Chapter 19 - Revisiting A Favorite Spot in the Dominican Republic - Santo Domingo

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Hi again, 

On December 1, we left Punta Cana and headed to the big-city and beach in Santo Domingo; the capital city of the Dominican Republic.  


We took an APTPRA bus to Santo Domingo.  It costed $9 per person to ride about 3.5 hours through the countryside.  Ticket purchasing was super easy with the assistance from our super helpful taxi driver.  We couldn't figure out why the bag porter was acting weird with our bags.  Lightbulb moment....we didn't pay for bags.  He sure had a big smile on his face when we grabbed our bags and gave him a nice tip to compensate for our mistake.  We also did not know we had assigned seats. We discovered this before the ride started.  The bus was pretty empty, but each stop more and more people got on and in the end the bus was full.  Second floor seats for us.  We were surprised that everyone on the bus plays their stuff out loud so there was music and videos playing and people talking on speaker phones.  

Super comfortable coach bus with great Wi-Fi.

It’s always interesting getting off a bus in a foreign country and not knowing where to go.  We got off the bus and it was full on sensory overload.  People and motorcycles everywhere and general chaos all around us.  Thanks to Google Maps and their great walking directions for getting us to our hotel that was about 1.5 miles away. 

Next, we were off to find an ATM to get some DR pesos.  Another interesting experience.  After we realized we had a checking account and used the right PIN we had some money in hand.  The transaction fee at Popular Bank was steep.  $12 to take out $200 US.  Scotiabank was $3 for $200 US, so we always look for Scotia now.  We remembered that from previous DR trips.

I loved all the different Christmas trees in Santo Domingo.

 




We saw a lot of Christmas trees.
They were so bright and colorful and much more decorated than ours in the U.S.

This is our second time in Santo Domingo.  This time we stayed in Zona Colonial, which is the historic district of Santo Domingo.  Lots of beautiful lights at night and people watching in the public square was great.

Lots of pigeons to contend with in Parque Colon.

Not very many restaurants on the ocean.  Santo Domingo does not take advantage of the ocean.  There is a ton of trash on the shoreline that they attempt to clean up, but it never ends.   

We think it’s trash on the street that washes into the ocean when it rains.
A never-ending job.

We enjoyed hanging out with the locals in the park at night.  The Pelican Park was within walking distance of our hotel, so we went there a few times.  One night we met people from the Netherlands, Spain, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.  It was funning chatting with them for awhile.

Everyone buys Presidente beer from the corner store. 
Small plastic cups come with the purchase.  

The Christmas tree in the Plaza de Espano o de la Hispanidad was huge.


We thought this birthday cake was hilarious! 

 A bottle of Heineken beer in the middle of the cake
with frosting coming out of the top to look like beer foam. 

My new favorite breakfast is avocado toast.  The hotel we stayed at offered a complimentary breakfast at a neighboring restaurant.  I never really knew what it was, but now I love it.  

Texas toast, avocado, plum tomatoes, and pickled onions….delicious!

We came across a sidewalk of orchids that were growing out of cut off palm trees.  The orchids were in all different colors.  I love orchids, so this was a great find for me.

This picture in Parque Colon has a lot going on.    

On the left side of the photo is a fancy quinceañera, which is the celebration
of a girl's 15th birthday.  The birthday girl was joined by an entourage of girls
and boys with matching pink shirts.  Professional photoshoot and all.  
One the right side of the photo is a simpler quinceañera.  The birthday girl actually changed into her dress in the square with her friends surrounding her.

Check out these women dancing in Parque Colon.


Miscellaneous random cute/funny/interesting/weird pics/videos below...

Typical wiring mess in the Dominican Republic.


Not unusual to see work trucks with no hoods.


Pretty Christmas lights.


I found these buses so funny with their fancy drapes.  Never had a chance to ride in one.


Carpooling Dominican style.


Well, that's all for this chapter!

Stay tuned for Chapter 20 - our travels to the North Coast, Dominican Republic.

Corp (Crabby) and Tammy (Chipper)





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