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Back under the Palms: Miami Revisited

It was January 2025, and I had the urge to go away. It had only been a couple of weeks since my Christmas trip to Cyprus but I suppose I felt like I needed something exciting to kick off the new year. A friend had been to Miami a few months prior and was sharing with me what a wonderful trip it was, and so I decided I would go for the weekend.

Miami, and particularly Miami Beach, and even more particularly South Beach, is not unfamiliar to me. I visited there countless times and I lived there for a year, back when a certain presidential election had the world focused on South Beach and its hanging chads and just before 9/11 when travel between the two countries was a little easier. I’m not going to retell what brought me to Miami in the first place all those many years ago, or why I stayed, or what I got up to there, but there are a lot of good stories.

I loved Miami. There are a lot of reasons to not like Miami and a lot of those reasons resonated with me when I lived there, but I really think it’s a very special place and I have very fond memories from there.

As much as I love it, I hadn’t been back in many years. Not since 2007 (that’s when i started this blog and there is an early Miami Beach post here). My sister moved to Los Angeles, and the boy that I loved moved back to New York and almost everyone else that I knew there then moved away or died, and I just hadn’t been back in many years.

Time to change all that.

I flew to Miami and landed midday and took an Uber to South Beach. As soon as I got there the smell was overwhelming. That way where you smell something and you are instantly transported to a time or place. The way that when I smell decaying apples in orchards in the autumn it smells like my youth, or for some reason Giorgio Red perfume in the autumn smells like London, but there’s a smell that South Beach has, created by the heat and the humidity and unidentified sources that I’ve never smelled anywhere else. I was so happy to be back.

I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted to wander around my old neighbourhoods and see how they changed and just see what things were like, and of course I wanted to check out the cigar scene. I did both of those things. What I didn’t do was I didn’t go to the Wynwood Arts District or to the new Institute of Contemporary Art there, neither of which were things when I lived in Miami. I wanted to go, but I simply ran out of time. I’m already certain that I’ll have to go back again before too long.

South Beach

I feel like a lot of people might roll their eyes at South Beach as a place to visit. I certainly did before I ever went there. And it is a place of vapid beach-goers and party people, criminals, wannabes, retirees and the people that prey on them. But I love it. And to be clear, I don’t like the beach at all, and I don’t enjoy parties. I don’t really fall into any of the other categories either, but there’s just something very special to me about South Beach. Maybe it’s because it’s the first place that I ever experienced a subtropical climate or saw that many palm trees. But I still think it’s kind of magical. The weather is always perfect, and it’s such a great place for walking and bike riding. And then there’s the architecture. This perfectly preserved Art Deco architecture that is so sweet and charming; little apartment buildings two-three stories tall, in pastel hues with Art Deco lines and little insignia of seahorses and flamingos built into the doorways. Like little pastel cakes. I never get tired of it.

And because the weather is perfect and because there are all these charming postcard-perfect hotels and restaurants, almost every eatery has a patio. And sitting on that patio and ordering, admittedly massively overpriced coffee, and watching people go by while smoking a cigar is maybe one of my favourite diversions. Because of the beach-goers and the party people and the wannabes and the plastic surgery addicts, little dogs, weirdos, muscle-heads, gold-diggers, misfits, and people from all over the world in Miami for a fresh start (or running from something), South Beach is just top-notch people watching. And yes, the patios are cigar friendly.

And then there is that Cuban influence, in the food, the music, the cigars, and the friendliness; it feels special. It doesn’t even feel like you’re in America half the time. I’m not even a fan of Cuban food or Cuban coffee but I love hearing the music and smoking the cigars and generally being around Cuban culture.

It’s underrated, but Miami has a pretty good arts scene. I think a lot of artists from New York migrated down there or go back and forth, or maybe it’s the multicultural aspect of it, or the annual Art Basel art fair, but there are some good art galleries and museums down there. Back when I lived in Miami I was much more dialed into that scene, but it’s worth it to seek out some good art galleries down there. And I don’t mean the awful paintings depicting Ocean Drive or tropical fruits, I mean the people that are doing the kind of art that puzzles the viewer or causes them to say I can’t believe they get paid for that. I visited The Bass, a small but satisfying art museum showing interesting contemporary art. Since it’s small and in South Beach, I walked down there and enjoyed the visit.

So much of what I wanted to do in South Beach was just walking around to places that I knew. I was delighted that so much of it looked exactly the same. Ocean Drive was unchanged. The residential streets generally looked the same. All the heritage buildings remained intact and the roads looked the same. It could have been 2000 all over again.

Even some of the main commercial streets looked familiar. Many of the businesses had changed, but not all of them. My favourite little pizza place Pizza Rustica was still in business. A couple of classic dive bars like Mac’s Club Deuce were still operating, and most of the hotels were the same. I saw ads for strip clubs that I visited back in the day and was pleased to see that some of them were still in business. All of this filled me with intense comfort and nostalgia as I walked around and was flooded with memories.

But not everything was the same in South Beach.

There were fewer cigar places. Maybe just two proper lounges, both of which were new from when I lived there, but there was neither the number of cigar lounges or stores that there was in my day.

The only thing that really bothered me, was seeing what had happened to Lincoln Road. Lincoln Road is a mostly pedestrian thoroughfare in South Beach that, when I lived there, was my favourite place in South Beach. It was lined with cute little local shops and restaurants and cafes, a cigar store, a bookstore, a theatre – all delightful and charming. The street was lined with palm trees and had quirky little fountains and seating areas down the middle bit. When I first moved to Miami Beach, I lived with my sister a block off Lincoln Road and it was where I started and finished every day, enjoying a cigar and the New York Times drinking coffee or having a bite to eat. It was peak people watching and after I had been there for a while it was always the place where I would run into people that I knew.

