Cabarete - Day 3 (recap) Road Trip!

I forgot to mention that on our previous trip to go say hi to Alex at F10, he mentioned to us that he would be going cross country to Santa Domingo to get furniture and appliances for his newly remodeled condo at the F10 kite club.  His wife Mary, child Maya, and him would all be moving in within a week or two.  Of course Becky and I jumped at a chance to see more of the Dominican Republic, so at 7:30am we were waiting outside of the Viva Tangerine to be picked up by Alex.

He arrived and after a quick stop by F10 to pick up Indy, a Estonian kiter staying at the kite club, we were off and on our way.

We took the scenic route which is over 3 mountains.  Here is the first picture that we took when we stopped to check out the view.  Amazing countryside to say the least!

click picture for large view

On thing that was particularly noticeable when driving through the country was how well taken care of the streets and countryside are.  I guess both Becky and I were expecting something much more similar to Mexico, where trash lines every street, but it was not like this at all.  While those living in the countryside were obviously extremely poor, they all seemed to take great pride, and thus great care, of the land, the side of the street, and the general appearance of their surroundings.  We did not see trash piled up anywhere.

On the way there we stopped at a little candy shop along side of a country road where all sweets were made with white cocoa instead of sugar.  Regardless it was too sweet for my pallet.

So, after 4 hrs of driving we finally made it to Santa Domingo only to be greeted with a closed road and all kinds of traffic delays because of it.  I got some video of Alex driving into the city.  Mind you that there really aren't many laws that govern driving, so it is pretty much a free-for-all.  I am glad Alex was driving and not me as we were in crazy traffic for at least 2 hrs, just to get 2 km across the city.  By this time we realize as well that a IKEA store has opened up just two weeks earlier...and that is in fact our destination.

traffic gets better around the 1 min mark - Santa Domingo

So we finally arrived at IKEA after fighting traffic for several hours.  When then helped Alex, with a little assistance from a computer, design his new kitchen.  Seeing IKEA virgins, such as Alex, for their first time is quite entertaining...with the endless stream of "oooohhhh, aahhhhhh, wow..."

After 5 hours of designing his kitchen we were finally done.  Starved too, so we ate in the IKEA lunch area.  Here is a picture taken out a window of the downtown Santa Domingo area.

click picture to see the whole image

After finishing up and Alex scheduling a time for IKEA employees to make a trip to his condo in order to make sure everything will fit as planned, we were back in the car and heading out of the city.  One thing I noticed was just how run down Santa Domingo felt.  Too many people, not enough money is what is seemed like to me.  Although maybe all the construction going on gave it that kind of broke down feel as well.

At all the stops guys are running out, cleaning wind shields, trying to hawk goods.  I noticed a guy holding a little bushel of what appeared to be natures lollipops.  I asked Alex about them so he grabbed a bundle off a guy for around 50 cents.  Indy and I really enjoyed them.  Here is a picture or two, and some video of the fruit called "lemoncillo".

bundle of Lemoncillo

Here is a video of me explaining the fruit, and how to eat it.

And here is a picture of me remarking how striking the resemblance of a Lemoncillo is to that of an eyeball.

Along the way, after leaving Santa Domingo far behind,  we decided to stop at a countryside "cafe" where they serve food, drinks and cold beer.  Indy took this picture of us.

Becky and I had made plans to have dinner at the Viva's Mexican restaurant, but with the traffic the way it was, it was obvious that we would not make it back in time, so we decided instead to make a trip to Santiago to have a little fun and meet up with a friend of Alex.  We decide to cool off and meet his friend Carolina by heading to a bowling alley and playing a few rounds.

Santiago or bust!

We arrive, time to show these Dominicans how to bowl

As the caption above reads, the truth is that Indy, our friend from Estonia, was the only one who had never bowled before in his life.  And the funny part is that he ended up being really good.  Here is a picture of Indy and I as we enjoy some really tasty cheese pizza (normally I do not like plain old cheese pizza, but this stuff rocked)!

Indy and I

best cheese pizza ever!

A shot of me bowling...

 As I mentioned it was quite funny that Indy was such a proficient bowler, since he had never done it, while Carolina was pretty horrible and she had bowled before...although not avidly, of that we can be sure.  Here is a gutter ball I caught on video.  I am sure she would be happy to know that I got this on video and i am sharing with the world.  Your welcome Carolina mi amiga!!!

After bowling we all goofed around and took our pictures with a trophy, as if we had been the ones to win it with our stellar scores.

Becky and I bask in the glory

Carolina finds a more unique way to show off her win

So, after 2 hrs of bowling we decide that we must see and experience some of the night life that Santiago has to offer.  Already we can tell that there are less people (1 million instead of 3 million) than Santa Domingo...and more money as the town feels just like any major city in the US.  Clean streets, traffic lights and people obeying them (for the most part) and just a liveliness that we had you to find in the D.R.

We stopped at Carolina's house to drop her car off, let her freshen up, and for a drink of some wicked good rum (Carolina raided her dad's liquor cabinet).

Next stop downtown Santiago!