30 and couldn't wait the extra two hours for the gondola so we took a taxi down instead. I'd love to go back when it's not Chinese New Year and enjoy the serenity without the thousands of other people.

Dinner with the Hsu's was wonderful. We ate at a very nice restaurant and had course after course of delicious food, starting with sushi.

We had a great time catching up with the family and hearing the Taiwanese perspective of the country, its history and relationship with China. We have an invitation to come up any time and stay with them, which I'm sure we'll do again.

The next day we headed over to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, which has been renamed the Freedom Plaza, or something like that. I guess the Taiwanese are not so enamored of their late leader. Whatever the name, the architecture was stunning.

We had a great time and plan to go back to Taipei. It took us 7 months to get there the first time, so who knows how long it'll be before we go again, but I'm sure we will.