I'm going to say something that may sound incredibly exotic, but really, really isn't:
Last week we flew to Hanoi.
Not exotic. Not for fun. Not exciting.
We had to do some paperwork stuff at the embassy in preparation for our new visa. As soon as we were told we needed to do this, we set up the next available appointment and got tickets. We flew up one morning, the appointment was the next day, and we flew home the following day. Quick little trip.
To be honest, we did think we'd be able to have a little fun on that extra day up there but it was SO COLD! And rainy. Especially the first day there. Cold as in 14°C (I'll let you google Fahrenheit). Cold as in, jeans, long sleeves, sweatshirts. Cold as in "Hello, front desk, the heat isn't working in our room," leading to a room change after we'd been in the room a few hours hoping it would heat up.
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| Driving in from the airport at 8:00a.m. Blech. |
We left our room only for meals on that first day, and walked through back streets to find a little convenience store for snacks for our room. I need my snacks, especially if all we'll be doing is staying in the room watching movies.
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| A very wet park that we cut through. |
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| Very tasty Thai hot-pot near our hotel. |
Fortunately, the day of our meeting was a few degrees warmer and only drizzly off and on. According to my phone we walked about 10 kilometers that day. First finding the place for our appointment, then a meal, and looking for "that big bookstore we passed on the way in" - which we never found - and of course walking for food and the actual meeting in the afternoon.
The park we'd found nearby had a small lake to walk or bike around. It was more fun on a nice day!
Paperwork successfully processed, we flew home to a sunshine-y, warm day... and a flat tire. No worries. At least we were in the sun waiting for the repair guy.
He got to us just 15 minutes after we called!
So, that's my exotic (not), exciting (not), cold (very) trip to Hanoi. We decided that it might be a nice place to visit when it's 40+ (C) at home in the summer.
At least you got it done. I was expecting perhaps a story of how you got there and couldn't get the paperwork done ;)
ReplyDeleteOh! I left a part out!
DeleteI'm saying we did what we needed, but the fact is: Up at the counter, the lady behind the desk got to talking about my name (We had to list all the ways our names were listed on the different papers: maiden name, middle initial, full name...) and in talking about my name I accidentally signed with my maiden name!
So... it's initialed and re-signed properly and should work, but we'll find out later if the Vietnamese official who has to process it for the visa has a problem with that.
For this "girl" in Alabama, your trip sounds both exotic and exciting! (but I totally get why it wasn't)
ReplyDeleteIf we get up there this summer for some actual sight-seeing, I'll be sure to milk it here!
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