It's the Great Pumpkin

I discovered today that I am exceptionally unobservant. I have always known that I was pretty unobservant, but today revealed to what degree I remain oblivious to my surroundings. I, once again, accompanied my cousins to their violin lesson, and again we walked along the Dan Shui river. Mind you, this is the same path that I walked down last week, (read about that in "Keelung Hills, That's Where I Want To Be"), and I suddenly realized that I had no recollection of a certain part of the walk way being there. I walked on this same road, down this exact same path way, LAST WEEK. I didn't recognize the place at all. I guess that I am becoming forgetful in my old age. Here is the bridge:

Aerial view of the same bridge

It is an interesting walkway, with great lines, something that you would expect a person holding a camera to notice.
Today's weather was gorgeous, so there were a ton of people out walking and riding bicycles on this road. A far cry from last week's trip where the number of people we passed totaled somewhere below fifteen. Because of the great conditions, I managed to get some pretty great pictures of the Dan Shui river.

Look at this cool boat!

 We walked farther down the path today, and found this interesting little shopping area:

I have no idea what a "Cupping Room" is supposed to be

This store was part bike repair shop part cafe

Note that it says "Bike Friendly"

This is just a great location for business 

This is the balcony of the store

Someone's garden alongside the path

His violin teacher was kind enough to make us pumpkin beef soup while we were there. It is an unusual combination, but it tasted wonderful. My cousin plans on asking him to show us how to make it. Remember, this is the same violin teacher who gave my cousin the pasta recipe as seen in "If you are Afraid of Butter, Use Cream." I will post the recipe if we get it.

After the violin lesson, my cousin and I went to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall. Apparently, the hall is on the side of a huge plaza, a bit like the National Mall in D.C. On either side of the plaza, which is called Liberty Plaza, are two twin buildings, one is the National Concert hall, and the other is the National Opera house. All three buildings, along with the large gateway that forms the opening of the plaza, are built in the style of traditional Chinese architecture, and they are all impressive structures. The entire area was built in 1987.

The Building is so intricate

This is the opera house

And this is the concert hall

This is the gateway

Here is the memorial building.

 When we got there, we found out that the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall was closed for construction, that is why the building was so dark. We plan to return in February when they have finished.

Here is an ornate door on the side of the memorial hall

While we were in Liberty Plaza, we ate dinner at a restaurant that is in the ground floor of the Concert hall.

(clockwise from the right)  That is steamed pumpkin covered in some
 kind of white sauce, rice, a chicken and vegetable
dish, a delicious vegetable broth, and sauteed greens. 

This is iced tea

I thought it funny that we had pumpkin twice tonight as it is not a very commonly used vegetable, even here. In keeping with the running theme, everything tasted great. I am seriously starting to wonder how I am going to go back to the U.S. after having tasted all of the incredible food here.
For now, I leave you, I hope that you have many adventures of your own.