Lincoln Road has fallen on hard times. The road is still there and the trees and the quirky fountains, but with one exception, all of the old businesses have gone. Most of the storefronts are empty and boarded up and the ones that are open are just boring mall stores selling sneakers or capsule coffee or bath bombs. It’s lost all its local charm. Even the restaurants and cafes are different. The Van Dyke Café, which was my absolute favourite place for my morning coffee, is now a big brand sneaker store. Very sad. The only exception was a little Italian restaurant called Spris, that I used to go to sometimes for pizza. It’s still there and looks exactly the same (right down to the flowers on the tables) and, yes, I went there for a pizza. But it was sad to see what’s happened to the rest of the street. (There is a Miami New Times article here about the closing of the Van Dyke and the changes to Lincoln Road.)

On a positive note, however, when I was there the Sunday flea market was still operating. On Sunday morning people from all over South Florida would come to Lincoln Road and put out their wares for sale. This is a quality flea market. I would say the vendors are largely split between middle-aged gay men and older Jewish women displaced from New York. Both delightful to talk to and everyone has quality things for sale. An Art Deco tea set? A full length fur coat? Mid century modern furniture? They’ve got everything. It’s the perfect way to start a Sunday in South Beach.

Another thing that had changed was Española Road. Another pedestrian street in South Beach, but this one very short and narrow. I remember that back in the day it had a couple of little cafés on it and was quite charming. A true hidden gem. Well, hidden no more, Española was shoulder to shoulder with people and lined with packed restaurants. That was fine, but what I was excited about is that there’s now a bustling cigar store / lounge / restaurant there: Española Cigar Bar & Lounge. A little pricey, but a wonderful place to have a cigar and cocktail. I went there twice in two days.

I rode a bicycle down the paths along the length of the beach and felt the sea air, just as I did in the past. Heavenly.

So overall, I was amazed at how much South Beach was exactly what I remembered. Just a couple of small changes and still one of my favourite places on earth.

Miami & Calle Ocho

Leaving Miami Beach, however, things were very different. Downtown Miami, when I lived there, was a place to be avoided. It was a place where you would change from the bus to the train if you were heading to some other part of South Florida, and you wanted to do it as quickly as possible at night because it never felt safe. Well those sketchy neighbourhoods are now replaced by massive high rise apartment buildings and high-end financial district companies. It is completely unrecognizable. This time there were two reasons for me to visit downtown Miami; one was to change from one bus to another as I visited Calle Ocho, and two, there is a very classy cigar lounge in that district (Empire Social Lounge (Brickell Location), as one would expect in a financial district, and I went there and had a cigar and a martini. But what a change; seriously, it’s just a completely different place.

Calle Ocho, or Little Havana, was certainly there when I lived in Miami and I went there to visit some cigar factories, my first cigar factories, and buy cheap cigars, but it wasn’t really a place to visit otherwise. Well it has leaned into its Cuban culture and now attracts busloads of tourists there to browse around, but it seems no less authentic. If anything, it’s better. For countless blocks down 8^th Street in Little Havana there is business after business selling cigars. Some are just cigar stores selling a collection of non-Cuban (New World) cigars, but many of them have their own brands and rollers and it was incredible to be able to go into all these little shops and sample their house brands before moving on to the next. All along the way were little restaurants serving Cuban food and playing Cuban music, and with cigar ashtrays on the tables out front. I was in heaven. Honestly it felt a bit like I was in Cuba. The domino park is still there where old Cuban men get together and play dominoes, gossip, and enjoy the odd cigar. Some things never change.

I had an incredible weekend in Miami revisiting familiar places and discovering new ones. Although some things have changed, I was happy to see that it is still, in most respects, the place I remember. And I still love it.

I’ll be back.

But my next trip would take me much farther south, to Argentina.

Cyprus Cyprus Christmas trip 2024

Nicosia: the Divided City’s Northern (Turkish) Side

I had already spent a day and a night on the Greek side of Nicosia, Cyprus, which I’ve written about in my previous post. But after breakfast that morning it was time to cross over to the other side. The Turkish side. I had already seen the border crossing multiple times, but this was the first time I would actually cross it. Approaching it, it feels like a real border. There are checkpoints on either side and signs. I queued up with the rest of the people and showed them my passport; unfortunately they didn’t stamp it, but they did look at it and looked at me, and then handed it back and told me to have a nice day. So in many respects it was just like any other European border crossing. I didn’t know what to expect on the other side.

On the other side it was a bit like Dorothy stepping through the door into Oz; things were quite different. On the other side was a market and it was very clearly Turkish. The side I had just left, felt like Greece, but this was Turkey. Baklavas stacked high, hookahs in the windows, Turkish style textiles and pottery, mosque minarets rising up towards the sky. It was incredible.

I walked immediately to my hotel, Hotel Valide Hanim Konak. This was a little bit of a splurge, but it looked so charming I couldn’t resist. And it lived up to the pictures. I went and wandered around.

As with the other side there wasn’t much in particular that I wanted to see I just wanted to absorb the atmosphere.

I loved the streets and the cafes and buildings of the Turkish side. There were mosques and a caravanserai. Charming markets and side streets. It was sort of place that was perfect for aimless exploration. I had a delightful time. No museums or attractions of that sort, just lots of walking and looking around. I had a very nice dinner and slept in my comfortable bed. In the morning, I had an excellent coffee and a bit of a Turkish style breakfast in the market, watching people hang out their wares for sale and cats lurking around for a bit of attention.

I couldn’t find any cigar stores on this side, but smoking on patios wasn’t a problem although the weather was not particularly cooperative. It started raining and became windy, which put a bit of a damper on my evening activities.

I will say that the Greek side had more to do in terms of attractions and overall it was probably a little bit more picturesque, but I preferred the Turkish side because I just generally I’m more drawn to that sort of cultural vibe, but both sides were excellent. I think Nicosia is one of those places that would make a good travel destination for anyone because there’s enough to see and do and it is just so terribly interesting to visit because of its geographical and political anomalies.

