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Published: March 22nd 2006
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Just wanted to dedicate part of this blog to some of the celebrations going on while we've been out. Being away has certainly not stopped us from keeping up with events going on Stateside...
First off-Congratulations to Brian and Stacy on the birth of their son Max, to Brian and Sarah on their new arrival, Ethan (not the same Brian), and a big group hoorah for all of our friends and family who have either recently had a baby or are expecting one this year (you know who you are). This does not include us - Mothers please start breathing again😊...Also to Nicole for the successful birth and steady growth of her new beauty biz (Go Girl!!), to Anna for her new gig, and to Pops and Luba for another successful performance. A slightly belated Happy Bday to Uncle Tibi...A very belated Happy Anniversary to our favorite Crazies in NYC and last, but not at all least-
HAPPY 60TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! to our amazing grandparents - Deda and Babi we love you- you're amazing. Heard you rocked the slots in Vegas!
We are now in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam and former French colonial stronghold. After leaving Nha Trang, fun
beach town, we headed to
Hoi An (not to be confused with the capital- which we repeatedly do). Hoi An is a world heritage site and is truly quite charming. It's known for it's centuries' old pagodas, homes, assembly halls, and as the premier place to get clothes made. We thought we'd skip the tailors but, honestly, it's totally unavoidable. Really. We spent the time wandering through the streets, shopping, and eating. We also ran into a couple we saw over New Years in Thailand- turns out they're from Colorado and are travelling the world with their kids (it is possible). We gave up our walking tour and spent one of the days eating and drinking with the four of them - Their next stop is Israel where their older daughter, Ariel, will be Bat-Mitzvah'd and we will happily attend if we will still be there... We also visited a nearby Cham ruin site, Mai Son. No comparison to Angkor but slightly reminiscent of our beloved Bagan, just in much better state of upkeep. Two days and countless fittings later we left for Hue, another world heritage area, 10 kilos heavier (from new clothes, not food)! In fact, the weight
reading for our luggage on our last flight was roughly 115 lbs - Yikes! Poor poor Jon (as he is doing all the carrying)...
Hue itself did not impress us very much- then again, after Hoi An, it's hard to compete. I guess I should add that we are really burnt out on Asia at this point- which you could have guessed by the 'money grubbing' segment of the last email. The other major problem is the smoking. Everywhere you go you're bombarded by cigarette smoke from airports to hotel rooms and, the worst- while doing internet - it's awful. On that topic (quick aside) we got a big kick out of BBC's clip about Calabassas, 'a small rural town in California', implementing a no smoking in any public areas law - hee hee, after watching an hour segment on tribal villages we couldn't believe it was grouped in the same demographic- come on- I mean Jessica Simpson lives there!😊 OK- back to entry -
not helping our morale is the fact that the weather markedly deteriorates as you head north. We met one woman who had spent 12 days in Hanoi and never saw the sun!!! Ugh- how
miserable. Indeed- when we entered the tunnel connecting north and south it certainly seemed like we left from one sunny pretty world and emerged into another dark, cloudy, and humid one. Even Vietnamese hair doesn't look as good in these frizz-ing conditions. Luckily we were blessed with one lovely day when we toured around the sites near Hue. Unluckily, Aneta has now awoken in pain from severe neck spasm for 7 consecutive days with no relief in sight. And, since most 'massage' parlours here come with a few unanticipated extras (which may help the muscles) but are unwanted, we must stick to Jon's new found skills in physical therapy and the ever present Advil bottle (now waning). New daily routine- Aneta wakes up from pain anywhere between 3 and 7 am, Jon groans. Warm compresses for an hour followed by advil, tiger balm, and any homeopathic remedy available followed by intermittent stretching and massage for the rest of the day. Pain usually improves by evening only to repeat next day. Ugh. On a recent boat ride a complete stranger massaged Aneta's neck. Jon appreciated the hiatus but we must be desperate since it was SUPER creepy. After 2 days of
touring around Hue we took a flight to Hanoi which brings us to now.
Now, actually, everything seems great since both of us have decided to drink 5 cups of Vietnamese coffee and are completely high at the moment. For those of you unfamiliar with it- Vietnamese coffee is served with individual French Press type contraptions fitted over your cup (see picture). Usually it is mixed with a healthy serving of sweetened condensed milk (yummm) and occasionally with ice. Today we decided to try a special coffee which is first eaten by weasles and then collected from their feces for roasting, etc. Yes, correct, feces. (We call it kaki kafe). It's all the rage (and Dirk & Katriene told us about it) so we decided to try it and, actually, pretty darn good - if you don't think of the processing. But very, very strong. So, even the nasty weather, pains in the neck, and motos practically running you over haven't managed to dampen our spirits or our caffeine high. There is a small likelihood that we will eventually have to fall asleep with some assitance, though...I would tell you about some of the sites but really, all that
School girl returns home
Aneta wants to enroll in Vietnamese secondary school just for the uniforms. comes to mind are countless narrow streets, cyclos, raging motos, street stalls, and coffee stops. All said and done, Hanoi is really full of character and we're disappointed to only have one full day here. Tomorrow we're off for one of the many tours we have set up for the remainder of our Vietnam stay. More later- still miss and love you all😊
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Stephanie
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Photography
Thanks for blogging, I missed it. Your pictures are amazing. I look forward to them. It will take you forever to put an album together. Have fun. Love, me