All in a Friday afternoon . . .

How much can two people accomplish when they have a beautiful Friday afternoon and an enormous city at their fingertips? Brian and I found that the answer was more than our feet or brains could take.

In short: We went to People's Square, walked from there to a pet market, checked out some pets, walked from there to Old Town, bi-passed Old Town very quickly seeing as it is the bane of Shanghai existence (well, first we stopped for a coke at Burger King), walked from the fake Old Town to the real Old Town, checked out the residences and people there, kept walking toward the Huangpu River, hopped on a .5 kuai ferry, ended up in Pudong, found a City Shop and bought nothing, found a Pauliner brew house and ate pretzels, did the river-walk to the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, took that (yes, I have now taken that ridiculous thing twice) to Puxi, saw a toy that defied the laws of physics, walked to the pedestrian Nanjing Rd, re-evaluated our lives, took the metro to the French Concession, ate dinner at Element Fresh on the terrace, cabbed it home where I proceeded to pass out in my bed.

That is a lot to pack in between 3:30pm and 11pm after a day's work. Here are some photos of the adventure:

The bus stop was in a strange state.

Bicycle anyone?

Thousands of grasshoppers at the pet market. The collective sound was deafening.

I like their style. A lot.

A lion eating the World Financial building and the Jin Mao Tower

Pudong skyline at sunset.

Puxi skyline at sunset.

Please, do not stride the Huangpu River.

The Bund lit up at night.