!Hola!
Yes it's true, there are things to do and places to explore here that do not require sand and a volleyball net! The Dominican Republic is rich in history -- as you may remember the intrepid explorer Christopher Columbus arrived here over 500 years ago and decided to stay a while, living in Santo Domingo, a beautiful stately city on the South Coast of this island, which was at first christened Hispaniola.
In fact Santo Domingo was the first "European" city ever built in the New World. When walking through the its Old City you may as well be in Spain, as the original colourful houses and buildings lining the narrow streets are still being lived in today. They were built in the 1500's according to the architectural norms of the day used in Spain: large windows and small second-floor balconies appointed with lots of black, wrought iron decoration.
Because the Moors had at the time controlled the South of Spain, there is also some Arab influence still visible in the shape of the arches, for instance, that lead into interior courtyards. I visited the first church ever built in the New World. I walked through the house (now a museum) that Diego Columbus, Christopher's son, built and lived in with his family until the end of his life. Much of the original furniture, mirrors, paintings and kitchen cooking paraphernalia, are still on display, testimony to the fine workmanship used in those days. I guess Diego had good connections, as he went to Santo Domingo to be governor, reporting back directly to the Queen of Spain, Queen Isabella. As you recall, she was the lady who had the cochones to fund Chris' voyage, when all he had was a dream and good storytelling skills. Besides the first church, there are hundreds of other New World 'firsts' here and the local guides are all too eager to point them out. Tourism is the biggest employer in the Dominican Republic, so most all contact with the 'natives' consists of haggling over the price of some tchatchka or painting. It has been very challenging to pierce the smiling veneers pasted on all the Dominican faces and understand the local mentality!
I always love markets that are free of tourists and fate fortuitously steered me right into a local market, about three city blocks square! At any moment you may smell an array of spices from one collection of vendors, then turn a corner and you see a live chicken getting his head chopped off as it was just then sold to a customer, freshly killed. One street has stall after stall of used electronic parts, stuff that we can't even give away at home. And of course, a couple dozen, if not more, vendors selling fresh tropical fruit, brightly coloured mangos, guavas, passion fruit, coconuts and others that we do not often see in our own fruit stores, saturating the air with a pungent cocktail of flavours! Scooters spouting a plume of malodorous, blue smoke continually zip by in these, and all, streets and lanes; now and then a horse-drawn cart laden with ripe pineapples or watermelons will compete with the cars and scooters for a piece of the road, its operator stopping to make a sale anywhere, at any moment.
Seems this island country isn't free of crime either. A fellow Quebecer was shot dead just a few nights ago during a botched robbery attempt in his hotel-villa not very far from where I am staying. It smells fishy to me and so I am waiting for the facts. For one thing, officials are not yet certain if the tragedy took place New Year's Eve or the next night, or the one after that. If I were a robber I'd sooner choose a villa while the owner was out at the casino or even the local bar. But then, what do I know about these nefarious matters? There's enough on my plate just trying to be a good tourist: do I sign up for a 90-minute Segway 'tour' of the beach, or pet a stingray while getting kissed by a sea lion?
Here's hoping there are plenty of kisses in your life! Got to go, the tropical evening is beckoning...
Barry
No comments:
Post a Comment