Oh Punta Cana. It's hard to write about all the laughs and memories but we really did have a great time. On one of the last nights we went to the Michael Jacson show. No that's not a typo. The MJ impersonator was dead-on, Michael might as well have been up on stage dancing himself. He mimicked all the dance moves perfectly. That night or maybe after the star show there was a pool-side fiesta and Liz competed in cocktail-making and-shaking contest- she should've won!!
The next night we met the Venezuelan boys. They were very funny. I met them while ordering my sangria. Juan fell in "love" with Kristin and from there it was mayhem. At the end of the night Andres, Juan, and Alejandro ended up in Liz and Jackie's room, and Andres snuggled himself right in with Katie and Katie. They lied about their age and girlfriends all night, but what did we care? The words Besos! Besos! were thrown around. And finally I kept telling Andres he was a big pero...which is how they say trouble. but Andres said no, Juan is the dog! "Mr. Big Dog Juan!" You had to be there but we didn't stop laughing all night. Of course I fell for the little one who spoke no English - Jon.
The next day we boarded a plane back for NYC. We landed in yucky, cold, gross, foggy weather. I only got a sunburn on my feet and parts of my legs, so for me it was a success! But I've got many more freckles - it's part of the sun deal.
So to recap....lots of sun and warm weather, a beautiful beach, a swim-up bar, lots of dancing and merengue. Mojitos, vodka limonadas, pina coladas, rum and cokes, sangria. I learned Spanish, I met cute boys, and I swam and snorkeled and drank great coffee. but now i'm back to reality! blech!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Yo habla espanol
Okay I speak no Spanish....very limited, but my friends speak it well so I was struggling. Half the resort was from Spain or some Spanish-speaking nation. The next day was also spent on the beach. It's amazing how much you miss the smell of the ocean....the salt in the air, the sand, the coconuts, the palm trees. The sound of waves crashing on the shore and that ever-present breeze that prevents the blaring sun from becoming too hot. I'm a pale Irish girl, so that sun was brutal - gotta love Neutrogena SPF 45.
We swam in the crystal clear blue water which was a feat for me. I have issues with water, mostly because of marine creatures. I'm terrified of alligators and sharks, and I become extremly nervous if I have to swim in what I call dark water - usually caused by vegetation on the bottom. But I sucked it up and swam to the edge of the dark water which meant I was probably in 20 feet deep water. Or 10 - who knows I could be exaggerating.
I just loved the view. Palm trees, rainbow sails adrift in the distance, yellow kayaks and banana boats, parasailing trips careening past. Gorgeous and tan European men...minus the fat ones in their speedos.
Friday was mostly a day of relaxing. Saturday we went on a day tour of the Dominican Republic - it was incredibly eye-opening. Our guide Jose took us to a plantation to show us a real farm, and we got to taste a real cocoa bean...it's white and slimey and kind of tastes like a sour fruit. We then tasted fresh and real coffee and they amde us fresh hot chocolate. It was just really cool. The best part was watching the local little boys play baseball because you know at least one of them will be an MLB star someday. Then Jose made us rum and cokes by throwing and spinning the bottle, and took us to another little shop/farm. They call the ride a 'dominican massage' because its so bumpy, and boy was that true! But I was content sitting in the sun with my ron and coke. At the next farm they weaved us baskets and we bought jewelry and art pieces and some mamajuana. It's an aphrodesiac. Last stop was this gorgeous gorgeous beach. The sand was almost pure white and so soft. Packs of wild dogs were roaming the beach - that was a little creepy.
When we returned Aileen and I decided to rent some snorkel equipment and check out the water. Without meaning to we stumbled on a coral reef and it was so beautiful. It was like peaking in on the real Finding Nemo! All kinds of colored fish with different shape fins and noses swam below us and along us. The coral was so many colors and there were all kinds of urchins and anenomes. We absolutely blown away by this complete universe of life going on below us. But I'm a bit of a freak and kept giving myself minor panic attacks, waiting for a baracuda or shark to swim up!
That night we attended the Star Show...this great great talent show with many of the resort staff dancing to disco classics. You would have thought we were at a show for a gay cruise, meanwhile half the vacationers were 45 and up European couples. The dancing and lip-synching was so much fun though, I got a real kick out of it!
We swam in the crystal clear blue water which was a feat for me. I have issues with water, mostly because of marine creatures. I'm terrified of alligators and sharks, and I become extremly nervous if I have to swim in what I call dark water - usually caused by vegetation on the bottom. But I sucked it up and swam to the edge of the dark water which meant I was probably in 20 feet deep water. Or 10 - who knows I could be exaggerating.
I just loved the view. Palm trees, rainbow sails adrift in the distance, yellow kayaks and banana boats, parasailing trips careening past. Gorgeous and tan European men...minus the fat ones in their speedos.
Friday was mostly a day of relaxing. Saturday we went on a day tour of the Dominican Republic - it was incredibly eye-opening. Our guide Jose took us to a plantation to show us a real farm, and we got to taste a real cocoa bean...it's white and slimey and kind of tastes like a sour fruit. We then tasted fresh and real coffee and they amde us fresh hot chocolate. It was just really cool. The best part was watching the local little boys play baseball because you know at least one of them will be an MLB star someday. Then Jose made us rum and cokes by throwing and spinning the bottle, and took us to another little shop/farm. They call the ride a 'dominican massage' because its so bumpy, and boy was that true! But I was content sitting in the sun with my ron and coke. At the next farm they weaved us baskets and we bought jewelry and art pieces and some mamajuana. It's an aphrodesiac. Last stop was this gorgeous gorgeous beach. The sand was almost pure white and so soft. Packs of wild dogs were roaming the beach - that was a little creepy.
