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.