Double garden happiness

Our hotel is mind blogging. The Suzhou Pan Pacific Hotel is from another era. It is a rambling hotel filled with oak, marble and cool door bells at each room. I was half expecting Sammy Davis and Frank to walk through the lobby, smoke in one hand, scotch in the other. It is rated as one of the top resorts in China. 

After our breakfast we went for a walk on the grounds. We were told that there was a garden that must be seen. So we flashed our card at the entry area and walked into the most memorable part of the trip to date. 

My gosh the garden area is giant. There were retired couples dancing, music playing, old ladies singing, a huge lake and pagodas and caves and waterfalls. Really. Right attached to our clearly over the top 5 star hotel. I could have stayed there all day. But alas we had an itinerary so off we went at 830 am.

We visited the Master of Nets Garden for some photos, but the gardens were not even close to the incredible beauty of our hotel gardens! 

Then we went to a silk factory and learned how silk is produced. And by the time we learned it all we were in the factory store and bought a duvet made of silk and I bought my mom something special (you'll see it soon enough mom!). Next we had lunch and I hardly ate anything. But I did consume a protein bar so I'll survive.

The issue is everything for lunch and dinner is the same, greasy mystery meat in red sauce, rice and what we believe was deep fried spam. Today we had the added bonus of a fish head. So if it continues my diet has officially begun! 

It is now travel time, heading in our bus to Hangzhou which is three hours away. I may just have a nap.