Santo Domingo

My Darling Joel thought that it would be a good idea to take me away on the weekend following my other darling, Carlota, passed away. He planned us leaving Panama on Friday and spending the weekend and Monday somewhere. He was very right. It was a very good idea, because I was able to re-direct my mind into other shores, into other stuff, into lands never seen before... and off we went to Santo Domingo, capital of The Dominican Republic.

If you want to pronounce it as a Spanish speaker does, you must use any tiny itsibtsy Spanish knowledge you might have in your veins and pronounce it thoroughly, pronounce every letter of both words, have your mouth full and say “Santo Domingo”, as if you really want everybody around you to know you are talking about Santo Domingo!! They all say the city’s full name, no nicknames here, just the full name. Even the pilot, who for sure is not Dominican, pronounces it in a way that hints he is proud to be taking all passengers to Santo Domingo!

Joel was quite clever when he chose our destination, because I was terribly sad, actually still am and only few things can temporarily drive me away from the thought we no longer have Carlotinha with us. Early European History in the Americas is one of them.

For us, people from the New World, Santo Domingo is very important and even if one is not into History, one has to recognize that The Dominican Republic was the door to Europeans in the Americas. That is where Christopher Colombus or “Cristobal Colón” as he is called in Spanish speaking communities, first arrived back in 1492. Christopher did not anchor in Santo Domingo as his very first port of call, but according to the archives, Santo Domingo is where he decided to start a village because it was the prettiest place. So my friends, voilá, in Santo Domingo you can find the first cathedral of the Americas, the first paved street of the Americas, the first university of the Americas, the first house or palace, pharmacy and off they go with a long list of firsts. So completely cool that it’s not even funny! I LOVED it!

Then, after we had done a whole load of History, we went to the beach in the Caribbean for some more suffering, LOL!

It's hurricane season, but we manage to leave the island one day before a hurricane arrived. Phew!!

And to finalize it all, do you know what is the name of the airport at Santo Domingo? Because they can afford it, it is called “Aeropuerto las Americas”! Never mind that there are many other airports throughout North, Central and South America that handle thousands more flights a minute, but… they are not in Santo Domingo therefore they have to settle with a less exciting name and go for “XYZ International Airport”.

The palace where Christopher Columbus's son, Diego Columbus lived

America's first cathedral

The ceiling of the cathedral has never needed any restoration!The official entrance to the cathedral
life on a Saturday afternoon by the
cathedral's plaza!
In nowadays, we rarely go to a bank, but should you need to go to one, how about going to a bank located in this atmosphere?

Flavoring the streets of the Historical
Santo Domingo

Ambar Museum

Fancy a fruit at Las Bocachicas beach?

Mother nature leting people know that a hurricane was on its way.

Governor's palace, built in 1512

The view from our room

Happy tourists

Thank you darling husband, thank you for your sensitivity in realizing that we were going to have difficult days ahead and therefore planning some very interesting distractions. We still miss her, but now, we can add to the sadness, a huge satisfaction for having enjoyed these days in Santo Domingo!