Last night I had the longest and most restful sleep that I have had since leaving home . I finally feel mostly like myself today. After our usual breakfast at the executive lounge buffet, we relaxed in the room while Georgia napped. Then we took ourselves on a walking tour. We saw the Maison Centrale/Hoa Lo Prison/Hanoi Hilton from the outside. This prison was first used by the French during their occupation of Vietnam, but the North Vietnamese continued to use the prison during the Vietnam War. It was closed for lunch when we arrived so we did not see the inside. Not much of the prison itself is left and they knocked down most of it to build modern towers which house apartments and shops.

We continued on to the Quan Su Pagoda, a temple which continues to serve the Hanoi Buddhist community today. Then we walked on to the Opera House, which you can only enter for a performance. Finally, we stopped to see the Sofitel Metropole. Swanky does not begin to describe this hotel. The lobby is lovely. We could not see anything else because there is a dress code (smart casual) to enter the restaurants. Our guide book describes that Metropole as the 'grande dame' of Hanoi hotels. It first opened in 1901. Charlie Chaplin stayed there and Jane Fonda broadcast her pro-Vietnam speech from the Met in 1972.

We took a cab back to the hotel and let Georgia have some time to stretch and play. Then we had a yummy lunch at the hotel's Tapas Bar (yes, tapas in Vietnam). Then another nap for Georgia and some rest time for us.

We went to the 6:30 showing of the water puppets. Unfortunately, we did not get to stay too long because Georgia was not thrilled with the whole thing. It was dark and the music, though pretty, was rather loud. I'm glad that we got to experience at least a bit of the show in any case.

So another day is done. Forty-eight hours from now we will be at the airport!