Santo Domingo

We woke on our fourth day in Bayahibe at 6am to prepare for our day trip into Santo Domingo.  I hated having to get up so early because I hadn't slept much the night before, but I was looking forward to seeing the city.  Our bus was to arrive at 7:45am, so we hurried around to get ready and grab breakfast.  We grabbed croissants and headed to the lobby.......where we waited and waited.  Apparently "Dominican time" is not the same as Arkansas time.  The van finally arrived at 8:40.

The weather that morning was rainy and humid.  I wasn't thrilled with walking around the city all day, but figured it was a better way to spend the day since the beach was out of the question.  When the van dropped us at the bus to Santo Domingo, we took the seats at the back of the bus.  Bus is really a bit of an exaggeration for the vehicle that we were on.  The lack of leg room made for a lovely two hours, but the sliding around on the wet roads and fearing for our lives made it a true adventure.

View from the back of the bus

Two hours after we left, we arrived at the Columbus lighthouse.  The Dominicans claim that this is where the remains of Christopher Columbus are buried after being discovered in the Basilica.  The Spanish claim that he is buried in Spain.  The lighthouse was dedicated by Pope John Paul II in 1992.

 Faro a Colón

Me at the Columbus Lighthouse

View of Santo Domingo from steps of lighthouse

Our next stop was a trip past the government palace.  Our timing worked out so that we had to park several blocks away and walk as the president was heading out as we arrived.

Lunch should have been our next stop if I had my way, but we spent the next hour in a gift shop.  The shop was full of typical souvenirs, but there was an area in the back where you could by local paintings.  We ended up buying a painting and a bottle of water.

Lunch was at Columbus Plaza.  The food was not so great.  When we signed up for the tour, we were told that we would have a traditional Dominican lunch.  What we got was a buffet that included burgers, pasta, and fried chicken.  It was less than delicious.  As we headed out for our next stop at the Basilica, we spotted the Hard Rock Cafe across the street.  While their food is not the best, I wished we had been given that option over the buffet we had just experienced.   

Our guide for the day

The  Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor is the oldest church in the Americas.  Construction on the church began in 1514 and was completed in 1540.  It is considered a Minor Basilica.  The cathedral is located next to Columbus Park.  This is where the Dominicans claim to have found the remains of Christopher Columbus buried before they were moved to the lighthouse.

Women that believe the legend can knock on this door to keep their husband faithful.  

Statue of Columbus outside of the Cathedral 

After we left the church, we did a walking tour of the rest of the Colonial District.  We saw the the French Embassy, the Pantheon (home for heroes), and stopped into a museum.

In the courtyard at the museum

The rain was falling, and we were worn out and the rest of the group was too.  We boarded the bus to head to La Romana at 4.  About an hour into our trip back, we had to stop for gas.  I expect that we're going to pull into one of the gas stations, but instead we pull off of the main road and into this giant lot.  It is exactly the kind of spot that I can imagine my mom getting panicky about because it looked like someplace they would take you and you would never be seen again.  Luckily, this was simply a spot for the tour guides to fuel up and we were on our way again in a few minutes.

One end of the fueling area

the pump

the other end of fueling area

We had dinner at Bordeaux that evening.  The French restaurant did not disappoint.  We had a mushroom and escargot casserole appetizer which was followed by Three Onion (aka French Onion) soup and the beef tenderloin.

Dinner at Bordeaux

After dinner we had a drink in the lobby bar.  We were joined by another couple from France.  This couple spoke next to no English, and we don't speak French.  This was perhaps the most frustrating time of the entire vacation because they kept attempting to talk to us, but we ended up needing Google Translate in the end.  I do know that they work at a vineyard and make champagne.  I'm kicking myself for not knowing more French because these could have been great people to visit with.......and perhaps visit in France :)

The rest of the evening was spent with four 20 somethings from Ireland.  This led to serious political talk, and I was happy to see the day come to an end.

Beach Tales

Our first day at Dreams La Romana started with a delightful breakfast of eggs, fresh pineapple, and a croissant filled with chocolate.  Yum!  We were scheduled to meet with a rep for orientation and to confirm our return transportation to the airport, so we had breakfast at the buffet.  Breakfast was definitely the meal that the buffet did properly.

The rep didn't show, so we ended up talking with a representative from VIP Tours.  He was pretty straight to the point, and went over several excursion options.  We decided to sign up for the Santo Domingo tour as that had the most history to offer.  I really couldn't think about paying to go to another beach when the one we were at was beautiful.

blue skies + white sand + clear water = perfection

The water was so clear that I could still see my toes when shoulder deep!

