The following day was our last day in Shanghai. I was still a bit under the weather and not really up for dragging myself around Shanghai but eventually off we went. First we went to the Foreign Languages Bookstore so Liam could get some English reading material, but I made the decision to not waste my money on books that I'd only be buying for the sake of it and didn't really need. We had wanted to go for a massage, so after some time in a few bookstores, we looked for a place that Liam had read about in a guidebook, but we couldn't find it. Having spent several hours in the bookshops and then subsequently looking for this massage place, it was now late and we had to get back to say goodbye and thank you to Francesca because she was off to work all afternoon and we had to catch our train well before she's be back home at night. We gave up on the massage place and everything else besides, and went to Mister Donut, which is like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts and therefore got a very enthusiastic thumbs-up from us. Then we went and said goodbye to Francesca, and packed up our bags. Liam discovered he couldn't find his credit card which was worrying, but he had a spare, and I would be able to lend him money if it came down to it. And so off to Hangzhou.
We took a train to Hangzhou and it got us there in no time at all. Then we checked into another Hostelling International Hostel, very near the West Lake which is Hangzhou's claim to fame. We were hungry by this point and so went for a meander to find some food. Near the lake we found an area set up with restaurants and bars. We wandered around here, scouting out somewhere suitable. Nothing was really appealing. Eventually we found a place serving Italian so we thought we'd try it out. They asked if we wanted upstairs or downstairs and we said whatever, so they took us upstairs. It was then that we realised it was a pretty classy establishment, and also that they thought Liam and I were a couple (happens a lot), as we were led to our romantic table. We didn't especially mind until we saw the prices! Now I am a pretty standard British person; I shrink away from any kind of rudeness and hate putting anybody, especiaslly serving staff, out. But I have my American friends to thank for having taught me the ease of just saying "nope, not for me" and walking out. And so Liam and I gathered our reserves and told them we were leaving. They were a bit disappointed but said there were cheaper options downstairs. We said show us a downstairs menu. It was still a bit pricey but barely in the same league, so we went downstairs. This was more like it! There were crowds of tourists, and a three-piece girl band with DJ performing some cheesy music! Liam had pizza, but I was watching my wheat so I had a chicken salad. Which was really quite inedible. Aside from the fantastically bad and therefore ironically enjoyable music, the evening wasn't very satisfying and we returned to the hostel to sleep. Big day tomorrow. We'd be visiting Hell.
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