The View from Long Bien Bridge.

Long Bien Bridge is a Hanoi icon. Built in 1899 by Gustav Eiffel (yes, that Gustav Eiffel), it spans the entire Red River, about a mile. It is still used by trains on a regular basis. When we heard that is was the site of an annual art show, we decided to check it out.

The bridge is not very pretty and is not kept up cosmetically. Rather rusty and industrial.

The view initially isn't much, either.

Creative use of old movie posters.

Then the misty beauty of the river appears.

These water lilies are some of our favorite greens, stir-fried with garlic.

The fertile soil supports a myriad of small farms. Corn, banana, squash, melon,
and more. All harvested and packed by hand and driven into town by motorbike.

The bridge had been decked out as one long art gallery. What we had not expected
was that almost all the paintings and drawings were of the bridge itself.
What part of Long Bien Bridge Art Festival didn't we understand?

The art was mostly not so great, but then there were these beautiful handmade kites.

Strange and colorful shapes decorated the far end of the bridge.

It was like a Miro painting brought to life.

What we didn't realize was that as industrial and rundown as the bridge seemed
to us, it is revered as one of the most romantic places in Hanoi.
Paeans to its loveliness were everywhere.

And it is apparently a required site for wedding photos.
We saw at least five or six couples in full regalia dodging
the frequent trains to be photographed on the tracks.

Yet another strange facet of this odd and lovely city.

P.