Tourist

A few Saturdays ago I was a tourist for the day in the city where I live! It was so much fun and the highlight of my week! I made a lunch for a picnic by the beautiful lake that is downtown. It reminds me of downtown Naperville or the river walk because of all the restaurants and activities. I then walked over to the Hanoi Hilton (the Prison which was used by the French to imprison the Vietnamese during the French War). I started talking to this girl from England who was backpacking throughout Vietnam and we went through the museum together, which was fun! It was really cool to go through, but the wording in the museum was all hinting toward how bad and awful the French were and nothing bad at all about the Vietnamese. It really was amazing the conditions they kept those people in.

I then went to this old Catholic church in the old quarters of the town. It's called St. Josephs Cathedral, the oldest church in Hanoi. It's beautiful with its stained glass windows and the old stone in the inside and outside. Inside they had old monk like music - haha. I'm not sure what to call it but it was very nice. I started talking to this girl from Bangkok who was also traveling in Hanoi for the day alone, so we went through the church together and started talking. She became my friend for the day! We walked around the old quarters together then to the huge fabric and food market. It was a lot of fun to go around the city with someone and to talk to someone to spoke good English! She was teaching in Thailand for the past year and has traveled all over! I want to do that!

At night time their is a beautiful atmosphere around the Hoan Kiem Lake. They have fun games and street performers singing. One of the two islands in the lake is the home of a famous temple which is beautiful. It's also known for its bright red bridge that connects both land masses. I got some great pictures of it!