Dominican Republic

As I have mentioned before, we walk the beach every day.  One of the things I have noticed is the number and variety of boats that are moored close to the beach.  Many of these boats are obviously "party boats". One of these party boats is two stories high and is so big it can hold several hundred people.   There is a big boat that anchors by the dock that looks like a pirate ship.  We were told that when you go out on this boat the crew acts as if you are actually on a pirate ship and they put on a pretty good show.   All along the beach you can rent "skidoo" boats that look like they would be really fun because of the waves. You can also rent catamarans to go sailing.  There is always a great wind.  In fact, some days the wind is so strong that they won't let you take these out. But no matter how strong the wind, there always seems to be boats taking people parasailing.  One day we saw seven parasails up at the same time.   There

Every morning, except Sunday, I walk about eight blocks to the Gym.  What I see on this walk is pretty typical of the town where we are.  If you look up it is paradise with blue skies and palm trees.   There is a lot of construction going on everywhere building new condo.   When you look at the buildings that are completed, they are attractive and colorful.   There is even a garden along the way with sweet corn and ???? And that's where the problems begin--when you start to look down.  There is seemingly no concept here of littering.  People just throw anything and everything along the street.  There will never be a shortage of spare plastic and Styrofoam.      In fact, our neighbors on the third floor had to replace their bathtub last week.  The workers chiseled it out by hand and just threw the tub and other debris along side of the street.  I am sure it will be there for a very long time.    But, mixed in with all the tras

Gail and I walk the beach every morning and usually spend the afternoon in a beach chair.  If you buy a couple beers for $4 each you can use the chairs all day.   There are chairs everywhere but many of them are reserved for guests of the specific hotels.   I am not sure how long the beach is but I stood in approximately the middle and took a picture in each direction using the telephoto on the camera. As with every beach we have ever been to, there are vendors trying to sell you souvenirs. It is not too bad here however because there are souvenir shops set up along the beach front. When you get to this spot on the beach you want to make sure you walk fast and do not make eye contact with anyone.  At one spot someone has a bunch of conch shells set up to sell anyone interested. There are several places along the beach where you can see painted murals.   There are also several playground areas for the kids. There is always a lot of activity and a lot o

When you go into the Jumbo (WalMart-type) store, the first thing you see are all of the cash registers.  There are no self checking lanes but they have lots of check out girls (they are all girls) and guys (they are all guys) helping you bag your purchases.   There are grocery carts very much like we have.  The only problem is they stock all of the shelves during the day making it very crowded to try to get through the aisles. There are a few things you notice right away that are different.  For example, the eggs and milk are not refrigerated.  The eggs, by the way, cost $2.34 for a dozen of large. This is Gail trying to find some two percent milk--it cost $1.38 a quart. They have a really nice bakery section with lots of fresh bread and pastries.  The fresh produce section is naturally really good.   With lots of peppers.   There is a nice section where you can get fresh fish and meat and cheese, etc.   They also have a good meat sect

  Today Gail and I went to the grocery store called "Jumbo".  It is a little bit like WalMart in that it has more than just groceries.  It is much bigger than our little store on the corner. We took the public bus which cost one peso (about 47 cents) per person each way. These buses are nice but always very crowded, especially when you are loaded down with groceries on the way home.   We have learned to take our backpack to carry some of the heavier groceries. The Jumbo store is about a 30 minute bus ride (it makes a lot of stops to let people on and off) and is located in an outdoor mall. You can tell when you get there because it has this big sail fish in front of it.   The stores in the mall are American type stores with a lot of kiosks selling souvenirs out front on the sidewalk.  There is a Pizza Hut and a Burger King there too. I thought the handicapped parking was unique... When we first got there we went into the part of the store that is se

Last night we went to a restaurant that had sushi as their special.  We found out that on Friday nights their special is wine.  If you buy a bottle of wine they give you a second one for free.  I am not sure if they will give it to you in a "to go" bottle or not.  We will have to check that out.   However, we have found our wine for at home.  It is box wine.  I know, hard to believe.  This is a red wine from Spain.  Pretty up town.  It is about $4 a box and very easy to carry.  I can carry about four boxes in one grocery bag.       And I was afraid we weren't going to be able to find good wine down here.   Life is good!!!

Gail and I have about a ten minute walk from our condo to the grocery store.  This ten minute walk takes us by a variety of restaurants.  About a block and a half from our condo are two restaurants--an Italian and Argentina combination (not sure what that will be like) and Lebanese restaurant   We looked at the menu for the Lebanese restaurant and it looked interesting and a little expensive  ($20 for a steak). Next we pass a Russian Gift Shop.... We went in here and it looked like they were just opening and only had a portion of the shelves stocked.  They had lots of wooden carved figures and any kind of key chain you could imagine.   Next on our way was a Cuban Restaurant.  We haven't gone in here yet but in addition to this restaurant I have noticed a lot of Cuban cigar and rum stores. Next we come to a French pastry shop.  There was one of these in Costa Rica that had delicious pastries but, again, very expensive, so we will keep this only as a real tre