I took the bus back to Larnaca and then a taxi to the airport and flew to Munich.

I had spent about 3 and a half days in Larnaca and Nicosia, which was an amount of time that I was satisfied with. I think I may go back someday to see more of the country.

I would arrive in Munich quite late but with just enough time to have a small sleep in the city and take in something of the Christmas atmosphere.

More Moldova

I was back from Transnistria and on my second day exploring Chișinău. I think the capital city of Chișinău could reasonably be explored in one day, but I was happy to have two. I was able to move in a bit of a leisurely pace and go on long walks. And that’s really what I did on the second day.

*a large Gulliver’s Travels-inspired mural*

I walked over to the Ciuflea Monastery, which had three buildings, each of them beautiful, I had seen them from the bus when I went into the city, and they were noticeable because they were blue, topped with gold domes. Stunning.

On the way I enjoyed walking through the city, I always say that walking is the best way to see a city and that was certainly true for Chișinău.

I saw the big Soviet-era apartment blocks and oddly placed Soviet style artwork. On the street, sturdy women bundled up in winter coats sold bunches of flowers which were readily purchased by women passing by.

On my way back from the monastery I went to a big market: the Chișinău Central Market. It was great. Exactly what I expected and wanted. Partly indoors and partly outdoors people were selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, and household items. It was a pleasure to walk around and, most importantly, I found people selling piroshkis. They are such a basic thing, but I don’t find them very often outside of places like Russia and Ukraine. My grandmother used to make potato ones and that’s always what I’m keeping an eye out for. So I got a couple from a woman selling them from a little kiosk and I was in heaven.

I went to the National Art Museum of Moldova, which was surprisingly good. The building dated from the 1930s and had a sizeable, but not overwhelming, number of artworks, paintings and sculptures, to visit. I particularly liked some of the busts and the whimsical paintings of men and women with cabbages for heads. The thing that I found incredibly awkward about visiting the art gallery was that I was the only person there when I visited and, in every room, there was an attendant observing. This made me incredibly uncomfortable. I felt like I had to linger over each work of art lest I offend them if I walked past something. And I felt like I had to nod and smile at everyone. It was a bit of an odd experience, but I enjoyed the art.

I stopped and had coffee at a few stylish cafés and continued to wander around taking pictures of the odd bit of street art or other notable sites. As much as I hate the “I heart anything” signs, but I felt like I had to take one in front of the Chișinău one.

Finally, I had heard that there was one more Lenin statue that I hadn’t seen, and it was quite a long walk through Valea Morilor Park, along a lake before following a dead-end road. It was a long and pleasant walk in the cool air. I eventually found the monument, but it wasn’t just Lenin, it was Lenin and Karl Marx and Georgi Dimitrov (the leader of the Bulgarian Communist party). What a find! It was worth the walk.

Even better, it was right outside the fenced off grounds of what appeared to be a small amusement park for children. It was closed, but some of the animatronics were still running. Is there anything creepier than a slightly disused amusement park? Maybe not. It was daytime so this wasn’t too bad, but it definitely had horror movie vibes.

*these eyes were opening and closing and moving side to side*

I rounded out the evening with dinner and a cigar on a chilly patio and a bit of work before going to bed. I had a great time in Chișinău (and in Transnistria). I don’t know that I’d make a point of revisiting the city, but I wouldn’t rule out revisiting Moldova.

Early the next morning I would fly back to Bucharest for one more day in the night before heading home.

USA

24 Hours in California: Ojai, Burbank at Spooky Season & Venice Canals

Earlier in 2024, I discovered that there were cheap flights from Vancouver to Los Angeles and back that made for a perfect 24-hour visit to see my sister, who lives in Burbank. Last time we used the opportunity to drive to Palm Springs. This time we had our sights set north.

I was curious go to Ojai. My sister and my mother had visited a while ago, and it looked so lovely that I wanted to check it out. My sister, Dawn, and her trusty canine companion, Bear, picked me up at LAX and we immediately hit the road. Ojai is only about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles, but we a stop to make along the way.

Great Pumpkins

We stopped in Ventura at Great Pacific Pumpkins. A pumpkin patch run by 5th generation family farmers where you can go and buy your future jack-o-lanterns, or just wander around and take fun photos. The pumpkins are arranged in cute displays with bales of hay and seasonal decorations. It was delightful. We took a million photos and picked up a couple of small pumpkins for decoration.

Great Pacific Pumpkins
(the one that looks like it B&W isn’t; it is just white pumpkins on grey stones)

Oh, hi, Ojai

We arrived in Ojai quickly. And it is charming. Ojai is a small city northwest of Los Angeles in the Ojai Valley. Population just under 10,000 people. Ojai is known for organic farming and spiritual practices and yoga and healthy living. It’s the sort of place where you would go and do a yoga retreat and live off organic vegan foods and buy expensive locally made crafts before going on a hike. I’m not into the spiritual side of things, but as a vegetarian, the healthy food side of it really appealed to me. I could imagine going there for a week of relaxation. (I’ll never do that though, as I seem allergic to relaxation, but I can imagine it.)

When we arrived, there was a farmers’ market on selling all the usual farmers’ market items. We both enjoy a small town farmers’ market. At the market, we saw Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino, who apparently lives there part time and has a creative incubator in a citrus orchard on a farm he owns. I think Ojai has become kind of a popular place for some Los Angeles celebrities to live a quieter life. We wandered over to a vegan restaurant and had a bite to eat. We had coffee and wandered around some more. It’s a lovely town and a great day trip from Los Angeles.

