Old Quarter: Hanoi {Travel Tuesday}

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

For today's post, I thought I would share a few pictures we took while exploring the Old Quarter of Hanoi. The Old Quarter is comprised of 36 streets and tons of places to eat and shop. It's a great place to walk around and experience the craziness of the city. The set up of the streets is still very similar to the way it was in the old city. 

We really enjoyed walking around and seeing the mix of architecture throughout the city. There is tons to see and do, so maybe give yourself at least a half day to a day to explore. Plus- the shopping is pretty great. We got Matt an outfit for about $10. There is tons to find and it's all pretty cheap. You can try your hand at bargaining if you want. We also had some delicious Pho noodles from this small shop on the street. I believe it was called Pho 10 (orange sign). Oh man- the Pho was so good. We have Pho in Korea- but it is not nearly as good. 

 {Temple of Literature} 

Motorbikes pretty much run the city of Hanoi. 

{Hanoi Opera House} 

 {Turtle Tower} 

We saw some pretty great things running around the Old Quarter. People had things stacked like crazy on the back of their bikes... eggs- goats- pigs- food- you name it- we probably saw it. 

We saw tons of people just pulling down their pants and peeing (I guess if you gotta go- you gotta go). I wish I had gotten some pictures of the shopping stalls. They are just typical Asian market type- jam packed with stall after stall. It was fun to browse around.

If you're in Hanoi- make sure the Old Quarter is on your list of to-dos.

{Linking up with Bonnie}

St. Joseph's Cathedral: Hanoi

Happy Monday Y'all! 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a pretty good weekend visiting Seoraksan, and I can't wait to start sharing that trip with y'all. But for today- I thought I would continue sharing our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. 

The first night of our trip, we stayed in the historic Old Quarter of Hanoi. We loved where we stayed because we were in the heart of the Old Quarter and there were tons of things for us to see. The first thing we adventured out to see was St. Joseph's Cathedral. 

St. Joseph's was built in 1886 and was one of the first buildings built by the French during their colonial government. It is supposedly the oldest church in Hanoi. There is mass throughout the day if you wanted to check that out. And I believe Sunday mass is at 6:00 (get there early because we read it gets pretty full on Sundays). 

We thought the outside of the cathedral was pretty impressive. The brochures all boast about the wonderful stained glass windows, but after seeing the stained glass in Europe- I was not impressed. I guess I'm a bit of a stained glass snob. They were really beautiful- but the hype for them was insane. Maybe I was just being a grouch because I was really hot and sweating like a pig. They were nice to look at, and I think you should stop by this cathedral if you have the chance. 

We  had a fun time wandering around to find the church and looking around. 

So what do you think? St. Joseph's hit or miss? 

Have a great week y'all!