24 Hours and Counting

So it's less than a day before I board my plane for that 15-plus hour flight to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night, which is why I may be rambling right now. So why Vietnam, you ask? First, I had a whole lot of vacation time to take (I had been saving them last year in case I made the finals for "The Next Food Network Star." Of course, not one call. But I'm not bitter.) and second, it's been more than 2-1/2 years since my last foreign trip (that was to Spain in 2004). I'd been traveling to Europe often the last few foreign trips, so I thought I should head to Asia this time. Asia is expensive to get a flight, but so cheap to stay and eat. I love Vietnamese food so it was a no brainer to go to Saigon and spend my days strolling the old French-inspired boulevards and discovering the many foods. And it's funny because I'm not the only food blogger in Vietnam. Another Bay Area blogger, Cooking With Amy, is already there. And here's another blogger preparing for her trip to Vietnam. I have to credit much of my prep for the trip to this Noodlepie blog. This London bloke lived in Vietnam for two years and basically ate his way through the country. Now that's a guy to admire.

To reminisce about my last trip, below are some photos of my Barcelona trip when I traveled in Spring 2004. Any of you who traveled to Barcelona will have fond memories, as I do, of La Boqueria.