Once breakfast was over and all necessary business had been attended to, we headed to the beach.  The weather was perfect.  I was good about applying some sunscreen, but Jtl opted to skip it and ended up with quite the sunburn.  We spent several hours relaxing in the sun and took advantage of the beach wait service for a couple of drinks and bottles of water.  The biggest complaint I had that day was the bees.  They were everywhere.  Luckily, they weren't quick to sting.

This guy was recruiting people to play beach volleyball.  I passed. 

Cute little guy

That evening got off to a bit of a rough start as we were informed that we would not be allowed to dine at the French a la carte restaurant because Jtl was wearing flip flops.  Apparently trucker hats and tank tops are acceptable, but leather flip flops are never allowed for men.  This was a bit ridiculous, but led to a bit of fun for me as I teased him about his running shoes with his pants at dinner the rest of the week.

Dinner at Seaside

Since we couldn't eat at the restaurant we had planned to, we decided to give Seaside a try.  It was a lovely location, and I was pleased to dine outside.  If there were one thing that I would change it would be ordering a glass of red wine prior to being seated at our table.  The staff is trained to assist women with their chairs, and I ended up with red wine on my white dress when they bumped the chair into me.  Ugh.  I was so frustrated.  Thankfully, the housekeeping staff took it and was able to get the stain out.

BOO!!!

The next day started much like the previous one, but this time I was headed to the beach by myself  while Jtl stayed out of the sun.  I was able to read quite a bit of the John Grisham book that I had with me and just enjoyed a bit of quiet by myself.

We spent the afternoon eating lousy lunch at the buffet (still hadn't realized that Seaside served lunch too!), and then just relaxed a bit.

hahahaha!!!

Dinner that night was at Portofino (the Italian a la carte restaurant).  This meal was amazing.  I had a cup of minestrone soup and chicken parmesan.  The menu said that the chicken would be served with gnocchi, but it came with tortellini instead.  It was good, but I would have gone with the tenderloin were it not for the gnocchi.  Jtl did order the tenderloin, and it was perfect.  For dessert we enjoyed tiramisu.  Yum!

After dinner hours were spent watching the Olympics in the lobby.  It was another wonderful day in paradise.

Headed to Bayahibe

We woke at 4am on Sunday, July 29th to head to the airport.  Our flight was scheduled for 5:50 am, and we were supposed to land in Santo Domingo, DR at 1:20pm.  From my research, I anticipated that we would arrive at our resort by 4pm.  I looked forward to hitting the beach or pool right away and relaxing before our first night's dinner, but this was not how things would turn out.

At 5:25am, the Delta employee announced boarding had begun for first class.  I was quite excited as we were soon to be on our way!  At 5:40 she announced that there was going to be a delay.  It wasn't long before the passengers that were already on board were allowed to deplane and wait in the terminal.  The plane had a hydraulic fluid leak, and there was no telling how long we were going to be delayed.  This created a big problem for me as there was only one flight from Atlanta to Santo Domingo, and the delay meant we weren't going to make it.

The lady at the counter assured me that she would get us out of LR, but after a half hour I gave up and called Delta.  They confirmed that we would not make our connecting flight and that there were no other flights.  I was able to get us redirected through Punta Cana instead, but this led to questions as to whether our pre-arranged shuttle company would honor our arrangement in a different airport.  I was a bit worried, but thrilled that we would be landing in the Dominican by 4:30.

For our trouble, we were given vouchers for lunch while we were in Atlanta.  We grabbed McDonalds as we were already short on time to make our connection.  Another nice perk (not that McDonald's is really a perk, but FREE food is always nice) was that we were seated in the exit row on both flights.  I thought that the 3.5 hours on the plane would never end!  I kept looking out at the beautiful, clear water below and wishing we could speed the flight up!

Once we arrived in Punta Cana, we were herded through the immigration area, and we were nearly run over by a little Asian woman who was intent on getting her family of 5 through the line before those of us ahead of her.  I was a bit cranky at this point, and entertained myself by assuring that she did not get past me.  It's the little things sometimes.

We lucked out with the shuttle service, and were placed in a van with another couple.  They were staying in Punta Cana, so we got to drive past most of the resorts in that area before making the trip to the Dreams La Romana resort.  We got in the van around 5pm, and arrived at the resort at  7pm.  It was a long 2 hours with some of the craziest traffic I've seen.  Narrow two lane roads with cars passing without enough room and scooters everywhere.  Our driver talked with his hands and picked his nose too much for my liking, and I was pleased to get out of that van.

We were greeted with a glass of champagne as we walked into the lobby.  The entrance was beautiful, and the stress of the day quickly began to leave me.  The champagne was terrible, so we grabbed a beer to take in the view of the pool before heading to our room.

A welcome Presidente Light as we review the resort map

 Our room was beautiful.  Very modern and spacious.  We dropped our stuff, and headed to the buffet for dinner.  It was decent, but I am so thankful that we didn't have to eat there for dinner any other evenings.  

