Santiago Jan28 to Feb2

Gonna do this in multi-posts, tell me to stop if anyone gets sick of it. Peso was 34.4 to $1 for length of stay.
Arrived at Hillbilly's apartment about 2pm Sat. Good sized apartment, tile throughout. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom w/shower, small kitchen with stove (don't know how to use) fridge ( fill Immediately with Presidente) and living room. Clean. Room for 4. If anyone was waiting for a recomendation on the place here it is. Take advantage of the breakfast option in Luis' home downstairs, not only is it GOOD- the half hour spent talking to him every day is priceless. For the money a great value.
Took a Looong (4hr) walk around the area of Los Jardines. Within 20min walking there is the Gran Almirante hotel & Casino, Nacional Supermarcado, both Carib and Metro bus, Gyms and at least 20 colmado's and restaurants. Even a high end Internet cafe/cigar club.
Ended up having dinner at Isael rest. on Texas Ave. Chicken w/ rice, beans and 2 Grandes for 355pesos inc 10% tip which I added to. On a corner with thatched roof, good ambiance- Barbacue pit to be added by Feb 15.
On the argument between Brahma and Presidente: My first Grande was a Brahma- Not bad but left a little bitter aftertaste by the time finished. I'll stick with Presidente. More tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Sun. Jan29

For Sun. morn. breakfast at the "hovel" HB and I were joined by true royalty- Sir Grahame Bush and Greg Wales. Greg has a condo in Perla Marina and through various means was coaxed into re- taking up the game. Pancakes w/bacon O.J and a strong cup of coffee fueled us up for today's round.
Gotta tell you, every year Los Aromas just keeps getting better. New tee boxes on #1 and #10 make 2 good holes nicer and more scary. Also lenghtened the par 3 12th, nice. Shot 85 for my first round of the trip, followed by HB's nice 94. Grahame struggled a bit. Greg, for not playing in several years also had a tuff time but shows potential with a smooth swing.
A late lunch was cooked by our host consisting of stir-fry chicken, Presidente and a new favorite, con-con. have heard about it, but never tried before. I guess you scrape rice off the bottom of the pan and tear into pieces, pour a little of whatever sauce left from the entree` and eat.good stuff.

Mon Jan30 Loooong day

HB gave me a ride to Carib bus, good thing. If I had known it was THAT close would've walked. Got there at 8 for the 8:15 bus guess what- it left EARLY!! No problem, Luis did his best Jeff Gordon imitation and got me cross town to the other station in plenty of time for 8:45. Cost for the 1hr ride to POP was $80p, under $3US not bad. Bus was clean and comfortable, best way to travel.
Upon exiting in POP was greeted by a taxi driver who wanted $400p one- way to Playa Dorado. In my improving spainish we negotiated a $250 fair. One thing about I've learned- when your bargaining for fairs, use as much spainish as possible and explaine to them how often you've been visiting their paradise. They appreciate it, and a fair price will be delivered.
Once inside the complex went to the Verizon office for cambio, has the best rates and phone calls to the US are cheap. 5 min call to the wife $50p. Money in hand, took a walk to Hotel Playa Dorado across from #10 green to meet up with my sister Diana and bro-in-law Bob for an 18 hole walk. Not going to repeat myself, read other thread about the course.
OK- moving on. Was going to stay in town but D & B wouldn't hear of it so they checked me in. $40US for the night. Had some food and a shower, time to get out of there! Negotiated ( harder to do here) a $6US fair to the bar across from Brugal where my friend Alfreddo met up. decided to head into town for a few hrs.
MOTO_CONCHO! Only way to fly....$30p ride to Sam's Bar near parque centro. Met Joanne and a few of her friends, nice lady. i am now an official "Sam's Club" member. After a few took MOTO CONCHO to Mountain View bar and ??? Pretty cool with ultra-nice waitresses. If I were single this would be an interesting place to hang out.$30p from Joanne's.
Last stop- El Balcon. Dominican bar near Los Sufrido barrio. Great stop to hang out and one of my favorites. No tourists, mostly Dominicans going in after work to have a few.40p from Mountain View. 10:00- time to get back to Playa Dorado. Little bit "boracho" so better take a cab. $10US later i stumble into bed. Night night. Sssnoooooooor.

