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Saturday 7 May 2011

Pastures New and Old Stamping Grounds

By July we'll be off taking the same kinds of pictures in a different kind of place and I'm already getting a bit nostalgic and taking pictures of things I see on a regular basis but have stopped really registering.
Hence, The Post Office, The Virgin at Notre Dame, Uncle Ho and a coffee shop;

Post Office

I still think this is one of the loveliest Post Offices I've been to and the service is great and charges are excellent value for money despite the recent hikes in cost.

Madonna and a blue sky

This is the famous "crying Madonna" who caused a huge fuss just before I came to Vietnam. She wasn't crying today and hasn't for four years I've been here but the real novelty in this picture is the blue sky which made such a change from the horrible grey candyfloss that has been passing for sky recently.

Uncle Ho

Now, what I wanted here was a picture of Uncle Ho's statue in front of the Hotel de Ville with the Vietnamese flag snapping away in the breeze. This was one of the grey sky days hence the ridiculously cropped closeup.

Regina Cafe

Vietnam has adopted the fancy coffee culture with arms open wide. A fancy coffee has at least four components to its name in my rule book. This was an expresso freeze with cream so clearly not as fancy as some. Very good though and the first time I've been back since their rebuild, I noticed that they're hosting live music now, Regina Coffee,
Nguyen Du St.

I didn't realise just how many puns I got into the title of this blog until I re-read it, I'm quite proud of myself if a little ashamed.

Hoi An break

We were off to Hoi An for a few days during the recent break. We'd toyed with ideas of setting off somewhere abroad but work and other commitments wouldn't let us do it and I'm glad of it. A relaxing time with good food and friendly people and a break from the city was just perfect. I also spent some time with the models of Hoi An who will happily either sell you fruit or pose for you for a very modest fee.

Hoi An Top Model 3

Hoi An Top Model

Lanterns in Hoi An

Cheers Etienne.