Santo Domingo

Well we came to Santo Domingo yesterday to bring Janet & Janice to the aeroport. We stayed at the Quality Inn by the airport. We played around down by the colonial district in the late afternoon after finding where the kingdom hall for the english meeting is. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and enjoyed an all American Meal (except that there were nachos & quesedillas besides the hamburgers, onion rings, mac & cheese, a couple of salads and a milkshake).

The Kindgom Hall was across town from the hotel and involved some pretty chaotic driving. Since there was six of us I opted out so that only one car with the "Queen of the Road" Paula was driving.

There were some Spanish who were learning English and one sister who gave her first talk in English. We understood how she felt. We got invited to have a meal at the missionary home, formerly the D.R. branch and now also the kingdom hall. So we decided to stay another night. (I tell you, these gals are adventerous souls and seem to have little worry or apprehension about things, which is ok since I have enough to go around.)

We went back to the Colonial district and did some more shopping and made another stop at the Hard Rock Cafe where a band was playing. We visited the Amber Museum and learned about the different types and also the history of larimar (only found here which is seen by the red arrow on the map picture). As you can see from one of the pictures I had gotten a bit dehydrated, nothing but bones!

Actually it was at the bottom of the museum and was completely dark as you descended the stares. A motion light came on to reveal the room. I got to meet a couple of sisters who were handing out invitations to the district convention while I was sitting on a bench people watching.

The sister that we were put into contact with has a bed & breakfast. In our minds we are picturing some two or three story house in some cramped little neighborhood. (Remember that Santo Domingo is a large city.) We phoned the sister who took us to her bed & breakfast. We drive along the ocean and turn into a large building with 20 some floor.

We are wondering what is going on as we thought we were headed for the B & B. We park on the 5th floor of a parking garage and are told we are here at the B & B. We gather our overnight bags and follow our sister into the elevator. Once inside she takes a key and inserts it into a locked floor button that says 13. We step out into very elegant tiled hallway and she opens a large dark wood door and we enter the B & B and follow her to our room which goes past the kitchen, two bedrooms and around the corner. Inside are two bunk beds and two twin beds. The view out the window is incredible, like looking over New York city scape.

She then shows us the view from the front which is an ocean view and the pool below from a sleek living room. Needless to say we had to pick our jaws up off the ground. The sister took the others to the grocery store (its the D.R. version of Cosco) & I stayed to blog about our experience and upload some pics.

So here you go! lj