Something about this town reminds me of Rovinj, Croatia from last summer. Perhaps its the azaleas on the walls of homes and shops or the narrow streets full of people, the quiet of the midday heat and the eruption of life when the sun goes down and the air cools (a little) with families out walking and eating and playing.
When I look more closely all similarity ends. The architecture here has a definite Chinese/Japanese influence, the lights of the bridge and the lanterns are eastern, the language and its tonal quality tends to hover in a higher range, and the menus have different foods. There are no truffles here, but there are some great Vietnamese-flavored taco knock-offs.
But the liveliness of the night and the lighted toys that kids spin into the evening sky and the peacefulness of a warm (but no longer hot) summer evening -- those things give me the same feeling in both places.
So today, meals were on our own. I had a delightful lunch with Glenn and a wonderful dinner with Lauren, Joel and Denis. And then I soaked up the atmosphere of the relatively cool evening -- and bought a few presents. I love the lighted turtle in the river and the floating lotus flowers. The guy sitting in the one photo is playing a traditional Vietnamese instrument.
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