An afternoon spent hauling ivy away from the wall we uncovered last year, is a good day to remember my trip to the Garden City of Suzhou just outside Shanghai

A boat trip along the canal started our tour, I was fascinated by the houses on stilts and how they created gardens anywhere & everywhere

Any available space was good to grow!

I also got my first glimpse of the pre wedding photo shoot, an essential part of any good Wedding in the Far East, I wonder if these will catch on here

Looking up the streets & alleyways, glimpsing into a different culture was fascinating

A sales pitch of playing cards & fans signalled the end of our river cruise, many of us investing in the inexpensive souvenirs, sure you can’t buy memories like that. Then it was off to the embroidery museum, or hard sell tourist trap!

The shopaholics in the group enjoyed it and the skill of the stitchers was undeniable

But I enjoyed attempting to cross the street to the bus more!

Then finally it was off to the Humble Administrators Garden

The garden was quite structural, with lots of interesting buildings and of course lots of water

Unlike Shanghai itself, there weren’t a lot of flowers, but the Magnolia trees were in bloom

I couldn’t resist this cheeky snap of the rickshaw on the way out

Glad we didn’t have to make the 2 hour journey back to the ship in these!

City lights, and boats, viewed here from deck 14 (there is no 13) were a great welcome aboard treat

But I just had to finish the day with a walk into town, where the wedding shoots were still in full swing despite the chilly wind and the roundabout topiary was beautifully illuminated, until 10pm when with a flick of a switch the lights went out and the city got tucked into bed!