Since I set foot in this city I can’t stop smiling, or laughing, or giggling.

By myself of course, I am still on my own.

There is something liberating about Hanoi that I didn’t expect to find.

I knew it was chaotic, I knew about the traffic and the food on the street, but didn’t know about the energy that it exhales. All of a sudden, the noises and the voices outside of me are louder than the ones in my head, and this is freeing!

There might not be much relaxation to be found, but there is a lot of now to exercise by looking everywhere to catch the details of this fascinating city or just to concentrate on reaching the other side of the road safely when crossing.

About crossing. All they say or said is true, so believe it.

The amount of scooters in Hanoi is 10x superior to what you are used to, even if you were born in the South of Italy, or in Cairo or anywhere south and warm. And they don’t stop, you cross the road and they avoid you, and you have to believe it.

The change from Laos (and Thailand) is massive. Here everyone honks their horn compulsively and everyone looks busy, mostly eating, though.

I had my first Pho Bo soup at the restaurant 69 in Ma May and they remembered to not put coriander in it. It was delicious.

I love the trees with roots taller than me and the once-beautiful buildings, still beautiful but old and run-down looking. Like in Buenos Aires, most of the charm is framed in black smog, and most of the facades looked like Gulliver had taken bite out of them.

Happy New Year Vietnam, thank you for the sun Hanoi!