DR: Day 2 (Part 1) ~ Around the City & Centro Leon

Just some things I found interesting around the Dominican Republic...

Traffic is crazy! I would actually love to drive in the Dominican Republic because people are all over the place pretty much doing whatever they want. Traffic laws aren't enforced so it's kinda every man for them self. One big difference is with their round abouts - here people coming into the circle yield before entering. In the DR people coming into the circle have the right away and people already driving around the circle must yield to them. Different right?

I loved all the shops and the buildings in all the places we visited, they were all very unique in design.

The entrance of a tire shop in San Cristobal.

I am a fan of all the lush vegetation they have as well as the fact that they build houses on steep inclines.

When shopping, the meat is always fresh. You can either choose a live animal to be killed and skinned while you wait...

Or if you are in a hurry, you can select one that has already been slaughtered to take home.

See that goat the worker is hanging on to and pointing out? Sad story. We watched him bop it on the head with a large pipe, it fell to the ground kicking and shaking its head and then the worker slit its throat and placed it over a basin for the blood to drain! :( Awful. We had to witness this happen twice! Almost makes you want to be a vegetarian right?

So we left this morning to drive from San Cristobal to Puerto Plata for some extreme adventuring. On the way we stopped at a Jacaranda in Bonao to get some lunch. This is what Mike and I purchased (it looks like we got a little carb happy). We got a meat pocket, mashed potatoes with cheese, a slice of a yam and something else I can't remember... But it was all very yummy! 

When we passed through Santiago we stopped at the Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes (the Eduardo  León Jimenes Cultural Center). It was awesome! The Leon family owns banks in the Dominican Republic and is a very wealthy family. This cultural center has art work and anthropology from Dominican History. I was sad that we weren't allowed to take pictures inside because it was awesome! We saw actual coins from the time that the Spaniards (Christopher Columbus) came to the Dominican Republic and began settling the country. They had old pipes that people used to use to smoke out of, dominoes, buttons, all sorts of old things that were so awesome to look at. I had no idea that they had Dominoes back in those days. I can't remember the majority of the stuff they had now, I wish I could, all I know is I loved it!

Mike, Jen, Randy, Jen, and Stalin.

Mike visiting the garden and art portion.

Building that focuses solely on the Leon family history as opposed to the other building which focuses on the history of the Dominican Republic.

In the gardens near the aviary.

 

DR: Day 1 ~ Settling In, Country, and Beach

We arrived in the Dominican Republic shortly after noon. It was beautiful from the plane. So much different than many of the states I am used to visiting in the United States; it was so lush and so green! I couldn't wait to go explore this country!

Stalin's beautiful family was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. It was so nice to see their smiling faces and be greeted with the ever formal hug and kiss on the cheek (I just love that tradition).

We rode to their home where we would be staying for a portion of the next week :)

We ate some yummy Dominican food that his mom had prepared for us (sorry no pics because we were just getting acquainted) and then we grabbed our beach gear, but first headed to their house in the country to see a different side of city.

It was really fun. Their land seems to stretch on forever. They have all kinds of fruit trees too. Cashew trees, Mango trees (I think if I understood the Spanish right there were 2 different types of Mango trees), Avacado trees, PineApple plants and probably others I am forgetting. Wow. The fresh fruit was delicious! I think that may be what I miss the most. They have these Dominican Cherries - they taste a lot like strawberries - Stalin's mom would make fresh juice for us each day and I'm pretty certain it was one of the highlights of my trip. Crazy thing too - they don't have juice machines like we have hear in America. They juice the berries with the hands - it's pretty intense and neat to witness.

Cashew Tree

Cashew Fruit (the nut comes from the top portion (in the shell))

Mango Tree

Enjoying a fresh Mango

Avacado Tree

We finally hit the beach. It was pretty close to the sunset, but that made it all the more fun. The water was still pretty warm which was surprising but great. I think we would have swam even if it was freezing just because we were so excited to be there.

 We stayed until dark and then we got out and ordered some food. We got coconut water and fish & chips (plantanes). It was a great way to celebrate our first night in the Dominican Republic.

Cracking the coconut open to eat the fresh stuff!

the Bellagio Fountains

Saturday morning we started and ended our day at the Bellagio fountains. The first show isn't until noon so we had a little bit of time to spare. We went inside the Bellagio and window shopped while checking out the hotel and casino. Inside was beautiful! We really enjoyed all the décor that they had set up for the summer season.

Mike, Sherry, and Whitney inside the Bellagio

I love this photo Mike took of the ceiling. I think it looks like it has some sort of special effect but he didn't do anything to it!

 We walked back out to see the famous Bellagio fountains!

the Bellagio Hotel and Casino

Mike & Me

Pardon my head in the next couple photos. Mike was snapping photos and I guess I got in the way:(But I liked the way the fountains looked in them.)

It was a good show. It's always fun to stop by and watch them when your in Las Vegas. Afterwards we headed out to walk more of the strip but made sure to come back before we ended the night so that we could see them at night.