The Hair Ngoctor: September 2013

Sunday, September 1, 2013

We looked for the hunch back, but he wasn't there.

I know eventually I had to face my conqueror, and it did come with great excitement. Mostly because by this point of the trip, we both hunger for some wet, soupy food! Our slurping skills were not put to good use, except for our saliva when thinking about Pho. Our one Vietnamese food experience in Spain was horrible, just read my review on Tripadvisor.

We must apologize to the French people and their many beauties. We lived paris like locals focusing on food, shopping, and picnicking in parks - in English, and only did a few touristy things. Just our luck, a friend from NYC networked us with his friend in Paris, and we ended up having a great nightlife tour of Paris.

Paris was a lot like living in NYC for us. The expansive subway system, shops on every corner, stylists people, good food... We noticed that older French service people tend to be more impolite to us once we discovered to not speak French. I asked this one guy if he spoke English, and he shook his head when I know pretty damn well that he speak at least some! The French smokes too much. The boys are beautiful, and the dogs are friendly.

I forced Mr. anti-pictures to be in this one. It's was after he took me to some hipster coffee shop.

During the day-time, the tower was kinda ugly. All steely and...just not impressive. At night, slightly better. We took a siesta here among the sea of tourists.

The subway system. I loved their colorful chairs! Each stations had different, brightly colored ones.

Of course we had to do the Louvre. Oh man, it's gigantic! We probably did the whole thing in 2ish hours and that's quickly glimpsing at famous works. We both felt ashamed for not knowing anything about the works. I felt worse, for having studied art. The Mona Lisa, aka La Joconde, was beautiful. We tried to steal it, but it didn't work out, so we settled with this picture.

Find me.

Italy part two- Lastra a Signa to Florence and Cinque Terre

Finally, the guest writer has found some motivation to write a blog post! Yes, it's not just Ngoc running the show around here. Honestly though, I (Jamie) have been just sitting back enjoying the view as Ngoc documents this wonderful trip.

He's tasked me with posting the rest of the photos from Italy and it was not easy to choose which ones to post. From the country side at our 13th Century Villa Hayloft to the historic hustle and bustle of Florence and Bologna. Oh, and the beauty of Cinque Terre, how to choose what beauty to speak to?

Feeling slightly more "civilized" once we picked up our car rental (Fiat 500), off we went on the Italian freeways! Needless to say, the word "civilized" is not one you would use to describe Italian drivers. Blinkers, staying within lanes, speed limits, what ever...what are these things? Those of you who know my driving style, know that I took full advantage of the fun that can come from these "relaxed" rules. Oddly, Ngoc didn't even yell at me!

We walked the cities, trekked from one village to another in Cinque Terre, and drove through the beautiful mountain towns of Tuscany. I can't image a more perfect place to spend a week, I only hope that I can convince my family to plan our future summer vacation to Italy.