When we returned Aileen and I decided to rent some snorkel equipment and check out the water. Without meaning to we stumbled on a coral reef and it was so beautiful. It was like peaking in on the real Finding Nemo! All kinds of colored fish with different shape fins and noses swam below us and along us. The coral was so many colors and there were all kinds of urchins and anenomes. We absolutely blown away by this complete universe of life going on below us. But I'm a bit of a freak and kept giving myself minor panic attacks, waiting for a baracuda or shark to swim up!
That night we attended the Star Show...this great great talent show with many of the resort staff dancing to disco classics. You would have thought we were at a show for a gay cruise, meanwhile half the vacationers were 45 and up European couples. The dancing and lip-synching was so much fun though, I got a real kick out of it!
Punta Cana
I am officially the worst blogger ever. So I haven't blogged in forever so I'll try and update.
I recently went on spring break to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and it was muoy fantastico!! Seriously I loved every minute of it!
We arrived on a Tuesday at the Punta Cana airport and the building itself was so gimmicky - I loved it! It looked like a giant tiki hut. Then we boarded a bus to the Riu Taino and began our Dominican adventure. Ten of us were vacationing together and surprisingly we all survived the trip.
Our hotel was really cute, our rooms, or love bungalos as we referred to them were four to a building with a cute little balcony/terrace attached to each one. Katie and I shared a room together - I mean we worked out as roomates in Europe why not the DR. Then we trecked over to the beach and just took in the beauty of the island. It was probably 85 degrees and so beautifully sunny...palm trees lined the shoreline and the sand was so smooth on our feet. The beach was covered in blue lounge chairs, and on those chairs were a lot of leathery and often topless Europeans. I got myself a pina colada and began to relax for the first time in months. We silently agreed there would be no talk of May 18th and beyond. The future was not part of this trip.
Around six we met with Adam our Polish travel rep and he gave us the low-down. Don't drink the tap water, stay in groups, don't leave the resort unless it's part of a trip, etc. Then we ate for the first time in hours at the buffet which was so-so. We headed back to the rooms and I made a rum and coke - and what a surprise! I normally don't drink rum because of how it affects me, but this was delicioso! It tasted like no other rum I'd ever had before. After a few of those we went to check out the Caribean Street on the resort. There was a little night time fiesta with dancing - older Europeans dancing with younger Dominican men. I swear we were in our own version of Dirty Dancing...Dominican Style. It was like that scene where all the dance instructors twirl the old Jewish people around the dance floor and it just all looks so awkward. Well we got pulled in too, especially since two of my friends are very pretty twins - they were a hit! All of a sudden the dancing turns into a connected circle, which becomes a chain and we start dance-walking down the street. I'm separated from the girls by a few staff members and have no idea where they are leading us, and they will not release the grip on our hands! Next thing I know we've been literally dragged to Pacha, the discotheque on the resort. So much fun! The staff members whipped out some local dances and then just started dancing with us all night. Dancer Elias became our new friend. But it got late, and were mucho exchausted from the plane, the sun and the fabulous dancing. Dominican people are excellent dancers.
I recently went on spring break to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and it was muoy fantastico!! Seriously I loved every minute of it!
We arrived on a Tuesday at the Punta Cana airport and the building itself was so gimmicky - I loved it! It looked like a giant tiki hut. Then we boarded a bus to the Riu Taino and began our Dominican adventure. Ten of us were vacationing together and surprisingly we all survived the trip.
Our hotel was really cute, our rooms, or love bungalos as we referred to them were four to a building with a cute little balcony/terrace attached to each one. Katie and I shared a room together - I mean we worked out as roomates in Europe why not the DR. Then we trecked over to the beach and just took in the beauty of the island. It was probably 85 degrees and so beautifully sunny...palm trees lined the shoreline and the sand was so smooth on our feet. The beach was covered in blue lounge chairs, and on those chairs were a lot of leathery and often topless Europeans. I got myself a pina colada and began to relax for the first time in months. We silently agreed there would be no talk of May 18th and beyond. The future was not part of this trip.
Around six we met with Adam our Polish travel rep and he gave us the low-down. Don't drink the tap water, stay in groups, don't leave the resort unless it's part of a trip, etc. Then we ate for the first time in hours at the buffet which was so-so. We headed back to the rooms and I made a rum and coke - and what a surprise! I normally don't drink rum because of how it affects me, but this was delicioso! It tasted like no other rum I'd ever had before. After a few of those we went to check out the Caribean Street on the resort. There was a little night time fiesta with dancing - older Europeans dancing with younger Dominican men. I swear we were in our own version of Dirty Dancing...Dominican Style. It was like that scene where all the dance instructors twirl the old Jewish people around the dance floor and it just all looks so awkward. Well we got pulled in too, especially since two of my friends are very pretty twins - they were a hit! All of a sudden the dancing turns into a connected circle, which becomes a chain and we start dance-walking down the street. I'm separated from the girls by a few staff members and have no idea where they are leading us, and they will not release the grip on our hands! Next thing I know we've been literally dragged to Pacha, the discotheque on the resort. So much fun! The staff members whipped out some local dances and then just started dancing with us all night. Dancer Elias became our new friend. But it got late, and were mucho exchausted from the plane, the sun and the fabulous dancing. Dominican people are excellent dancers.
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