Day 12/12
Started the morning by walking to the St. Joseph Cathedral, (15% of Vietnamese are Catholic). There were many young children on a field trip to the Cathedral. This was the only church we were able to enter during the trip, and so we lit a few candles for those that we’ve lost. 
and then continued onto the “Hanoi Hilton” or the Hỏa Lò Prison. The experience in there was very difficult to process. The French originally built this for Vietnamese political prisoners and first opened the prison in 1880’s. Later it became better known by Americans during the Vietnam War as many American POW’s were kept there including John McCain. Though prisoners reported much torture and interrogation techniques, in the museum today the Vietnam would have you believe that the prisoners loved their time there and enjoyed a happy social life while captivated including time playing cards, chess, shooting pool, and eating a lot of chicken, eggs and food.
Much of the propaganda in the museum currently would have you believe that it was like summer camp for the prisoners. I took photos of how the Vietnam highlighted how other countries helped them during the war and protested the Americans invasion. I showed some of these pics to friends from one of the countries highlighted and she laughed and replied that NONE of those pics were from a protest but rather from a parade for the New Year and one of the other pics didn’t even have the correct language on the store signs. More examples of propaganda on their part.
We then took at tuk tuk (motorcycle with a riding cart behind it) to Truc Bach Lake the lake that John McCain landed in when he was shot down in Hanoi. It is one of the largest lakes in the city. There is a beautiful pagoda on the lake called Tran Quoc and it is the oldest pagoda in Vietnam. It was built in the 6th century. It is built more like an Indian Stupa.
From here we walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which was built in 1975. It reminded me of our Lincoln or Washington Memorials. It is a stand alone structure that is to honor the beloved Ho Chi Minh. There is a paved plaza out front that is long enough for a plane to land on.
Lastly we met our friends for dinner on “chicken street”, where every single stall had chicken and the most desired treat were chicken feet. Harry tried one, but I passed 🙂 My favorite item was the dessert… They took french baguette and smashed them flat then roasted them over an open fire. After they got a little grilled they put honey on it and roasted it some more! Yummy.
On our walk home we saw some street dancers inviting us into their restaurant! 
We did bring a cab back over the bridge for < $1. Everything is so reasonable.
Jan. 19/20, 2017
The Duomo is the 3rd largest church in Europe and Duomo means the “home or house of God”. It was started in the 13th Century and finished early in the 1400’s.
Stopped through the Baptismal and sat for a while letting the paintings on the ceiling sink in, again it was beautiful. The outer doors of the Baptismal are bronze and well over 1000 years old. Each section tells a story from the Bible.
Once back to Venice we toured around learning about the many campos that are the big squares around the city. Historically these were the gardens or fields of the area. Virtually everyone has a church, a well, and a palace. There are more than 150 churches in Venice and most are Roman Catholic.
Ultimately we made it to St. Marco Square, the largest in Venice. It was named after St. Marco the patron saint of Venice. Most simply call it ‘the plaza’ of Venice. We toured St. Marks, (St Mark’s Basilica) the largest church in Venice. All of the gold on the outside is indeed 24 K leaf paint. It took over 700 years to decorate this church. The columns came from Turkey.
The Horses of Saint Mark is a set of Roman bronze statues of four horses were first placed on the porch of St. Marks’s in 1204. However, Napoleon took them in 1797, and were ultimately returned in 1815. The horses stayed place on the porch of St. Mark’s until the early 1980s. At that point due to air pollution, and weather issues the originals were moved inside to the museum and the ones on the porch now are exact replicas. To view the inside of the church is free, but it is worth it to spend the 5 E to go upstairs and see the original horses and to see the view from the porch.
timistravels 