Thought I would share some snippets from my recent DR trip with fellow DR1 readers, so here goes:
- Arrival and processing through Las Americas has become more streamlined. It used to take 20 minutes or more for me to get out of that airport. Now, the airport has added more staff to check ID's, etc. I was literally out of that airport in 5 minutes.
- Quite a bit of asphalt paving on Las Americas highway into Santo Domingo. Looks like there are still 1-2 years from widening to three lanes. One noticeable improvement to speed traffic flow: Concrete barriers have been placed separating the incoming and outgoing lanes. This used to cause bottlenecks by people trying to make U-Turns which they can no longer do in many places. One caution, do not get to close to the concrete barriers. There is a foot or more gap that drops off sharply and would cause serious damage to a car.
- Came into Santo Domingo, crossing the north Duarte bridge (Avenida Las Americas). It was incredibly congested coming into the city. First time a taxi driver has taken that route. Held my breath and swear that we took a couple coats of paint off other vehicles.
- Santo Domingo: I never saw so many political candidate posters in my life. They even had posters for Diputadas and Senadors hanging from traffic light wires that crossed the streets. Very distracting.
- Got to see Santo Domingo mayoral candidate, Peggy Cabral attend a political rally at the Dominican Fiesta. You would have thought the president showed up. A squadron of police officers ushered her into the hotel.
- Visited Plaza Central. For those of you who may forget to bring Bermuda shorts like me, they have a Tommy Hilfiger store, plus a very nice Oscar De La Renta store, Benetton's, and Gant store. These higher-end stores are helping to improve the image of the mall.
- Played a little craps at the Jaragua. The casino needs to change it's carpet badly. In fact, it's carpet was worn out two years ago. Although, the Hispaniola is a smaller casino, it has a much nicer appearance.
- Jockey Underwear rented a salon at the Jaragua to show their women's and men's line of underwear. Jockey Mgt. provided wine and trays of food during the exihibit. Nice group of people.
- I was approached on more than occasion by the same person at different hotels, trying to lure me into taking a ride to massage salons. Made me feel eerie that I was spotted by the same buscando in two different hotels, 8 miles apart. Felt like I was being stalked.
- Learned to play dominos by some crack Dominican players. They take Dominos seriously! Had to let my opponents win after I learned the game to save my life.
- Attended a Dominican birthday party in Andres, with little girls dressed in beautiful dresses, a guitar shaped cake, home-cooked food, lots of cold Presidente, and loud merengue music. I was treated with a ton of kindness by my Dominican acquaintenances.
- Stayed a couple nights at the Costalunga Hotel in Boca Chica. This is a well ran hotel with a nice restaurant, Da Hermes, that serves great pizza.
- Neptuno's Refugio is a quaint little hotel too. Across the street from Neptuno's restaurant and down about 25 yards. Rita Reyes (ex-owner of Neptuno's rest. and ex-Volleyball champion) is owner. Rita is a non-stop worker. Very nice, large rooms for forty bucks a night. Stayed two nights due to being right across the ocean.
- Met two British chaps, one a marine ecologist and the other an architectural engineer. Both are working for the U.K. company that will build the large commercial container ship port off the tip of Andres. They mentioned that the port will be able to accomodate cruise ships as well, if the government so desires.
- Most memorable dinner setting: Neptuno's Restaurant, adjacent to the Coral Hamaca. I can't begin to describe how beautiful it was at night with the blue turqoise waters illuminated by the Pelican and Neptuno lights. Also, eating on the piers with tropical fish and sharks swimming below made it quite exotic. Food was good. No more priced than any decent seafood restaurant in the States.
- Construction is still proceeding on the Valenzia hotel in Boca Chica. The arched designs of this hotel reminds you of an Italian villa. It's going to be a grand hotel when completed.
- Foreigners in Boca Chica are still sparse and it is apparent that tourism is still down. However, the town is doing a good job of keeping litter and trash off the streets. Boca Chica police are johnny-on-the-spot. A drunken man showed up in front of the Costalunga one night and the police arrived in seconds to take the man away.
- I was surprised at the number of SUV's (Explorers, Expedition's, Blazers) even in places like Boca Chica. Perhaps the DR is not a 3rd world country, but just maintains a very bad system of redistributing wealth. This has probably been good fodder on previous posts.
- All in all, a very relaxing vacation. Came back to work and could see how badly I was caught up in everyday job stress. The DR immerses you in a different culture and you forget about the world. Long live the DR!
