The Pack won the SUPERBOWL!!!

I am SO happy to report that my beloved Packers won Super Bowl XLV, and I was there to witness it, in (mostly) real time!!!! My two new cheesehead friends and I headed out early this morning from our hostel and walked about 10 minutes to Hanoi Tower, to a bar called Jaspa's, which we were happy to realize actually was open and had a big screen to watch the game on! They were streaming it over the internet, so there were occasional glitches, but overall, it was awesome! I woke up early, before my alarm went off at 5:10 a.m., and was so excited and just kept thinking about all of my family and friends back home getting ready for the big game, at a normal time of day:) It didn't matter, though, getting up early. I was too excited to sleep anyway. We walked over in the dark, and actually got to experience mostly quiet Hanoi streets for once. It was very peaceful, and the air was still and heavy. Phil and I waited until about 7:30 a.m. to get a Tiger Beer, just to have one, in celebration! I also decided to get the buffet, which was huge and had a ton of food, and cost about $7.25 (145,000 Vietnamese Dong), which is expensive for my budget, but I ate enough to make it last all day, so I figure it's ok anyway;) There was another Packer's fan there when we got there, too. She is a teacher in Hanoi and is from Milwaukee, and bought me a celebratory shot of Jagermeister after the game! Man, the game was a nail-biter for the second half, for sure, and I was super nervous at the end. But, if it had kept going the way it was in the first quarter or so, it wouldn't have been fun, now would it? Phil and Beth had to leave before halftime to catch a bus, which was too bad. Anyway, I am SO HAPPY that they won, and was loving thinking about celebrating with all of you, even from a distance:)
After the game, I went to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, which was on the same block as the Hanoi Tower. The Tower was actually built over where some of the prison used to be. This was nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton' by US POWs during the Vietnam war. It was gruesome but interesting for sure. Senator McCain was held here, and here is the flight suit he was wearing when he was captured.

After I left there, I got lost on my way back, which proves that I will be forever directionally-challenged, since I had come to that area several times already:/ Then, I was able to shower (there was no water this morning), which was nice and hot the whole time ~ this is not always the case! I packed up my stuff, and am just hanging out here at the hostel waiting for a taxi to pick me up sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. and take me to the bus station, where I will catch my first leg of my open-tour bus route, to a city called Ninh Binh, where I will spend a night at a hotel with a very lovely owner who has emailed me and told me they will meet me at the bus station with free transfer to the hotel. My hope is to be able to go to Tam Coc tomorrow, if I can get it arranged either tonight or in the morning. It is known as 'Halong Bay on the Rice Paddies,' and it has been said by some to be even more beautiful than Halong Bay. So, I will let you know what I think! It is 9 km away from Ninh Binh, and it appears I may have to take a bicycle or motorbike! Then you take a 3-hour rowboat through the limestone karsts. My hope then will be to have booked an overnight bus to Hue' so that should be interesting, too! I may be able to email again from Ninh Binh, if I have time. I have booked the open-tour bus route, which will take me on stops all the way down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and I hope it goes ok! They charged me double the price, once again because of Tet. Apparently this will continue to be an issue through all of the rest of this week as well. I would definitely NOT recommend coming to Vietnam during their New Year (Tet) due to many shops, etc. being closed, as well as things not getting done/fixed as they should, as well as the extra charges everywhere you turn. At least they are honest that this is how it works, but it is really annoying. Still loving seeing everyone's comments ~ keep them coming!
Also, a quick question ~ I heard that people have been having a hard time with the chosen font for the text. I enlarged it, so please offer feedback on whether that is good enough, or if I should change the font type all-together. Thanks! This blog is obviously a work in progress, and it actually takes me a long time to navigate it to figure out how to change things, so thanks for your patience, and any suggestions are always welcome!