April 30, 2012
I had a great weekend in Saigon, hanging out with my friend, Sue. We hooked up on Saturday afternoon, when I found out her plane from Hong Kong had been significantly delayed, getting in at 5:30am. We then proceeded to run around town picking up stuff for a party she was hosting on Sunday night with 50 Rotary Club (RC) members from the US plus friends of hers living here in Saigon. One stop we made was at a store called Metro, which is similar to Costco in the US. It’s interesting to do things like a “local” and to find out that sometimes life isn’t much different in other parts of the world. We then met up with the RC members for cocktails at their hotel. I never really knew what the RC was, and was interested to learn that they are a charitable organization, providing assistance throughout the world for projects such as clean water, education, infrastructure development, etc., a group of people extremely dedicated to “giving back”. As a member of the RC in the US, Sue has been able to help them deploy their charitable dollars here in Vietnam and in Myanmar. Great to learn of all of their good works. Sue and I ended the day with a dinner of Pho and spring rolls.
On Sunday, I went to Bernie’s Bar & Grill for an American breakfast. I had some free time, so walked around some more, checking out the old post office building which was designed by the famous French architect, Gustave Eiffel, in the early 20th century when Vietnam was a part of French Indochina.
One of the main features of the building is its phenomenal vaulted ceiling…
Across from the post office is the Notre-Dame Basilica, also built by the French and completed in 1880…
and a popular spot for wedding photos…
I then proceeded to the Reunification Palace, which was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war.
It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30 (today is the anniversary), 1975, when North Vietnamese Army tanks such as this one crashed through its gates…
As Americans, we of course remember the vision of helicopters evacuating from the rooftop of this building, marking the end of our involvement in that war …
Then it was time to get ready for the RC party, which was held at a beautiful home of one of Sue’s friends. It poured down rain, but we still had a great time eating Sue’s phenomenal paella. Then it was time to return to my pied-a-terre in the city to catch some zzzz’s…
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Location:Lê Thánh Tôn,1,Vietnam
