Hanoi Tour - Day 1

Day 1

We had a tour with our guide through Hanoi. One of the first stops that I am sure is on the tip of every one's thoughts is visiting the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (no, I am not serious). We told our guide that we had no desire to go inside of the tomb area, but would be happy to tour outside in the gardens.

It was rather evident from the moment we arrived that we were in a Communist, policed state.

Olivia outside of the grand shrine

Here we are! (and that is as close as we got to Ho Chi Minh...

As we wandered around the grounds, we were taken by the old palace, and Ho Chi Minh's old house (on stilts) that he lived in for many years. The grounds were lovely!

Walking through the grounds (that is our tour guide in front of us)

The girls Forrest Gumping outside of one of the pagodas. This pagoda was specifically shaped like a lotus flower and was centered in a pool of water. You could walk up the steps to pray.

Yellow = color of power. Lots of yellow buildings in VietNam

Old palace area

We had more on our tour from Day 1 that I will be certain to add tomorrow. We visited a special site that recognized Confucius and some more pagodas.

Arriving in Hanoi

We left for Hanoi from Okinawa around noon on Wednesday. We had a 4 hour layover in Seoul (a wonderful airport by the way) and finally made our arrival at the Hanoi (Noi Bai) airport around 2330. It was a long day, and needless to say, we were all tired. After a bit of time it took to acquire our Visa's for tourism, we finally get out of all the lines to get our baggage.

Much to our surprise, our baggage STILL wasn't all out (note above: it did take some time for the Visa information). We get over to the baggage claim and the conveyor belt is stopped and there are 4 men with a section of the belt taken apart (if you look closely behind Olivia in this photo, you can see them). I felt a little bad about taking a photo of it, so I posed her. Anyway, it was a bit comedic (since a number of people were just standing around awaiting their bags while the guys worked. In the end, it started up again and all was well.

We were met at the airport by our guide ( _ ) She seemed nice (although we were tired, so anyone would have worked by this time). We drove to our hotel (about 30 minutes from the airport) and got a glimpse of Hanoi at night.

We stayed at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi. As we pulled up our guide told us that it was also housing a number of delegates from the worlds ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference. That might have been a nice thing to know before we pulled into the hotel. We then had to check all of our bags through security. Nice.

ANYWAY - we got into our room. 5th floor, lovely suite. They had given us an extra bed and a crib (which Alessandra looked at and said "who is that for?") and after some frustrating conversation with the front desk about needing to switch out beds and a nice bath in the giant tub... we all went to bed....

The phone is never enough...

We made it home safe and sound. We have many stories to tell and many photos to share... they will come. I promise you.

I went on my run today and had one of those moments where living far away from family and friends hits a tough realization. It's hard when you receive good news (or bad news for that matter) from afar and are unable to share more than a phone call, video call or email to talk about it. Don't get me wrong, I am SO thankful for the technology that we have and that we are able to talk with regularity to our family and friends - without it costing a fortune or taking a long time. It's just sometimes it doesn't seem like quite enough.

Dealing with the sense of loneliness (dare I call it that?) is one of those things I think I have never really gotten the hang of living far away from family. It's not a loneliness that sends you in to deep despair - its just that loneliness of wanting that person or those people that you love close to you to share a moment - a lunch, a dinner, a coffee or just to sit and talk or hug. It finds itself during moving away, deployments and just being away from people that you love. It tends to stay away during the majority of our days (because we do live a nice and full life), but rears its heads on birthdays, holidays and just the general "missing you" day.

It's those times that you wonder "do I tell the people I love, that I love them, often enough?" "Do they know?" I am sure the answer to that is no - can we ever REALLY tell people that we love often enough?

So, for those of you who shared your good news with me this morning - congratulations. You will never know how badly I wish I was there to give you each a hug.

Angkor What?

There are so many blog posts to come on this trip through Viet Nam and Cambodia. Here is a glimpse of us just this morning on our way out of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We had visited here yesterday (and Angkor Thom), but unfortunately our camera was pickpocketed along the way. After contemplation about today's planned schedule, we determined that we HAD to go back. It was one of the most incredible places we have ever been and recommend it to everyone (even with the camera incident).

Happy day and looking forward to telling you ALL about our trip once we get home.

The Family Vacation

So, here we are. It's the night before our big trip. The luggage is packed (mostly), the girls are in bed and we are about to hit the hay also.

Vacation's are fun. Mostly. I remember so many wonderful trips with my families as a kid. Road trips, plane trips and just small trips to see the Grandparent's that were not so far away. Most memories are good, or maybe that is all that we choose to remember from them. In essence, I feel a greater appreciation for my parents now - yes, in general in life, but today, the appreciation is passed to them for giving me the opportunity to travel. We travelled. It opened so many doors and windows to the world - even though most of the travels of my youth were right in our own great Country.

I hope that our girls can some day appreciate all that it is we want to expose them to. There are so many wonderful places to see - and so many different ways of doing things. I hope that they are able to take some of these things with them on their journey. I also hope that it helps them find a love for travel - not International travel if they aren't interested, but my hopes are that they never just sit and focus only on their direct surroundings. So much perspective is gained from travel.

And onward we go. We will be heading to some of the most beautiful countries on planet Earth; Vietnam and Cambodia. I promise to come back and share some of this extraordinary experience with you!

Happy Trails!

When Irish Eyes are Smiling!

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day! (and Happy Belated Birthday to my Dad!)

A little snapshot of our girls in green on their way out the door to school on the big day of the leprechaun. It was a MUST to wear green and we started the day with green eggs and ham (which they wouldn't eat, even though they helped make them) and some green milk. Next year I will try to find some shamrock cookie cutters and go for the gusto with some green pancakes. (so, if you see shamrock cookie cutters on sale anywhere - please pick them up for me!)

Oh, and of note: Yes, Alessandra's glasses are on upside down. I'm not sure why, but this is how she prefers to wear them. Fashionista? Eyeglass designer? or does she just know something we don't?

Hope you had a great day, didn't get pinched and enjoyed some corned beef and cabbage (and a nice Irish stout!)

Lots of love from your partially Irish Aiello girls

MMMMMM Miso.

I keep wondering how we will ever be able to go back to eating American food. Moreoever, I keep wondering how my kids are going to react when they can only have fried chicken fingers or hot dogs as a "kids meal" at most restaurants. Miso soup has become one of the girls most favorite foods while we have lived here and we rarely have a dinner without at least one bowl at the table.

One question I have been pondering: How impolite is it in the USA to not use a spoon for soup? Do you think this will deter my girls from getting dates in high school/college? How does one explain that a spoon is just not as convenient or as effective as simply picking up the bowl and drinking from it?

Happy girls - and try some Miso. It is good for your soul, and your health.