The evening's entertainment was the Michael Jackson show.  I'm a sucker for seeing MJ shows, so we headed over to check it out.  The team did a great job, and he was probably the best dancer I've seen as MJ but his lip synching sucked.  haha!  We bailed fairly early and headed to watch karaoke in the lobby bar instead.

Man capris in the lobby bar

More man capris...

We finally crashed around 12.  It was a long, but wonderful first day of vacation.

Made in the USA? Unfortunately not.

So I've been looking for a fun new handbag for spring for a couple of months now.  What is it that I'm looking for?  I started with a camel colored satchel style bag, but after I began looking around my list changed a bit.


I'm a bit frustrated by the amount of bags that are being imported from China.  I knew Coach to be an American company, but recently read the print on the label inside my bag a bit more closely.  It says:

Handcrafted in China?  What?  While I did buy my bag at an outlet location, it is a Kristin black patent leather hobo bag that was featured in the Coach signature stores previously and only moved to the outlet for clearance.  Yes, I know how to check the serial number to know whether the bag was a signature or factory bag, and this checked out too.......

I know that I got a bargain on the bag, but it began to irritate me when I read the fine print and saw that it had been made in China.  I understand why so many companies manufacture goods in China.  Cheap materials + cheap labor = huge profits...... this is how businesses continue to be profitable, right?  But look a little closer at their website, and you'll find that bags are often over $500.  This seems to me an example of a company relying on their well known and respected name justifying the hefty price tag for a bag that is not necessarily being made to previous standards.

So I decide my new bag probably won't be a Coach.  Sure, their factory online sales have great deals here and there, but how great is the deal if the bag was manufactured to only be a factory bag.......ever.  It would never be found inside a Dillards or Coach store.  Are these bags inferior in some way?  And what about the mental games that are used to lure customers into buying these bags?  I've never been to a Coach outlet store that didn't offer you 30% off the already reduced prices.  Ok, so a bag is marked $398 as the original price, but it's now 50% off and seems like a steal at $199 + 30%........or is it?

If a bag is manufactured strictly for the purpose of being places at an outlet store, then the original price was always going to be that $199.  Right?  The people at Coach aren't stupid.  They have manufactured these designs to be profitable even with the extra 30% off at the outlets.  There is something about this that just really bothers me.  

I will say that you're lucky if you can find a selection from the Chelsea, Kristin or Poppy lines to choose from on clearance and take that 30% off because that really is a deal, but I still go back to the points that Coach is still in business to make money and question whether the quality is what it once was given the importing from China.

So I decided that I would like to find a bag that is made in the USA.  Guess what.  It's surprising difficult to find any leather bags that are as stylish as what you find in Coach that are made in the USA without a hefty pricetag.  In fact, of the lines Dillard's carries, I couldn't find any that I liked that had tags with anything other than "Made in China" printed on them.  Dooney and Bourke claims to still make some of their bags here, but they also list Italy and China online so who knows where they're coming from really.  Brahmin, Michael Kors, and Gianni Binni all seem to be coming out of China.........and all seem to be selling on brand name.

Marc Jacobs and Bagdley Mischca seem to still be making their products in Italy, and Louis Vuitton has production in France, USA, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.  However, these lines all offer quality bags at a significantly higher price point, and that does not make them practical for most shoppers.

I really want to avoid the high end purse that is made in China.  It just seems so wrong.  I purchased a wallet for Jtl for Christmas.  It was a very nice leather wallet from Kenneth Cole that included a warning that, "California Proposition 65 Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm".  How could I give my husband a gift that could possibly contain lead which could possibly lead to cancer?  

Where was this fine, leather wallet made?  China.  The same place where lead paint is used occasionally on children's toys and melamine turns up in batches of dog food.  Do I really think that there is enough lead (or other contaminating agent) in the leather wallet to cause cancer?  Probably not, but nothing says you're special to me like a warning of birth defects and cancer.  Right?  

In my job, I see tons of merchandise every day come into the store that is being imported from China.  I understand that the majority of the goods are equal to any other, and often at a significant price break.  I have a hard time with high end merchandise that is being shifted into a country known for being able to reproduce anything for a lesser production cost.  

I don't know when I'll finally find a chemical free bag that is made in a country other than China, but I am not going to give up.  There are days when I wish I hadn't become obsessed with learning where things are made, but it's happened and now I must choose whether it's more important to me to stand behind my beliefs or have a name brand that everyone knows.  Think I'll stick with being patient and waiting to find that perfect European or American designed bag that is free of chemicals that are unnecessary.

I thought I hit "Publish" Last Night.......

