Happy Thanksgiving from Hue!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends and family!  We are thinking of you and wishing we could be joining you all for some hot apple pie.   Enjoy each other and enjoy your food today.

We opted for non-traditional on this Thanksgiving holiday (like we really had a choice) and headed for Hue for the weekend.  Hue is another UNESCO World Heritage City, an imperial citadel that sits on the Perfume river.  John and I were excited to see a little bit more of Vietnam over the long weekend.  Foster and Brianna were annoyed at having to travel again (are you sensing a theme here?).  Nolan was Nolan - happy to do whatever as long as no one touched him.

We decided to mix things up a little and try train travel in Vietnam.  When we arrived at the station in Danang 90 minutes early for our train, we were hustled out to the platform to jump aboard one that was waiting on the tracks.  Our schedule hadn't indicated that there was an earlier train, but whatever...we hoped for the best and hopped on.  The train was in decent shape with soft seats, air conditioning and a hard wood floor.  The toilets were not so nice.  In contrast to our heart-pumping bus trips on the crazy Vietnamese roads, we moved along at an extremely mellow pace - stopping every five to ten minutes for unknown reasons.  We enjoyed coastal scenery through the window and tested out Vietnamese train food (rice, wilted morning glory and pork fat).  Four short hours later we had covered the 65 miles from Danang to Hue. Consensus: Train travel in Vietnam is very relaxing but not very efficient.  I loved it - lots of naps.  John sat next to Nolan - lots of magic tricks and made-up games (hee hee).

In Hue, we checked in to the Minh Thai Hotel and headed out to explore the city.  The imperial stuff looked cool (for another day), but today was all about food. It's Thanksgiving after all!  John and Nolan braved a cool looking Vietnamese street drink that had beans, banana, coconut, jello, peanuts and slimy liquid in it.  It was very pretty and apparently tasted fine.  We spent a good chunk of time in the Hue market (as usual) and then found dinner at a French Vietnamese restaurant where we enjoyed a bizarre Thanksgiving combination of duck, squid, chicken and crepes.  Now we're back at the hotel relying on technology to connect with everyone at home and stream the Macy's Parade halfway around the world.  Today, when we're so far away, we give thanks for the Internet.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Dinner