Dominican Republic Review, Part 2

Now that you know all about where we went and where we stayed, you're probably wondering what it is we did the whole time.

We did a lot of people watching. We met a few other interesting people, who, of course, we didn't take any fotos of 'cause that would've been more interesting. Duh! Anyhow, there were tons of Europeans there, esp. Germans! So we met some people, chatted it up, I brushed up on my German, we both practiced our Spanish. We sampled rum w/ some Dutch folks and hung on a boat w/ a Canadian couple and drank w/ a bunch of Brits. Good times.

One day after breakfast Frank and I got SPF'd to the max, grabbed towels, sunglasses, mp3 players, and books then headed over to the shady beach. We laid there listening to the ocean, people watching, reading and just relaxing. Ahhhh. I was in heaven. Of course, after about an hour or so of this Frank got bored, so he wandered around, got us fun, fruity drinks and found bizarre people to stare at. Too many frozen, fruity drinks that are full of rum can make a girl pretty silly. I danced around w/ my sarong a bit, F called me a lush, I denied such claims pitifully. We took silly picture, I braided F's beard, he groped my boobies, we giggled a lot. Only one of those fotos will be included at this time, but it should give you an idea of the silliness that ensued. :-)
Yes, that is my sarong wrapped nun style around my head.

Anyhow, later on in the day we met up w/ an English speaking guide and his van driving friend for a tour of Puerto Plata. We wanted to actually go into town and check it out. First of all, the division btwn poor and rich is astounding and there's very little middle class. It's like 65% poor, 15% middle and 20% wealthy. It's very sad to me to see such division. We think the division of wealth is bad in the States, but this is so much worse. Am I the only one who sees this and wishes that those who are better off would help those who need it? *sigh* I'm sure I'm not and that's a whole blog unto it's own.

So, our driver and guide took us first up to a hill in the city w/ a view of the area. I figure, if you've gotta be dirt poor, at least you get to be dirt poor with an incredible view.


After checking out the city and seeing a bunch of homes, especially the nice big wealthy ones, we went to the rum factory! Yay! DR produces the 3rd most popular rum in the world, Brugal. It was nice 'cause the only ppl. on the tour were us and 1 other couple from Holland.



It was really cool to watch the production. Starting w/ empty bottles and rum. It's amazing how fast it gets done & how much they get bottles per day!

Oh, and holy crap is it loud in there! We had to yell to hear one another.

After scoping it all out, we went outside where we got to taste all 4 different types of rum. Whew! STRONG as hell!

Thankfully, there were also delicious frozen lime daiquiris for us to sample as we perused the gift shop. We got 3 bottles of rum for 8 bucks each! Awesome! Here we are in front of the booze w/ our 4th or 5th refill of lime daiquiri sample!
On our tour of Puerto Plata we stopped at a shop where they were hand rolling these awesome smelling vanilla cigars. Of course Frank bought some. Next door I bought a pair of earring that are made w/ this blue lapis lazuli like stone that's only found in the Caribbean.

We also checked out the newly rebuilt downtown Colonial Cathedral. Simple, yet elegant.
The stained glass was lovely and all the pews and everything inside were made out of mahagony. Outside the church there are men waiting for tourists to come along, so they can walk them through, giving them some information in return for a tip.

There are merchants everywhere & everyone expects a tip. I understand that they need to make money, but it does get a bit frustrating.

We wandered downtown a bit, checking out some souvenir shops, haggling w/ funny merchants. Before heading back to the resort we drove down Puerto Plata's longest paved road, Ocean Blvd. and stopped at an old DR fort. The fort was a boring stone and brick building, but the location was stunning!




All in all, a great day. Relaxing, fun, gorgeous and socially interesting as well.









To end Part 2 of this review, I leave you with a DR stle Surgeon General's Warning. These folks aren't screwing around about their warnings. They come in both English and Spanish!