Tues morn took moto to Metro for the ride back to STI. Minor problem- Metro skips 10am departure and at 9:15 don't feel like hangin' around for 2hrs. Grab another moto for the approx. 1mi ride to Carib and am glad to report they do offer a 10am depart.
back in STI take a taxi to Los Aromas (150p). Onlt 2 of us playing today so we give it a go from the "blues". Course doesn't play much harder back there and shoot my weeks best 81, only to get butt kicked by Alfreddo's never-in-trouble 77.
After returning to Luis' apartment don't feel like going out again after 2 days of travelling/boozing and walking several miles so i opt for the sandwich shop across the street. Excellent turkey hoagie and a beer for 200p. Now dog tired, regress to the couch with a book and am out by 7:30. Oh yeah, taxi from course to Hillbilly's 200p.

Weds- last day for play. Got taxi ($50USRT) and headed up to Jarabacoa, outstanding. i can really appreciate the diverse beauty of the island some of you are lucky to live on. 1 1/2hr from beach to green verdant mountains filled with pine trees. 80 degrees with cool breezes gently blowing through the thick foliage. Yeah, corny crap but someday........
Stopped at a roadside stand going up-up-up (if you've been you know) for some pan de pollo, fried tubes of bread filled with shredded chicken, nice snack @10p ea.
Club de golf- interesting mountain layout that weaves it way through the pines, very similar to the courses here in PA but with no snow. Head pro is Tazo, sells Fresa's (strawberries) and coffee at the pro shop. Bought 4 bags coffee and 3 boxes of fresa's for about $18US, pretty fair deal to me. Fresa's were EXCELLANT as my box didn't last the night, the coffee has been garnering accolades at my store every day. The organic type is especially strong, first time made could've sold it as paint remover. Subsequent batches have been toned down with improved results. had a really fun time up there and will make this place a must stop on return visits. Fedogolf- $500p for 18, non members $750 walking. Carts if needed $300p.

Time to button it up

Last day. don't feel like getting tied up at the course so I opt for an early morn. workout. Olympic gym- about 12min walk from the apartment. Older equip. but it works. Lots of free weights and machines, good views to boot.$100p por un dia.
Some observations:
AZB is right- MANY beautiful women in this town! Several light skinned beauties with model looks, could pass for American..
Santiago has a totally different feel than POP, Sosua and Caberete. More industrialized and everyone on the street seems to have somewhere to go. Didn't notice many folks just "hangin' around" ( except of course the street vendors on 27febrero). This does not mean their unfriendly: stopped more than a few people to ask directions or get info and was spoken to politely, am very impressed with this city.
They know a LOT of English. At 2 restaurants, once my nationality was given (they asked) ended up with dinner companions who spoke as much English as they could and asked how to say some of the words they didn't know. 3 times during my visit when I need a sentence repeated i used the word perdon? instead of the usual eh? and was immediately spoken to in english, all times quite fluently. If "eh?' was used the conversation was continued in Spainish, pretty cool. I also put in a good 15hrs of walk time in and was not once approached for money, try that in the other towns mentioned. Not a slap in the face to the other cities as I'm totally comfortable meandering around POP, this city is just different.
So that's it. As I had a lot of free time on the trip, decided to keep a journal and "expense report". Airfare, apartment, 4 rounds of golf at 3 courses, food, booze and transport- $840US. this could have been a little lower if there was someone to split the $70US in cab fares from airport and the day in Jarabacoa. Why go to Myrtle Beach? 85 every day and no sweatshirt needed at night! Comments or questions welcome............