I think the best thing about Ojai is Bart’s Books. I love bookstores and it is always interesting when they have done something sort of architecturally creative or thematically unusual. In this instance, Bart’s Books is unusual because it is entirely outdoors. It is behind a low wall of ivy, although there are books for sale on the outside of the fence, with a little sign that says just to leave some money if you take one. Inside, all the bookshelves are outdoors, with occasional awnings to protect you and the books from the sun. This gives you a sense of how good the weather is in Ojai. It was started in 1964 by Richard “Bart” Bartinsdale, whose collection of books was so expansive that he started selling books from outdoor bookshelves outside his home.

We browsed around and I picked up a book that I probably didn’t need, and we made our way back to Burbank. (We made a stop on the way back at the Ventura Cigar Lounge so I could pick up a few cigars.)

Evil Clowns in Burbank

Back in Burbank, it was evening, and we had another plan. As I have written about before, Burbank is home to lots of movie production studios, which means it’s home to a lot of movie people. They live in beautiful houses on perfectly manicured streets, and they go all out for the holidays. I’ve been there both at Christmas and Halloween previously and it’s incredible. At Halloween, the houses are all decorated. Some with modest conventional decorations but others are extreme. They have elaborate setups with animatronic figures, music, fog machines, and some have live actors. One even had a small ferris wheel. It’s amazing. And it is all free, although some of the bigger ones do take donations.

We didn’t stay up late enough to take in all of them, but we tried to hit some of the highlights. The best was the Burbank Clown House, which was incredibly decorated and also had some live evil clowns wandering around terrify you. Dawn and I, as lovers of horror movies and all things spooky, were in heaven.

*Aliens, Autopsies, Skeleton Bands, and more Evil Clowns*

Burbank really doesn’t get enough credit for being a fun city. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go there unless you have a reason to go there, but once you are there, there are things to do; and if you’re already in LA, at Halloween or Christmas, I think it’s worth going to Burbank to check out the decorations.

Morning on the Venice Canals

The next morning, my flight was at about 10:00am. Fortunately, both my Dawn and I are insane morning people. We got up before the sun and drove into Los Angeles, through Hollywood, and past all the landmark buildings. There wasn’t another car in sight.

Thankfully, at least one cafe was open (La La Land), and we stopped in and grabbed a coffee, before heading over to Santa Monica for another coffee (Dogtown) where one fellow was talking about skateboarding and another about rescue dogs, and then to Venice.

One of the things my sister likes to do is go paddleboarding in the Venice canals, but I had never seen them, so we parked the car and went for a walk.

The Venice Canal Historic District was built in 1905 as part of the planning for the city of Venice, as they wanted to make it feel more like the Venice of Italy. It doesn’t feel anything like the Venice of Italy, but it is splendid. The canals are entirely in a residential district and there are small footpaths on either side and then little bridges crossing. All of the houses are modest but beautiful and there are lovely plants and flowers along the way. The waters were calm at that time of the morning, and small boats and canoes were tide up along the shores. It was wonderful. So serene and beautiful; it is incredible to think that it is in Los Angeles. I loved just walking along it, but I look forward to going back one day and kayaking around the area.

And with that, it was time to go to the airport. It was almost exactly 24 hours since I arrived. As usual, when I told people I was going to Los Angeles for 24 hours I got the typical lecturing about how that isn’t enough time to go anywhere. But when I look at how much we were able to accomplish and how much fun we had in 24 hours, there’s no question that I am going to do it again.

Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Hanoi: Vintage Motorcycle Tour

On my second evening in Hanoi, I realized that I had done most of what I wanted to do but that I still had a half a day before I went to the airport the next day. So I looked into what sort of walking tours perhaps I could do. But I found something even better: a tour of Hanoi on a vintage motorbike. This was offered by Hanoi Backstreet Tours and I booked it immediately.

I was picked up at my hotel by a fellow riding a vintage-looking army motorcycle. We were joined by another two guides each with a guest on their motorcycles. A couple from Japan. And off we went. It was terrific. It took us through areas of the city that I had not visited and gave me some small photo opportunities. They also took us through tiny little back streets, that we skilfully wound through on the motorbikes. They took us to some interesting shops including one that made wedding cakes and another that made replica luxury goods out of paper for burning to achieve good luck in the afterlife. We went to a market and saw chickens and fish and other creatures. A lot of interesting historical details were shared.

We even left the city at one point and went across a bridge and saw some of the shantytowns down by the river.

While near the market, we passed a small square where young men were smoking big bamboo pipes. I had seen this already the day before in my walk around but I wasn’t sure what they were smoking in them. The guide explained that they were smoking tobacco, called thuoc lao. It’s not cigarette tobacco. It is closer to the sort of tobacco that you would use to roll a cigar, though it is not fermented in the same way. The pipe, made from bamboo and called a điếu cày, Is kind of like a water pipe. Of course I wanted to try it.

The guide spoke to one of the young men who agreed to let me try his pipe. He lit it for me, got it going, and then handed it to me. I placed my mouth over the end and inhaled deeply, taking in a lungful of the potent smoke. I am a daily cigar smoker but I have never smoked cigarettes, so inhaling is not a natural thing for me. I immediately started coughing and laughing at the same time, much to the amusement of the small crowd of young men that had gathered around to watch the idiot tourist try the giant pipe. Below is a still from a humiliating video of me trying the pipe. Still, it was a fun experience I’m glad that I tried it.

It all wound up with an excellent lunch. It was superb. We covered more ground on the motorcycles, and it was just fun.

Rather than having them drop me off at my hostel, I asked her to drop me off at the La Casa del Habano, that I had passed earlier. I had just enough time for a cigar. I went in and had a Quai d’Orsay in a very civilized environment before catching a Grab back to my hostel and a taxi to the airport. It was a terrific way to wind up my time in Southeast Asia on this trip.

My next trip would be to Eritrea and Djibouti, via Cairo.

Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Historic Hanoi

I flew to Hanoi from Luang Prabang, Laos. Really, it would have been cheaper and made more sense for me to fly back to Vancouver via Ho Chi Minh City, as that was where I had flown through on my way to Laos. But I hadn’t been to Hanoi, and this seemed like a good opportunity, so I booked the ticket.

Arrival

I arrived in Hanoi late on a Friday night. I had my e-visa and had paid a little extra to skip the queues so I could get to bed as soon as possible. I took a taxi from the airport to my hostel: Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel, which was, of course, in the Old Quarter.

There was no question in my mind that I wanted to stay in the Old Quarter. It had all the historic neighbourhoods and markets, as well as lots of restaurants and cafes. What I didn’t appreciate, was how incredibly crowded it gets on the weekends. My taxi wasn’t able to take me right to my hostel and dropped off about four blocks away. I was irritable that he wouldn’t take me the rest of the way, but I understood once I saw the crowds. The entire neighbourhood of the Old Quarter was shoulder to shoulder with drinkers, diners, and drunks. They spilled out of the bars and restaurants on to tables on the street and then filling every footpath. It was loud and crowded, and honestly, annoying. I was tired and I had just gotten off a plane and just wanted to go to bed. I snaked my way through the raucous streets to the hostel.

The hostel was perfectly serviceable. I had booked a dorm room, which was a super bargain. ($15 a night CND.) If I was doing it again, I might have gotten myself a private room, only because a dorm in this neighbourhood means that your bunk mates are all people that are out drinking until the wee hours. When I woke the next morning I saw girls quite literally passed out in their clothes half on the bunks and half off in various states of disarray. I might be getting too old for this stuff, but I can’t resist a bargain.

Of course, I did go for a walk before bed and enjoyed a cigar.

Morning and Coffee

The next morning. I was up and out early and excited to explore the streets.

Hanoi, the Old Quarter anyway, is beautiful. Very inviting streets with a million cafes, and shops selling lanterns. Leafy trees, colourful rickshaws, and historical buildings. It’s delightful. I didn’t have much of a plan, but I decided to visit some temples and neighbourhoods, and stop for as many coffees as possible en route.

And I did just that. Hanoi is a coffee drinker’s dream. Even better than Ho Chi Minh City. There are charming and picturesque cafes serving everything from espressos to every conceivable iteration of Vietnamese coffee. I don’t typically like iced or sweet coffee or coffee with cream in it, but I put aside my predilections and I tried several unusual coffees including coconut and even the dreaded egg. None of them really taste like coffee to me. They all taste a bit like dessert, but the allure of a nice coffee on such a hot day was hard to resist.

Here are three of the best cafes I visited. There are so many more.

*Giao Mua Coffee* *for an espresso & Vietnamese iced coffee*

*Vi Anh Cafe for egg coffee and a small cigar*

*Loading T Cafe for an iced Saigon coffee*

Temples and Markets

I visited the Ngoc Son Temple, which had a moderate entrance fee (~$1.50 CDN), which was worth the price as it was quite beautiful and walking distance from where I was wandering anyway. It was set on a small island, accessible by the Huc Bridge.

I visited the market and eyed the exotic fruits and colourful vegetables. I stopped in at a cigar store and had a cigar with the owner and some of his friends. I sought out a street that had murals of historical Vietnam.

I also visited the amazing “Train Street,” but I have written about that in a separate post.

Getting Around

This was all on foot. It was an excellent city for walking, but it was very hot. So by the end of the day, I offered for a Grab back to my hostel. A Grab is like an Uber but, fantastically, it gives you the option of having a motorcycle pick you up. This is clearly the best option. They provide a helmet, and you get to feel like you’re being taken on a little tour of the city.

Cigars and Summing Up

I think I like Hanoi better than Ho Chi Minh City. And I really like Ho Chi Minh. Hanoi had a bustling energy. It is 8.8 million people. Plus, it has historic charm and interest going back centuries. There are slightly fewer cigar lounges, but still enough to keep me happy. Plus, I had no trouble finding bars and restaurants that would allow the smoking of cigars. This one was my favourite.

I had only a day and a half in Hanoi. I felt happy with what I was able to see in that time. One day of wandering, two nights of smoking and relaxation, and on the second morning before going to the airport in the afternoon, I did a classic motorcycle tour of the city, which I’ll write about separately. Had I more time in the city I would have done at least a day trip to Halong Bay, which is not far away. For this reason, I have a feeling that I will be back in Hanoi someday, but on this trip, Hanoi was my last stop and, although brief, it was satisfying.

(Previous Post: here. Next post: here)

Laos Vietnam Laos trip 2024

At Peace in Luang Prabang

From the moment I arrived by train I was charmed by Luang Prabang, Laos. It is so pretty and green, with small, attractive buildings and gilded temples. Every road looked like a picture. I loved walking those streets and stopping into French bakeries, little shops selling handmade goods, and visiting temples.

I had been kind of templed-out in Vientiane, but here my curiosity and interest were renewed. The setting was nicer, but the temples were also a bit different. More Buddhas and some of the temples had fabulous and intricate inlaid design on the exterior.

There is not a lot to do in Luang Prabang unless you want to do yoga or cooking classes or some similar activity. I didn’t mind. I was happy to stroll around and take in the atmosphere. In the evening, I had dinner and cigars on the main drag.

It rained pretty much the entire time. Not a heavy rain, but a constant one. I didn’t mind that either. It only made everything seem more green and serene, and it didn’t make me feel guilty for sitting on patios.

Cigar smoking in Luang Prabang was perfectly acceptable. Not indoors, but all the patios were fine, though I was absolutely the only person smoking cigars and I felt a little weird having a cigar with my yogurt/chia seed bowl at the café of a yoga studio. There was this one cool and tiny bar (Artisan Bar), just hidden down a side street. The bar had an elegant art deco/Hollywood glam décor, extremely dim lighting, and excellent cocktails. The bartender told me that sometimes they let people smoke cigars in there, but not on the night I was there. (Too busy, he said.)

