La Romana, May 28 - June 4, 2005

My sister Jen, friend Katherine and I had a great time in La Romana, Dominican Republic last month. It was a last minute trip and the first trip I’ve taken without Luigi. Come to think of it I don’t think we’ve been a part for more than a few days in 7 years!






We had a wonderful relaxing week but man was it HOT! The Santana Beach Resort was beautiful and the rooms (jr. suites) were spread out over lush grounds in 2 storey yellow buildings. Our room was on the ground floor and faced the pool (probably the nicest Caribbean pool I’ve seen). Most days were spent just going from the room to the pool to the swim up bar to the buffet! The resort had great internet access (thank god cause Jen couldn’t have made it a week without e-mail!) and a little “Dominican Village” with gift shops, a spa, disco and the most beautiful little chapel.

We did venture off the resort mid way through the week for a tour to Santo Domingo, the capital city and apparently the oldest city in the “Western World”. Before we got to the city we had a chance to do some spelunking in some very cool old caves and go to an Amber museum.

Santo Domingo is a city about the size of Toronto but with a lot more history. Christopher Columbus is a immortalized in statues, buildings and even a lighthouse. The very first “paved” (more like cobblestone) road in the new world runs for a few miles alongside the palace – where the Spanish virgins, who were brought to the island by Columbus’ wife, paraded while looking for husbands.

It was a very interesting day, thanks mostly to our cutie tour guide Harold. It was however, the hottest day I have ever experienced. When people say “hot as hell”, I’m sure they must be talking about Santo Domingo in June!

Lasting impressions from the Dominican Republic:
• “Cheapy cheapy” – everywhere you go people wanted to sell you something.
• “One, two, three, uno, dos, tres” – EVERY day at 5 o’clock, meringue lessons by the pool.
• The meowing cat who begged outside the buffet and who Katherine felt compelled to feed every night!
• Bahama Mamas
• People puking on buses (not us….)
• Breakfast Lunch & Dinner the pet chickens
• Bugs in Amber!

Blog Initiation

Welcome to my initial blog! I've been wanting to create my own little spot on the world wide web for a while and this looked like as good a place as any. I'm hoping to use this to keep in touch with friends and family and to store photographs and anything else I feel might be of interest - once I figure out how to do all of that of course. Check back soon!