Dining Out

The view from Heaven

Previously under the “Food” entry I talked about several different restaurants and the food served.  Today I’ll focus on a couple recent dining experiences which are a little different; more about place than food. 

First, Marty and I went to Heaven.  Don’t get too excited, we have not grown wings or begun singing with the choir eternal.  Heaven, in this instance at least, is a restaurant in Kigali.  Besides a beautiful view from up high in the hills, wonderful food (they have filtered ICE – the first ice I’ve had since we arrived!), they also show movies on Saturday night.  As there are no theaters in Rwanda, you can imagine this is a big draw, particularly for ExPats.  The rule of thumb is the first show is geared towards kids, while the second is more adult (I mean R or so!).  The night we visited with Gwenn, Reid, and their three children they showed The Green Lantern (the animated version) followed by Barney’s Version. 

A couple Sundays back, we visited the Hotel des Milles Collines, located in the older section of Kigali.  This is the hotel referenced in the film Hotel Rwanda, where the manager, Paul Rusesabagina (a Hutu),managed to save over 1,000 people (mainly Tutsis) from the genocide. 

[As an aside, I’ve noticed several references to him recently in the news.  He is now living in the US and was one of several people protesting against the current government of Rwanda at a demonstration in Chicago.  Other mentions cast aspersions on his role at the Milles Collines.  Interesting isn’t it?  History is never clear cut, particularly when those involved are still alive.]

We came for the Sunday brunch buffet, which was fabulous, but also to see a historic place.  We ate outside by the pool/bar area and you can see below that it is a gorgeous spot, though I wish I would have shot more of the flowers. 

We ate, and then sat on the patio and listened to the DJ who played all my 80s favorites.  I was in music hog heaven, and even Marty enjoyed many of the songs. 

Before we left, we wandered through the hotel.  It does not have many public spaces, and only a small lobby.  As we passed the door marked “manager” it gave us pause.  Wow, that is where Paul Rusesabagina worked the fax machine (all the telephone lines to the hotel were cut) to keep in touch with the outside world.  Looking at it now, so lush and landscaped with people laughing, enjoying their selves, it was hard to think of what it was like during those three months in 1994. 

On a lighter note, we leave tomorrow for a trip to the Nyungwe Forest National Park.