Days 221 ½ - 223 (6/08 – 6/10)

Friday – The Dominican Republic occupies 2/3 of the island of Hispanola – Haiti being the remaining 1/3 – separated by a tall range of mountains. Santo Domingo is the largest city and  with a population of 3 million, it is approximately the same size as Port-au-Prince. Santo Domingo’s main claim to fame is that it is where Columbus purportedly first set foot in the new world. The Dominicans are very proud of this and lay claim to many “first in the Americas” accomplishments.

My flight landed at La Isabela International Airport and I was impressed at how clean and modern it was. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this was the commuter airport and Las Americas International Airport where all the major airlines landed was even bigger and better. I purchased my $10 tourist card, went through Immigration and Customs and took a $35 cab ride to my hotel. The ride into the city was very nice on well-maintained, divided, 4 lane boulevards. The drivers seemed to be following normal rules of the road and there was no horn honking. There were modern high rise buildings, brand name stores, luxury car dealerships – even an Ikea. I kept thinking – “I can’t possibly be on the same island”. I suffered more culture shock than I do when returning to the U.S. It was just the thought that just across those mountains was so much poverty, incompetence and devastation.

I had picked out my hotel on the internet – making the selection based on price and location. I chose the Hotel Palacio because it was located in the Colonial Zone, the old part of the city, and it was only $94, including a full breakfast and free wifi internet. It sounded nice. However, when you buy something sight unseen, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. So – when we pulled up to a very unassuming building on a side street, I held my breath. But when I entered the lobby, I knew I had made the right choice. It was perfect. It was very clean and exuded “old world” charm. The staff was very pleasant and checked me in right away. When I opened the door to my room, I had to step back to make sure I had the right room number. It was a huge suite – about 1000 square feet with 15 foot ceilings. The front room had a sectional couch and table at one end, a round table and chairs in the middle and a desk with a computer and a mini bar at the other end. The bedroom had a king sized bed, a large armoire and a built-in chest of drawers/entertainment center with a digital safe and a flat screen TV. The bathroom was actually 2 rooms separated by the entertainment center. One room had a toilet and sink. The other had a shower, vanity with sink and a huge whirlpool tub. Did I mention fluffy, white terry cloth robes, HOT WATER and AIR CONDITIONING? Every once in a while you win one and this was my once.

The hotel was located a half of block off of the Calle El Conde a 10 block long pedestrian mall filled on both sides by shops, outdoor restaurants and vendors of all sorts. At one end of the mall was a beautiful plaza with the Cathedral de Santa Maria – the first cathedral built in the Americas. The cornerstone was laid in 1522. Columbus’s daughter-in-law petitioned the Spanish monarchy and had his bones returned to Santo Domingo and they laid in rest in the cathedral until 1992, the 500^th anniversary of his arrival, when they were moved to the Light House.

Saturday – Sunday – I spent the next two days playing tourist. I walked up and down the mall and window shopped and actually bought a couple of things. I went through the cathedral with a guide that the Ministry of Tourism provides at all the historical sites. I think he must have been a history teacher during the week because he kept giving me tests – “Now how many times did I tell you that the Pope has visited?” “Uh, Three?” “That’s right. When was the first time?” “Uh, I don’t remember.” “Well you need to pay attention.” I gave him a good tip.

Mostly I walked. I love exploring and seeing interesting architecture and historical sites. One of the interesting things I saw was the Light House that now houses Columbus’s bones. It is a huge monument that was built for the 500^th anniversary . The shrine itself is located in a large high ceilinged room with entrances on 3 sides. Behind the shrine is an enclosed mall about 1000 feet long with rooms along both sides. On one side the rooms hold displays from most of the countries in the Americas. On the other side the rooms have displays from other countries around the world. I figured I walked about 10 miles that day, but being curious, I plotted my route out on Google maps and it came to a little over 14. No wonder I was a little sore that night.

 I also got taken for a ride by the gypsy taxi drivers. At the end of the day I was still a ways from the hotel, so I thought I’d grab a taxi. Now the gypsy cabs look like they’ve been in a demolition derby and lost. But they are everywhere and easy to flag down. I told the driver I wanted to go to the Hotel Palacio and he said yes and it would be 100 pesos – about $2.50. He drove for about 10 minutes and got into heavy downtown traffic. He finally pulled to the curb and told me to get out – he couldn’t go any further. I said “I paid you to take me to the Hotel”. He said “The hotel is just over there. The traffic is too heavy.” Keep in mind that this conversation is in high school Spanish and pigeon English. So – I got out. However, I had no idea where I was and after wandering around for a little while finally asked a policeman parked at the curb if he knew how to get to the Hotel Palacio. After some communication confusion I finally realized that he thought I was looking for the police station “policia”. I then said the Hard Rock Café which was just down the street from the hotel. He knew immediately where that was and told me to take a taxi. So – what the heck. I’ll give it another try. I told the driver I wanted to go to the Hard Rock Café. “Si, Si – 100 pesos”. So off we went picking up several other passengers along the way. Pretty soon I sensed we were going in the wrong direction. I asked again “Hard Rock Cafe?” “Si, Si”. I figured he was just dropping off the other passengers and would then turn around and take me to the Hard Rock. Wrong! After driving for about a half an hour, picking up and dropping off other passengers, he did turn around. But he then pulled over to the side of the road and told me to get out – that this as far as he went. I said that I paid him to take me to the hotel and this wasn’t it. I refused to get out of the taxi and we got into a shouting match. Pretty soon a crowd had gathered and I figured I’d better get out. When I got out another guy came up to me, who spoke a little English, and asked me where I wanted to go. I told him – the Hard Rock Café. He said he would take me there for 500 pesos. I said it only cost a hundred to get here. He said “Senior, it’s a long way”. So, all in all, it cost me 700 pesos and about an hour and a half to go about 10 blocks.