What's over there?
HANOI, VIETNAM – We are not getting paid for this plug and that is just fine. This hotel in the heart of Hanoi’s Old Town was a really great place to stay – great breakfast, great helpful staff, great location, and all around good safe choice. We stayed here for 9 days so we got a good feel for everything about the place.
Continue reading “Hanoi Old Town Hotel – A great place to stay!”
HANOI, VIETNAM – I’m not giving up, but I am pretty frustrated. Sometimes you just have your mind set on something and you don’t expect to be disappointed. You understand…
You really do, don’t you?
Yummmm. I am so looking forward to cheese popcorn. Just the right amount of salty to go with what I’m drinking at this time – a good dark beer. Here is a picture of the package.
First you have to get the darn packaging open, so I wrestle that project with a serrated knife big enough to kill. I walk into the living room with my drink, ready to sit down and relax.
Continue reading “Too many surprises for one night”
HANOI, VIETNAM – OK, I admit it, I was not prepared. There are over 7 million people in Hanoi, and well, goods have to come from somewhere and people have to be able to buy them. We hit the jackpot in the Dong Xuan Market in the Old Quarter. The words ‘huge’ and ‘expansive’ don’t even do it justice. Three floors, even an escalator, and many stairways.
Continue reading “Prepare to be overwhelmed by the Hanoi market experience”
HANOI, VIETNAM – I’ll write about more flight adventures later, but I thought I would share with you (especially Dr. Flanagan) about travel and the “American” way of life. What do I mean? Let me tell you my tale:
We get on the plane for Taipei at midnight in Seattle. Getting to the airport, checking in for our flight, boarding the plane – that part was uneventful. But the Northwest has a terrible windstorm that night and we get the resulting ‘rock and roll’ for a few hours at the start of the flight.
They want to serve me food soon. I’m almost sick, but I am saying to myself, “I AM NOT ON A BOAT AND I WILL NOT BE SICK.” This means I have nothing in my stomach for hours.
Continue reading “What’s this headache?”
NEAR ORKNEY ISLAND, SCOTLAND – Right now I’m traveling with a white-knuckled husband who is gritting his teeth. No, I’m not talking about my driving. We are, in fact, riding in a very comfortable express bus from the Orkney Islands along the mainland coast of Scotland to Inverness, still a 3-hour trip once we are off the ferry.
It is a fantastically beautiful sunny morning. The rugged coastline is exquisitely lit up, with shadows in just the right places. There are sheep and cows posing in the fields, traditional thatched roof barns right next to the road, and all other sorts of daily life things that hold your eyes in wonder.
Continue reading “Scotland’s exquisitely beautiful coastline”