Caffe Italia for Prosecco and a museum about Vespa scooters' invention

Vietnam's capital Hanoi can supply plenty of red wine but sparkling is rare, like it used to be in London England, ten years ago. Now every pub and restaurant in Britain seems to have Prosecco, Champagne or some sort of cheaper sparkling white wine. But where can you get Prosecco in Hanoi? Look for somewhere Italian. At Caffe Italia.

We found this place next to the ticket booth for the blue hop on hop off bus behind the bus stop. The bus leaves roughly every half hour and we had time to kill. Right alongside we spotted the telltale umbrellas which signal outdoor eating.

 Inside the building was a delightful surprise. The whole restaurant is a museum to Vespa, the Italian pioneering scooter, which changed the world of motorcycles into scooters. You can read the story on the walls of the restaurant and admire photos if film stars such as Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

After our four hour bus tour (with stops at two museums) we went into Caffe Italia for pizza and prosecco. The word Vespa is Italian for wasp, and was used to epitomise the wasp waist shape of the scooter.

We flew (at our own expense) on VietJetair, a budget airline, about which more later.
More details on the Sunline Paon, Japanese run hotel, later.

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Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.