The Dominican Republic

Again, we did not choose wisely. A better choice would have been a sailing excursion or throwing ourselves on a bed of hot coals; I don't know, anything other than what we did. Since I'd never been to the DR before I wanted to experience some of the "local flavor." So off we went to "town" (don't remember which town).

The bus dropped off and picked up passengers at the "town square". Everyone gets a free tangerine and that's the end of the freebies. Whatever you do, do NOT talk to an "official looking" person in the Dominican Republic because if you do, you've hired yourself a tour guide. A man who looked to be with the Tourist Bureau (?) approached us and a couple of hours later he had some of our money.

Police with rifles (?) patrolled the streets, which was scary -- BUT, other police (or crossing guards) were everywhere and if pedestrians wanted to cross the street they stopped traffic instantly, anywhere.

We visited several local shops, not finding anything "unique" other than jewelry made from the local stone Larimar and lots of Amber. My hubby bought me a lovely Larimar bracelet -- small heart shaped stones backed and connected to each other with silver. All the stones are slightly different shades of blue with striations of white.

Here is the fixer upper we are thinking of buying for our retirement; cozy, huh? The color matches my eyes.

There really are beautiful places to visit in the Dominican Republic -- and we'd definitely go back. In fact, my brother and sister-in-law are going to a "Sandals-type" resort in the DR for a week in June.

I'm convinced that the first time you experience anything you find what you like and what you don't like and PLAN ahead the next time --- we'll stay at a resort and visit historic sites and beaches.