Taiwan trip and GlobalTiC Award 2013 (Day 2) Part 4

淡水, Danshui, or Tamshui, is north of Taipei, and is at the end of the red line in the MRT system. In the last trip, I went only to the 'Laojie', or Old Street, to eat, and stroll about, watching the sunset. This time, I researched a little more about the attractions, and found little pockets of treasure here and there.

The first thing we did was buy the 'tiedan', or iron eggs, at Laojie. They are black in colour and chewy, very fragrant. There is a choice between quail eggs and chicken eggs, and I chose the quail eggs. Out of the packet, they are rubbery, and all the eggs are stuck together. I had to remind myself of the cholesterol that comes with eggs, unlike a certain cousin of mine, who can finish a packet of some 20 quail eggs in a day... We also bought grilled squid and boiled little squid to munch on. 

We didn't resume the rest of Laojie, but went walking about in search of an old building inside a university. The journey took some 15 minutes, uphill, through a more busy part of Danshui in terms of cars. We walked the statue of MacKay. We also bought 'Taiyang bing' for my cousin, along with some nougats, form a bakery. Dad was saying that this had better be worth the walk, and he was pretty sure that Mom and I had plotted this to get him to exercise. Haha. All the calories we put in during lunch and last night were all burned off.

Finally, up on a hill, we reached a beautiful university called Aletheia University. Very few people on campus today, so it was quiet and peaceful. Its buildings had a sort of Spanish-Sino architecture. Inside, the garden wasn't big but still nice, had this autumn feel to it. The building I had really wanted to see was facing the gates (large, grey arches), and is called Oxford College. It's built using red bricks, and is primarily Chinese architecture but with some Western influences, especially in the windows. 

Oxford College, Aletheia University

At this time, the sun was about to set, which meant our time there was about up. Downhill we went, back to Laojie. We walked past Fort San Domingo, which we will reserve for another day. Dad's objective is to capture the sunset at the end of Laojie, where some people were fishing. Beautiful scenery, beautiful pictures, and cool weather (it was already evening). 

We too pictures till it was dark. Laojie was lit up, and busy with hungry people. We drank 'aiyu' to cool down. There was reclaimed land, which wasn't there a few years ago. 

It was late, and we were tired. We took the metro back to out hotel. The duo resorted to looking for more food at the Ningxia market later in the night. 

Cheers

zhusun