Day Trip to Kuang Si Falls

On my second day, I met up with Chains, whom I had met at the train station in Vientiane, and we went on a day trip to Kuang Si Falls that was organized by his hostel. Kuang Si Falls is waterfalls and a park about an hour outside of Luang Prabang. It was beautiful and then there was a gruelling hike up a million stairs up to a series of lookout platforms in the trees. It was worth the climb, looking out over the green valley.

I’m sure the views from the road were also beautiful, but I slept the whole time.

Back in Luang Prabang, I had a quiet night with a cigar and some tasty green dumplings.

On my third and final day, I got up early for monks and a hike.

Alms Giving: A Cautionary Tale

Every morning, around sunrise, the monks walk in a procession along the main roads in their saffron robes, with empty bowls in hand, to receive offerings of food, like sticky rice or oranges. Along the street people line up with their items to offer and put them in the bowls of the monks as they walk past. The whole thing is a very serene and magical scene to witness. It is utterly quiet – or rather, it should be.

Obviously it is something that tourists want to witness and photograph, and that is fine, but there are rules. Well-publicized rules. There are literally signs all over the city advising people to dress modestly, keep a distance from the monks, and be quiet. They also advise you not to follow the monks; just sit at a distance and observe and take (flash-less) photos. That’s not difficult, right? I got to Sakkaline Road at maybe 4:30am and sat on the opposite side of the street from the procession and observed and took photos from a distance. Not so for all visitors. Busloads of tourists arrived and swarmed the scene, sticking their cameras right in the monks’ faces, shouting, and running around. It was gross. But I had a few minutes of peace and quiet before the hoards stormed in. I probably could have had a calmer experience from a side street, but I wasn’t sure what the route was and didn’t want to miss it, so I picked a central spot.

Stairway to Heaven

I then hiked up Phousi Hill. It is a mountain in the town with stairs heading up to the top. The entrance is just across the main road from the National Museum. The views are great, but it is the hike is the best part. It is up about 300 stairs elaborately carved with serpents, and all along the climb are small temples, stupas, and golden Buddhas set into the rocks and trees. It is like ascending into the heavens. (You pay a very small entrance fee of about $2 half-way up.)

I visited the National Museum (fine but not great) and went to the market for breakfast where I had some thin, sweet, milky bean soup and coffee for breakfast. A final stroll through the streets and then it was time to say adieu to Laos.

Laos was great. I would love to see more of it, just as a would the other countries in Southeast Asia. Fortunately, I was about to see a little more of Vietnam, as I was flying from Luang Prabang to Hanoi.

Laos Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Impressions of Vientiane, Laos

I flew direct from Ho Chi Minh City to Vientiane. Vientiane is the capital of Laos. I arrived in the morning and took a taxi to my hotel after routine passport stamping at the airport. Sailomyen Cafe & Hostel (aka Sokdee Residence) wasn’t quite as central as I would have liked, but I didn’t find anything that was more central that was in my price range. This hostel was good though I had a private room and it had a nice café with a good free breakfast. It wasn’t a fun, social hostel though. The people that were staying there seem to really keep to themselves no matter. I had what I needed.

Sightseeing

Vientiane doesn’t really have much in the way of exciting things to do. It is sleepy and small and doesn’t feel like a capital city. Usually capital cities are bustling, or they at least have national museums or impressive art galleries. Vientiane has none of these things, but it does have a nice vibe. It’s pleasant for walking. It wasn’t too hot.

Laos is primarily a Buddhist country. Every few steps there was a glittering stupa, temple, or statue. Laos is a Buddhist country, and they seem to have made an effort to cram in as many gilded religious sites as possible into the capital. I have an astonishing number of photos of palaces and Buddhas and their glittering detailed interiors, but after an afternoon of popping into various temples, I kind of felt like I had seen enough.

The city itself also sort of lacks inviting restaurants or shops. I did find a couple of nice cafés that were good for a visit, but that took a bit of looking. There was good food, but I did not feel spoilt for choices.

I visited the night market, which had a nice energy with lots of people stretched out along the waterfront along the Mekong with rows of booths selling…mostly junk, but it was still fun to browse, and then there were food tents and a ferris wheel. It was fun for an evening wander, but it wasn’t extraordinary.

Really, if it weren’t for the Buddha Park and the COPE Visitor Centre, both of which I’ll get to you momentarily, I think Vientiane would be kind of skippable. I feel bad saying that, but it’s true for my perspective. On the plus side, it does feel like a real city; not at all touristy and fully authentic.

That said the two things that I liked, I really liked. I’m going to write about the amazing Buddha Park is a separate post.

COPE

The COPE Visitors Centre is a small museum and fundraising endeavour for the victims of land mines and unexploded bombs in Laos. It is located at the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation. And if I took away only one thing from Laos, I think it is this: the sheer numbers of people that were killed and named from land minds. It’s something that I was aware of already but as with many things, it doesn’t resonate unless you have some in person experience with it.

To put it in perspective, about 270 million sub-munitions from cluster bombs (aka ‘bombies’ – how cute for something so terrible) were dropped over Laos between 1964 and 1973 in between and they estimate that about 80 million of those failed to explode. It is estimated that about 50,000 people have been injured or killed since that time from these unexploded bombs. About 40 people are still injured or killed every year by happening upon them.

The museum is very small and relies on donations. It is free to enter, but they invite you to donate some money, which, of course I did once at the beginning and once at the end. It has films and information about the land mines and Laos, but it also has these arresting visual displays of bombs and rudimentary prosthetics that are made for these people who have lost their limbs or appendages. There were displays of objects that people have made out of munitions that they find in the fields, often with disastrous results.

