Another rainy day in Shanghai, requiring the essential purchase of new umbrellas, mine in a rather appropriate Royal Stewart tartan
, and the decision to brave the crowds and hit the Expo for a long day of walking, eating, walking, queuing to get into pavilions, and more walking. Thank heavens for comfortable shoes.
Starting off in the Asian area, walking into the veritable sea of umbrellas, we immediately spotted the Malaysian, Singaporean, Australian and New Zealand pavilions, but decided to grab some food before we started to brave the queues. The multitude of regional food court choices was initially overwhelming, and daunting – somehow Tibetan Yak ribs and Yak butter tea proved unappealing – but we managed to eat a substantial if bland Hong Kong Chinese meal.
Then hit the pavilions. Aiyoh! The endless queues, even in the rain were somewhat off-putting, but once there, there was really no option but to pick carefully and get going.
First, we visited the New Zealand pavilion, which to be honest was something of a disappointment. Of course, actually having been there doesn’t help, but the multimedia displays showing urban life were rather bland, and the rest of the pavilion consisted of a walk through a synthetic NZ forest which was OK, but uninspiring.
Then we ventured into what proved to be one of the best pavilions, the Indonesian. It took a good 45 minutes to walk through the 3 floors, displaying all aspects of Indonesian culture and history. It was well presented, fascinating in parts, lots of excellent multimedia displays, and a good cafe where we rested and tried the incredibly strong Indonesian coffee, which was delicious and provided a much needed pick-me-up.
We decided to skip the Malaysian and Singaporean pavilions – I mean, living there they were surely bound to provide little of additional educational interest – and the Thai and Cambodian as well. Been there, seen that, no point in seeing plastic reconstructions of Angkor when you have experienced the real thing. And since we had explored Australia extensively, there seemed little point in that either, and the queues were endless.
So, we decided to wander across to the European area, where we visited some of the smaller display areas such as Albania (no expense spent.
) San Marino, and cruised the cafes outside the Turkish and Greek pavilions. Viewed the German pavilion, which looks like the Death Star crossed with a fortress
and the insanely lit and chaotic Dutch one, cheekily titled “Happy Street”.
Stopped for a kebab at the Greek pavilion, and fortified ourselves again. Then, more wandering in the persistent drizzle to view the Belgian, French, Swiss and UK pavilions from the outside. The crowds were really gathering, and the will to queue for up to 2 hours to visit any of them individually was definitely waning.
Finally, the legs were weary, the feet crying for release, and we made our way back to the hotel to watch more football – of a higher quality this time
and a rock solid sleep
