Hanoi in the season of love

“… I miss so much the day I left Hanoi / The streets of my childhood filled with nostalgia / Hang Luoc street, flower market / Hang Dao street, silk / Thang Long land, my friend / which roof is waiting for me / The days of my childhood, Hanoi…” (Remembering Hanoi's childhood - Nguyen Cuong)

1. It has been decades, but I still cannot forget the feeling of the day I returned to Hanoi after more than 10 years away, since June 1975 when I followed my parents to the South. And on the first night in the old town, in a bar and tea room with a strong ghostly character, listening to a simple song that seemed to contain many nostalgic memories, made my heart beat with excitement and nostalgia. It was like opening a journey to find childhood memories as clear as the dew of dawn, where every street, every neighborhood, every roof was associated with a certain memory of the sweet pink age like the morning sunshine of 10-12 years ago.

I once heard someone say that just one day wandering around every corner of Hanoi, those memories will forever be deeply engraved in the mind, settling in the soul, becoming a precious nostalgic compartment of anyone who has ever set foot on this sacred land of thousands of years of culture. As for me, I spent more than 10 years of my childhood attached to Hanoi, the heart of the Fatherland. My Hanoi was the years of war destroying the North by the US Air Force. My Hanoi was the nights before the day of peace and national reunification. How could I not remember, remember passionately and longingly in every memory brought out at the end of the day, to enter the dreams every night throughout my youth in the South. And later, every time I touch Hanoi, it is like touching my childhood memories, to gently open each splendid compartment, to admire the memories kept as treasures of the soul.

2. In my childhood Hanoi, besides the house I lived with my parents, there was also a place that I was closely attached to and filled with innocent and sweet childhood memories with friends, the house at 36 Ly Thai To Street, which we called “Hanoi Youth Club” - now the Hanoi Children's Cultural Palace. The house in my imagination at the age of 10 was a splendid cathedral - palace, where our childhood artistic aspirations were nurtured, where children from 5 to 15 years old, with talents in singing - dancing - music - drama and painting, or today in modern language called Idol-kids... were cherished, nurtured, studied and performed. That is also a corner of memory that every time I mention it, I feel both proud and happy because I had a rich childhood, which not all of my friends had. At that time, I was active in the Drama team of the Club.

I still remember the drama rehearsals, like living in magical moments, when we were “transformed” into characters in fascinating mythological stories, stories of fighting foreign invaders. Sometimes we were Tran Quoc Toan, sometimes we were child heroes like Kim Dong, Vu A Dinh, Duong Van Noi, Kpa Klong…, sometimes we were a shoe shine boy, sometimes we were a young guerrilla soldier. Or in the fairy tales, we were sometimes cicadas singing all summer, sometimes we were hard-working bees looking for pollen, sometimes we were ants with a collective spirit helping each other build nests, or the playful, adventurous but kind-hearted cricket…

To help us feel the beauty of this type of theater, we were taught many valuable lessons about the art of acting and understanding the psychology of characters by famous artists such as Vu Nguyet Anh, Pham Thi Thanh, Ha Van Trong, Dao Mong Long at the Central Drama Troupe - Vietnam Drama Theater now. I still remember that day, to help our drama team feel the beauty of language, we were guided by poet Phan Thi Thanh Nhan and writer Pham Ho to explore the beautiful and sparkling gardens of Vietnamese poetry and literature... Until now, I still cannot forget the cool sweetness of Trang Tien ice cream, the sweet and fruity aroma of Hai Chau candies after drama rehearsals or recording sessions at the Voice of Vietnam Radio , the sweetness of childhood that can never be found again later.

And maybe that's why, every time I go to Hanoi, I never stop by this childhood art house to visit a close friend, to admire its appearance, to listen to the bustling sounds coming from the round house in the campus, to feel like I'm traveling through time and space to see myself and my friends dancing, singing and performing exciting plays...

3. My childhood Hanoi still holds a memory of a wonderful space, the Botanical Garden, a fairy garden full of dreams and strange magic for me and the children. And until today, every time I visit, I still have the same interesting feeling, just like another time in the past. Like a space for the imagination of childhood to soar, the Botanical Garden with its tall ancient trees that seem to pierce the clouds and touch the sun, its rough trunks covered with silvery white scales interspersed with moss, as big as several adults' arms, its roots rising above the ground, wavy like a shiny brown dragon's back, its leaves all year round spreading a cool shade over the entire garden, and in the lush green are many lovely bird nests, the chirping sounds like a grand concert with many highs and lows... But that did not necessarily create curiosity for us children back then, but the place that stimulated all the senses and the sense of adventure was climbing to the top of Nung mountain, slowly creeping through the ancient sưa trees, then in the quiet and somewhat deserted place covered with clusters of long roots of si, da, and de, the whole group of children held hands and tiptoed, respectfully admiring the ancient temple worshiping Huyen Thien Hac De, who is said to have helped King Ly Thai To fight foreign invaders, and then Then people asked each other why Nung mountain also has names like Khan mountain, Xuan mountain, Su mountain, Sua mountain, Tiet mountain..., which until today, is still a lingering question that creates the mystery of this place.

I don't know if today's Hanoi children still like the half-white, half-red bridge across the clear blue Vi Danh Lake in Bach Thao, but for us in the past, this was a fairy tale bridge leading to a magical garden created by colorful and exotic flowers, emitting a fragrant scent, and flocks of snow-white doves friendly to the children. I fell in love with Hanoi like a first love that weaved into strands and hair in my soul and heart, always lingering and clinging to each mossy gray roof as if it had stood there for a thousand years, each corner of the old street filled with the atmosphere of the "Hang" market hundreds of years ago, each street vendor leisurely crossing the street as if it had never stopped for a year or a month... And every time I come to Hanoi from the South, it's like returning to the pure and sweet, innocent and splendid childhood memories, to remember and love.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/ha-noi-mua-tinh-yeu-10294606.html