Taipei, round 2!

On Saturday Meg and I went to Taipei to go to the temple. We successfully purchased tickets, rode the bus 2 1/2 hours to Taipei, and grabbed a taxi. The taxi driver didn't speak any English, and all we had was our little temple picture with the address. He apparently didn't know how to get there, because after driving around a big block (all the while laughing and speaking Chinese) he pulled over and asked some random guy on a bike for directions. I've never been so happy to see a white steeple before! We finally made it to the temple and had a wonderful morning there. Afterwards, Meg and I found a yummy restaurant for lunch, then walked to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. It was AMAZING! I love love love huge memorial, the entrance to the square, the national theater and concert hall inside...the buildings are incredible! We also wandered around the 2-28 Peace Park and explored a museum before walking back to the bus station...at least, we tried to walk back to the bus station! We ended up getting directions to the wrong station and didn't have much time before our bus left to figure out how to walk to the right one...so we tried asking an employee for help. I asked her if she spoke English, and she said "A little," then proceeded to ramble in Chinese! She finally scribbled a bunch of characters on a scrap of paper and pointed us out the door. Great. So, we grabbed another taxi, handed the driver the paper, and he drove us no more than 2 blocks to our bus station! At least we made it, right?Entrance to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

A corner view...

A side view.

A flying-through-the-air view.

A front view. This thing is HUGE!

We climbed all the way to the top to meet Mr. Chiang himself.

The National Concert Hall, and almost identical National Theater on the other side, are beautiful!

Meg and I enjoying the awesomeness of Asia

Another Dr. Seuss tree

Ah, how I love Taiwan!

Thanks for a great day in Taipei Meg!