I’ll say now that Laos is very poor and was devastated during the 1960s and 1970s by war and bombing, but it is also landlocked and communist and faces other challenges. That’s why Vientiane isn’t a Bangkok or a Ho Chi Minh. So the COPE centre raises money to help people with prosthetics and support after they’ve lost limbs due to bombs and land mines. How poor do you have to be to risk your life to try to salvage scrap metal from a live munition. It is upsetting but at least there is some help.

And now for the most awkward of transitions…

Smoking Cigars in Vientiane

Surprisingly, for a city as sleepy and smallest Vientiane, there were two cigar lounges. There was a newish one called “K2” owned by a foreigner whom I chatted with a bit. It was a decent little spot. It had a decent bar and some seating inside and on the patio. He also sold some cigars, but honestly, the quality was very poor and the selection limited. I smoked my own cigar and had a coffee. No one else was there when I visited, but I could imagine it being a nice spot when it’s busy if it’s busy. [2025 Update: According to Google maps it has closed.]

The other cigar room was the Smoke & Oak Cigar Lounge at “The Beer House”. They had a little side entrance with a decent cabinet humidor that was well stocked, and you went upstairs to a couple of small adjoining rooms that were decorated with local art and pictures of cinematic tough guys and leather sofas. They basically left you up there to smoke your cigars in peace, but you could press a little button and request some assistance if needed. It was kind of an odd place, but I was the only one there again and it allowed me to at least get some work done.

There was another one called Club DPlus, which is just an objectively terrible name for anything. This was in a building that was either a mall or a casino very near the COPE visitor centre. I approached its opulent looking entrance but didn’t go inside as there was a sign that stated that it was strictly for members. I don’t know what one has to do to be a member but I’m certain I didn’t qualify.

*a cigar and a lemonade at a local restaurant*

That’s largely how I spent my two and half days in Laos, just walking around aimlessly and exploring and then doing my little day trip to the Buddha Park, which I will write about in the next post. It was a bit underwhelming, but decent for a short time. Fortunately, there was lots to look forward to in Laos, starting with the weird and wonderful Buddha Park.

*That Dam Stupa, a* *16th-century Buddhist stupa*

Memphis long weekend 2024 USA

Long Layover – 10 Hours in Charlotte, NC

Coming back from my excellent long weekend in Memphis, I was going to have to change planes somewhere on my way back home to Vancouver. I could have gone for shorter layovers in any one of several cities that I have been to before, but I saw an opportunity for a 10 hour layover in is city that was new to me: Charlotte, North Carolina. It seemed like a great opportunity to check out a new place.

I’ve never given Charlotte, North Carolina a moment’s thought. I didn’t know anything about it, so this was a perfect opportunity to see something of it during a layover. I landed at about 10:00 in the morning and took a taxi from the airport into the city centre and asked the driver to drop me off somewhere in the middle.

Charlotte is the biggest city in North Carolina with a population of almost one million people. It’s named after the former queen of England who was married to King George the third (and not after The Cure song “Charlotte Sometimes”). It’s not really famous for much. It has a lot of banking and industry and sports teams.

The centre of Charlotte is a business district, and it was Monday morning so everything was busy. I went to a coffee shop and had a bite to eat before walking the streets of the central area and seeing what there was to see. It wasn’t much but it was nice for a walk. There were a few nice buildings and some public art, some green spaces and fountains.

I went to the Bechtler Museum of Art, which was also in the centre and just across the street from the Mint Museum. The Mint was closed that day but the Bechtler was open. It was a small museum but worth visiting and had some nice pieces.

I took a stroll down luminous lane, a public art project in which a back alley street was covered with and surrounded by colourful murals.

After that, I decided to take the light rail public transportation system out of the city centre and to the Optimist Hall. The train was easy to navigate. There is only one route going in two directions and affairs were very reasonable.

The Optimist Hall is a former industrial textile mill from the 1800s that has been converted into a building full of fancy food halls and some cute shops. It was nice train ride from downtown to the Parkwood Station, from where I walked to the Optimist Hall and had a delicious vegan lunch. (Lots of non-vegan foods there as well.)

Following that, I decided to go back downtown but to a different area, the South End. I got off at the East/West Station and walked around a bit, having a coffee at a cute little doughnut shop and exploring a little.

I felt like I had seen everything that I wanted to see, so I decided to spend my last hour or so at a local cigar lounge. There are a few in Charlotte, but the one that was most convenient to my location was call the Vintage Whiskey and Cigar Bar. It was a really nice space with friendly staff. I went in, bought two cigars, and sat there comfortably smoking until it was time to get an Uber back to the airport.

I can’t say that I would recommend going to Charlotte on a holiday, but having a layover with time to kill there was an enjoyable experience. I’m sure this would be true of just about everywhere; anywhere is interesting for a few hours.

And that was the end of my long weekend in Memphis. In a month I would be off to Laos via Vietnam.

Andorra-Lithuania trip 2024 Spain

Barcelona Beginnings

(What was I doing in Barcelona in May 2024? Start here.)

This was not my first trip to Spain. In 2009 my mother and I had done a two and a half week backpacking trip in Portugal, which led us to the north of that country, from where we walked across a bridge into Spain and visited a town called Tui. So technically I had been to Spain, but it always felt like something that had a little asterisk next to it in the sense that I really hadn’t seen much of the country at all. So when I found a reasonably priced flight to Barcelona this seemed like a good opportunity. It was a good opportunity in two respects: one it allowed me to remove the asterisk next to my visit to Spain; and two, it also would allow me to visit the micro country of Andorra. More on that in another post. So even if I wasn’t excited about Barcelona, I was happy to be going there.

