Dominican Republic 2017

With a noon checkout and a 4pm flight, we decided to make it an early last day of this mini-vacation and to squeeze as much out as possible.  Out of bed at 6:30, the first ones at the breakfast buffet, and on the beach by 8!  We enjoyed the amazing breeze, just watching the waves roll in, and then enjoyed the pool for the first time.  I also did a short (3km) run down the beach -- the sand was perfect for running. We checked out right at noon, but the hotel allowed us one last lunch as part of our all-inclusive package -- which was nice of them.   We didn't eat a lot of DR food, but this Dominican stew at lunchtime was delicious! Heavy on the chicken and beef.  The food, the ambiance, the services, the grounds -- everything has been top notch.  We initially had some misgivings about having booked such a large resort (as I mentioned earlier, it has the capacity for 4000 people!).  But it's such a well-oiled and well-maintained machine, it wor...

It's amazing how quickly routine kicks in:  our second full day in paradise started like the first, up by 8, omelettes and cappucino by 9, on the beach by 9:30.  After pouring all night, the sun quickly broke through, making it a perfect 28C repeat of yesterday, complete with refreshing breeze.  We went for another 45-minute walk up the beach, lay on our lounge chairs for a couple hours, watched the throngs walk by (ahem, note that I said THRONG , not THONG! ), went for a dip in the ocean, and then packed it up by 12:30 in order to start the second phase of the day:  hitting the road in our rental car. Conch shells for sale on Bavaro Beach. The seaweed here is very fine stuff. Beach grooming tractors scoop up the seawood every morning. Isn't she adorable? And goofy, all at the same time? Pea-hens and peacocks boldly begging for food in the hotel lobby. With dire internet warnings that "driving ...

Our first day in paradise!  Up by 8, omelettes by 9, and on the beach by 10.  While the temperatures in Atlantic Canada hovered at or below the freezing mark today, here it was 28C, mainly sunny skies, and a perfect breeze - it doesn't get much better than that, folks. We thought we would have to fight for beach chairs, but it turns out, there are only 1500 guests right now on a resort that holds 4000.  So there was lots of space on the beach. Despite Hurricanes Irma and Maria at the end of the summer, there were no signs of hurricane damage on the resort grounds.  We expected the palms to have been stripped, but there was really no evidence of much palm damage. China has its army of terracotta warriors;  DR has its line of terracotta Dominicans in all types of pose! The nicely-kept grounds of the Melia Caribe Tropical. A perfect day for parasailing - the operators were raking it in! One of those neat palm trees which sends ...

Our 6:30am Westjet departure from Halifax to Toronto, upon descent into Pearson Airport.  We were treated a very different approach than one normally gets into Toronto:  our routing went somewhat into the Niaraga Escarpment and included an excellent view of Niagara Falls. Toronto had clearly gotten a sprinkling of snow:  the fields in southern Ontario were surprisingly white. Our second Westjet flight of the day left and arrived right on time!  Oh and the lead Flight Attendant sang to the entire plane a few times!  She was hilarious. Both flights were packed to the gills, as they say.  However, as luck had it, the only empty seat was in our row!  We have a little scheme called, "Dave takes the aisle, Pam takes the window, and let's hope no one wants the middle!"  Surprisingly, it works quite often - as it did today.  So with a row to ourselves, we bought a meal and made our own 'first class' in Economy. The hilly a...