day #4 Hanoi

today we slept later than we have been. i am sure mostly b/c of the night i had. once we got moving we walked to the old quarter for lunch and some shopping. this is the last full day in hanoi. we ate lunch at this little place that alex recommended. we had bun cha which is cooked pork that reminded paul and i of breakfast sausages. it was in a broth and we added some noodles to it with some chopped up garlic. it was good. probably my favorite vietnamese meal so far. we also had nem, which are the fried spring rolls. this meal was more communal than others as were seated at a table with other folks that were already mid-meal. it was fun!

after lunch we did some shopping and i bought some goodies. as we walked up and down the streets paul and i were discussing the fact that we have not been very touristy this trip. we have only been to one sight and one event officially. we are ok with that. we really are interested in resting and being here. we did shop our way to the fruit cup street where we stopped for a snack. we also bought this stuff from a lady on a bike. it is white and tastes like potato. we think it comes from the inside of a bamboo stalk, but we aren't quite sure. we gave the rest to the folks running the fruit cup stand.

after going in a few more shops here and there we made our way back to the coffee shop we love---la place. here we sit sipping our coffee, playing DS and reading. the life of us is really laid back which we are both thankful for. :)