Island Hopping - the Dominican Republic

  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The 1 hour flight from Curacao was over almost as soon as it began. So when we landed at the airport at 9:30am it was still only time for breakfast! Swarmed by taxi drivers touting to take you somewhere as always, we refused to be rushed until we had eaten. One nice, healthy Mexican wrap of all things, and we were relieved to note that even though we were at the airport, the prices here were much cheaper than Curacao. Eventually we allowed ourselves to be hunted by a cheerful taxi driver and we arrived at a hostel we had looked up on the internet. Bryan helped unload the bags and paid the taxi driver whilst Jody went in to see if they had a room free and how much we could barter it for.The very friendly chap asked us to wait a bit as the room was still being cleaned. He told us it was $40 a night excluding breakfast and then before we could say anything at all, our bags were brought up the stairs and moved into it. We are sure they would have unpacked our bags for us too if we had let them - and we still hadn't confirmed we wanted to stay! We were a bit shocked at the speed they had moved us in for sure and the friendliness with which they did it seemed like a good omen of things to come on this island. So we took a seat in the lobby area and took stock a bit and tried to work out if we had seen it on-line as we were sure it was much cheaper than that. In the meantime the owner – Julian came over to have a chat – originally from Cuba but New York grown, his English was of course great and we sat chatting to him for quite a bit. At the end of our chat, he announced the room was ours for $25 a night including breakfast if we wanted in. So deal done we moved in. It was a very sweet room, ceiling fan (we are so getting one of those for our bedroom when we get back), our own bathroom and wooden doors opening onto a Juliette balcony. Perfect! First a snooze to check out the bed and a cup of tea when we woke up – Julian even sent out for some milk for us. We like it here! A wander around the city later revealed many quaint streets and shops, everyone was very friendly and it was full of charm and character. We loved it.The town was also full of touts trying to sell us walking tours but we managed to politely dodge out of it and explore the city on our own. The central area is a "Zona Colonial" and is a UNESCO world heritage site - full of old buildings, churches and eateries. It was founded by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496, on the east bank of the Ozama River and then moved by Nicolás de Ovando in 1502 to the west bank of the river, the city is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, and was the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in the New World. No wonder it was given it's World Heritage status. Our first stop though was the Chocolate Museum where they had a little cafe and we could get a bit of peace and quiet. Tout dodging is quite tiring! Beyond that it was just a case of wandering around and browsing the street stalls for souvenirs and touristy stuff. They didn't really seem to have a 'thing' that was consistent everywhere, more a mish mash of things they sold. They did have lots of lovely paintings but here too we found many of them were not really to our taste so we didn't feel the urge to buy anything.Oh the one this they did have now we think about it - and which Jody hated, was these box-framed Tarantulas which for some reason they seemed to sell a lot of. Jody could barely walk down the street without jumping when she saw one but at the same time it was good to know they were dead and not roaming around - we'd have been on the first boat out of there if they had been running around! In fact we just got pleasure from wantering around the streets which had some lovely buildings in it. As we had driven into the city in the taxi from the airport, we had seen a beautiful ship in the docks so we also took a walk to see that as it was just a couple of streets away from where we were staying. Down here also was evidence of the old city with its ruined fort walls providing a atmospheric backdrop for the ship. The second day we were in this beautiful city, we took a walk over to the 'Lighthouse'. Not a traditional lighthouse but a slightly inland version of one which was built some as a tribute to Christopher Columbus.Apparently, its construction began in 1986 using plans drawn by a Scottish architect 55 years previously in 1931. It was actually finished just in time for the 500th anniversary of the Discovery of America, in 1992. It was funded by the Latin American states and inside it, are many different chambers, all with a mini museum stocked by each of the countries that helped fund it. Each chamber has a mini display from different countries and we even found the British section with a letter from The Queen Mother proudly displayed. It also claims to house the remains of Christopher Columbus but it seems as if these claims cannot be verified so we can't say if they are or not. At night in true lighthouse-style, they have beams of light projecting out of the top which form a cross and which are so powerful they can be seen from neighboring Puerto Rico. Although without going to Puerto Rico we can't say if that is also true or not. Nice story though and a nice idea for the monument even if it is one of the ugliest buildings we have ever seen (not as ugly as the cathedral in Rio though!) Anyway we had a bit of a walk around in the stifling heat (not even a shop here to buy any water) and decided to head back the way we had came.We were accosted near the exit of the park in which it stood, by two tourist policemen. No - we cannot walk that way they were saying. Peligroso (dangerous). Well we had walked that way earlier and hadn't felt the need to be extra cautious at all but as they were only trying to do their job, we waited as they asked us to (our Spanish coming in handy here again) and after about 10 minutes of waiting with them, a motorbike with two policemen on it turned up. This was to be our personal escort back the way we had come through a tree-lined walk. We truly did not feel the danger they were so concerned about as we mainly only met mothers with prams and small children, or men in suits that looked like they were walking that way to work. Certainly no dodgy looking characters but then again, maybe they do get some of those types here occasionally so we were pleased they were looking out for us. We did find it funny though. There isn't much else to say about Santo Domingo. We liked it a lot and the people here were really sweet and kind. But the reason we had flown to the Dominican Republic was to find those wonderful beaches to chill out on and the longer we stayed in the city, the less time we would have to chill out. So time to move on again but we shall take good memories of Santo Domingo with us and thoroughly recommend you check it out if ever you are in the Dominican Republic.