Vietnam Independence Day - 70 Years

After lots of preparations in the past days and a practice parade on the 29th, Independence Day came along and the parade started early in the morning.

While I didn't plan on staying in Hanoi that long, it didn't make sense to leave without staying for the parade and the fireworks in the evening.

Not being organised enough meant I arrived a bit too late and since it was packed I didn't get the best views. Still, I did manage to get some photos of the parade and the people around.

The parade was pretty cool and something different although I had hoped to see some tanks and other military vehicles included, too.

The fireworks in the evening were packed and it took ages and climbing over lots of motorbikes to get to a place with a decent view.

As soon as I made it to the square and had the view it started really pouring down so the fireworks were not as spectacular as they could have been if it would have been dry.

Still, it was cool to see the celebrations and be around Hanoi for the day.

Royal Greenwich

The snow came overnight and after all the fuss at airports and the weather warnings around the country it was disappointing to see only 2-3 cm of snow which had mostly melted away by the afternoon. The British always like to make a big fuss about any weather changes and Heathrow showed again why it rightly is the world's worst airport and run by incompetent fools. Good thing I did not need to travel in this 'severe' weather ;).

Despite the snow, Greenwich held it's celebrations for becoming a Royal borough. I had hoped for more things and events but there was only a parade, some music and fireworks. It was ok but not too spectacular.

I went out and took my GXR A12-M and the Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm lens with me to capture some scenes. I initially planned to have only pictures in square format but some did not work well in square so it ended up being a mix.