I arrived just before 7:00 PM and took a bus into the city centre. I was staying at St Christopher’s Inn hostel, which was just a block off of the Plaça de Catalunya and right near the Rambla and the metro station. Next in central. It was a good hostel. It didn’t have any frills, but the people at the front desk were wonderfully welcoming and the hostel itself was functional. It had all the things that require in a hostile: girl only dorms, privacy curtains, and lights and plugins in each bunk.

I ditched my stuff and went out to explore.

I just wandered around that first night without much of an agenda. I got the lay of the land, had a dinner of hummus and eggplants, and smoked a cigar. I was also fortunate to happen across some kind of a outdoor free concert happening in a courtyard, so I watched part of that, which was quite fun.

Some cities that I go to make a great first impression on me and others do not. Barcelona was in the latter category. That’s not to say that I disliked it. I didn’t dislike it, it just didn’t impress or excite or fascinate me. And this initial impression stayed true for the rest of my time there.

It’s a perfectly nice city. It has all the things that you would want in a European city: big beautiful churches, old buildings, winding streets, inviting squares, live music, and a good art scene. But something was lacking for me. It might have been just the sheer volume of tourists that put me off a bit. They choked the Rambla and created off-putting congestion around any site of note; That said, if you got away from those touristy bits the city felt more like a regular city. I was, of course, aware that Barcelona was one of those European cities that is overly touristy to the point where they’re trying to deter tourists from going there, but I kinda don’t get it. I understand why tourists want to go to Paris or Amsterdam or Venice, but I don’t really see the appeal of Barcelona more than any number of other European cities. Still, it’s worth seeing and I did have a nice time.

My first full day was Sunday, an I endeavoured to visit the key sites, which included visiting a couple of famous Gaudí buildings and the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. I walked to the Casa Batlló and La Pedrera – Casa Milà. I didn’t go inside either one, but they were extremely impressive to view from the outside. It’s not my style of architecture, but I appreciated them for being beautiful and being different.

*Casa Batlló and La Pedrera – Casa Milà*

I hopped on the metro to the Sagrada Família. I was eager to see the inside of this famous church, but by the time I booked this trip all of the tickets to view the inside were sold out. This isn’t a church that you can just show up and saunter into. The only way that I could have gotten inside with this little notice was to book a guided tour lasting an hour and a half and costing approximately $150.00. While I have heard that the inside is gorgeous. I was not willing to spend that much money or that much time on this building, so I decided to just take it in from the outside. And here’s my controversial opinion. I think it’s kind of ugly. While I thought the other two Gaudí buildings that I saw were beautiful the Sagrada Família just looks like a mess to me. It is interesting, with unusual flourishes and bits of fruit sitting on top of turrets, but the overall building just looks like a mass of melted wax. Some buildings look better when you see them in person. In my opinion, this was not one of them.

I made my way over to the MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, it was a much better experience. Not too big art gallery containing intriguing and occasionally beautiful contemporary in modern art pieces. Just as enjoyable as the art gallery itself was the neighbourhood that it was set in. I returned several times to the square just outside the art gallery in the evening as it had lots of street art, outdoor eateries, and a constant stream of skateboarders trying out different tricks. It was very lively I loved it.

I had a bite to eat and then rambled over to the Palau de la Música Catalana, a beautiful concert hall built in the early 1900s. I did pay for a ticket to go inside this buildings and it was well worth it, even at €18. I opted not to do a guided tour but just to wander around in my own, as I felt a little pressed for time. It is one of the most beautiful theatres that I’ve ever seen and even if it’s just to stop in for 10 or 15 minutes to look around, I think it’s one of the best sites if you enjoy that sort of thing.

It was getting to be evening time and so I geared up for a night of bar and restaurant hopping. I try not to drink much when I travel (if at all) because of trouble, but I think a trip to Barcelona would be a bit wasted if a person didn’t have at least a few drinks on your night out in the town. My favourite thing about Barcelona was the night. All of the restaurants had haphazard seating on the squares and into the streets where people sat around having cocktails and glasses of wine and little plates of tapas period music would spill out and everything looked so inviting. Best of all, I could smoke on any patio without any trouble.

I don’t like the idea of tapas. This is mainly because I do not like sharing food. I won’t get into the why; I just don’t like it. But tapas for one is great. It meant that I could go to a little restaurant have a tiny plate of appetizers, a drink, and a cigar and move on to another place, taking in different atmospheres along the way. It was great.

There are also countless appealing ‘hole in the wall’ bars and I had to visit at least a few of them. The best one was called Two Schmucks. And I don’t think it’s exactly a secret; while it is a small dive bar, it has been ranked one of the best bars in the world. I can see why. I loved it immediately; it had great music, it was dark, and the walls were covered with a mishmash of horror movie posters. They had regular cocktails but also a list of highly inventive ones. I ordered a tzatziki martini. I didn’t know what to expect. But I like a martini and I like to see key so why not give it a shot. The martini came and it wasn’t white or milky looking, but perfectly clear. I gingerly took a sip and was astonished. Somehow it tasted like a martini in the sense that it tasted like clean clear alcohol, but it had hints of garlic and dill and was so delicately delicious. Best of all, halfway through the martini they took my remaining martini liquid and poured it into a new frozen glass. No one has ever done this before or since in my entire life and I think it is the best martini service I’ve ever had.

The other thing that was great about sitting at this bar, was I ended up chatting with the guy sitting next to me who worked as a flight attendant from one of the major airlines. And he had no problem answering all my stupid questions. Everything from, “has anyone ever died on one of your flights,” to “do people really have sex in the washrooms,” to “how does one successfully give a small gift to the flight attendants without seeming like a creep?” It was fun and he was good-natured.

I stayed out late, and had a cigar in a late night appetizer on my way back to the hostel. It was a fun day.

This was my second of three nights in Barcelona, and I would come back to the city for a full day and night at the end of my trip, but this was really the end of my Barcelona exploration at the beginning of the trip, as the next day it was headed for my day trip to Andorra.