- Arrival and processing through Las Americas has become more streamlined. It used to take 20 minutes or more for me to get out of that airport. Now, the airport has added more staff to check ID's, etc. I was literally out of that airport in 5 minutes.
- Quite a bit of asphalt paving on Las Americas highway into Santo Domingo. Looks like there are still 1-2 years from widening to three lanes. One noticeable improvement to speed traffic flow: Concrete barriers have been placed separating the incoming and outgoing lanes. This used to cause bottlenecks by people trying to make U-Turns which they can no longer do in many places. One caution, do not get to close to the concrete barriers. There is a foot or more gap that drops off sharply and would cause serious damage to a car.
- Came into Santo Domingo, crossing the north Duarte bridge (Avenida Las Americas). It was incredibly congested coming into the city. First time a taxi driver has taken that route. Held my breath and swear that we took a couple coats of paint off other vehicles.
- Santo Domingo: I never saw so many political candidate posters in my life. They even had posters for Diputadas and Senadors hanging from traffic light wires that crossed the streets. Very distracting.
- Got to see Santo Domingo mayoral candidate, Peggy Cabral attend a political rally at the Dominican Fiesta. You would have thought the president showed up. A squadron of police officers ushered her into the hotel.
- Visited Plaza Central. For those of you who may forget to bring Bermuda shorts like me, they have a Tommy Hilfiger store, plus a very nice Oscar De La Renta store, Benetton's, and Gant store. These higher-end stores are helping to improve the image of the mall.
- Played a little craps at the Jaragua. The casino needs to change it's carpet badly. In fact, it's carpet was worn out two years ago. Although, the Hispaniola is a smaller casino, it has a much nicer appearance.
- Jockey Underwear rented a salon at the Jaragua to show their women's and men's line of underwear. Jockey Mgt. provided wine and trays of food during the exihibit. Nice group of people.
- I was approached on more than occasion by the same person at different hotels, trying to lure me into taking a ride to massage salons. Made me feel eerie that I was spotted by the same buscando in two different hotels, 8 miles apart. Felt like I was being stalked.
- Learned to play dominos by some crack Dominican players. They take Dominos seriously! Had to let my opponents win after I learned the game to save my life.
- Attended a Dominican birthday party in Andres, with little girls dressed in beautiful dresses, a guitar shaped cake, home-cooked food, lots of cold Presidente, and loud merengue music. I was treated with a ton of kindness by my Dominican acquaintenances.
- Stayed a couple nights at the Costalunga Hotel in Boca Chica. This is a well ran hotel with a nice restaurant, Da Hermes, that serves great pizza.
- Neptuno's Refugio is a quaint little hotel too. Across the street from Neptuno's restaurant and down about 25 yards. Rita Reyes (ex-owner of Neptuno's rest. and ex-Volleyball champion) is owner. Rita is a non-stop worker. Very nice, large rooms for forty bucks a night. Stayed two nights due to being right across the ocean.
- Met two British chaps, one a marine ecologist and the other an architectural engineer. Both are working for the U.K. company that will build the large commercial container ship port off the tip of Andres. They mentioned that the port will be able to accomodate cruise ships as well, if the government so desires.
- Most memorable dinner setting: Neptuno's Restaurant, adjacent to the Coral Hamaca. I can't begin to describe how beautiful it was at night with the blue turqoise waters illuminated by the Pelican and Neptuno lights. Also, eating on the piers with tropical fish and sharks swimming below made it quite exotic. Food was good. No more priced than any decent seafood restaurant in the States.
- Construction is still proceeding on the Valenzia hotel in Boca Chica. The arched designs of this hotel reminds you of an Italian villa. It's going to be a grand hotel when completed.
- Foreigners in Boca Chica are still sparse and it is apparent that tourism is still down. However, the town is doing a good job of keeping litter and trash off the streets. Boca Chica police are johnny-on-the-spot. A drunken man showed up in front of the Costalunga one night and the police arrived in seconds to take the man away.
- I was surprised at the number of SUV's (Explorers, Expedition's, Blazers) even in places like Boca Chica. Perhaps the DR is not a 3rd world country, but just maintains a very bad system of redistributing wealth. This has probably been good fodder on previous posts.
- All in all, a very relaxing vacation. Came back to work and could see how badly I was caught up in everyday job stress. The DR immerses you in a different culture and you forget about the world. Long live the DR!
'Twas a fitting end to a pleasurable vacation.