I'm going to be on the radio.  Yep, dad and I were interviewed this morning for an upcoming segment on "Arkansas Cooks with Mary Twedt".  Are you familiar with this program?  If not, check out her webpage here. 

I've gotta say that when she put down that digital recorder on the table this morning, I immediately began to fear that the sentences my brain would put together would not sound like the industry "expert" that I like to believe that I am.  Sure, I don't know much about equipment compared to dad.......I'm more of a gadget girl, but I know my china and my cutlery.  I know the difference between the different can openers we have in the store, and I can talk to coworkers and customers about these things intelligently on a daily basis.  Why is it that a small recorder on the table causes me to worry about this?  Perhaps it has something to do with the way I sound when recorded.  I really hate recording voice mail messages because when I hear the playback the voice coming out of the phone sounds nothing like I sound in my head.  

So now we wait until the segments air.......and although dad says we presented her with plenty of useful information, I still suspect that I could have done better.

Anyone want to know about the new Wusthof Pro line of knives?  We just got them in at the store, and I'm pretty much up to speed on the entire line and would love to educate you..... no recordings though :)

Honeymoon: Day 7

We were up bright and early on Day 7.  It was time to go home.

We arrived at the airport two hours before our departure time.  Our itinerary listed our flight as through Air Italia, but every ticketing agent we tried to work with told us that they couldn't help us.  Finally we found a lady that told us that Delta had cancelled our reservation, and that she was going to have to put us on as standby.  We checked our bags with her, and went to the area for standby check in.  I'm now a bit panicked.  What if we don't make this flight?  Then we won't make our connection which we are confirmed and checked into!  What if our bags don't make the flight?  So much that can go wrong......and I'm a big worrier anyway.

After checking in with the standby desk, we went to grab breakfast.  We each got a Coke Light and split a ham and Swiss on foccacia bread.   We also had these little cream puff pastries that I couldn't resist.  They were wonderful.  Finally 30 minutes passed, and the man working the desk informed us that we were confirmed on our flight, and we could go to the gate.  Hooray!  We were on our way home, but we weren't seated together.

View from window on flight from Rome to Milan

We had two stops before we made it to Little Rock.  Our first stop was in Milan.  I wish we could have had a bit of time to venture out of the airport, but we had less than two hours to make our connection.  We went straight to the gate for our next flight, but found out that we should have claimed our bags after landing in Milan and then re-checked them.  Great......another huge ordeal to stress me out.  The women working the Delta desk were quite helpful though, and were able to get our bags to the plane after a good 20-30 minutes of phone calls.

Once on the plane, we could finally relax.  We had our extra 6" of leg room, and were ready to relax.  There were four movies shown on our flight from Milan to Atlanta.  First was "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".  We both were asleep before we made it to the end, and I woke to catch the last hour of "Mr. Popper's Penguins".  If you haven't seen this movie, I wouldn't suggest investing any time into it.  Next up was "Jumping the Broom".  I had never heard of this movie, but it kept my attention better than the previous two options.  Last we saw "Larry Crowne".  All in all, the four movies didn't really do much to make the time pass quickly.  Ten and a half hours on a plane is a bit much.

After a quick stop in Atlanta, we were on our way again.  We were home (with luggage) by 8:30pm.  We finished the evening with dinner from Chipotle, and were asleep by 10pm.  It was good to be home.

Honeymoon: Day 6

Day six we slept past breakfast.  I was beginning to feel a bit congested due to allergies.......and perhaps due to walking around in the rain our first day in Rome.  That said, we got ready and headed to the train stop first thing.

We stopped for lunch at Ristoro della Salute dal 1920 before heading to the Colosseum.  We must have been well ahead of schedule for lunch as we were their only table.  We each ordered water and a pizza.  This pizza was on cracker thin crust.  We had one mushroom pizza and one prosciutto.  They were tasty.

After lunch, we crossed the street and got in line to tour the Colosseum.  Tour guides approached us to tell us that we could skip the two hour wait in line by hiring them, but we decided to risk it and skip the guide.  The wait to enter was only about 1/2 an hour max, and it saved us about 20 Euros by not hiring the guide.

The Colosseum was full of tourists, and it was difficult to get around without bumping into someone.  We were able to pick up bits of information from tour guides that had groups near where we were and read everything posted that we could.  It was amazing.  I had always heard stories of the gladiators fighting there, but reading about the other stuff that went on was pretty amazing.  I had no idea that wild animals were brought in and "hunted" by men that had to fight to make it out alive while people sat and watched.  I'm certainly glad that we have other forms of entertainment today.  ha!

After we left the Colosseum, we walked across the street and wandered through the Palatine Hill area.  Excavations have shown people to have lived here since 1000BC.  This hill is directly between the Colosseum and Circus Maximus (which we did not get to see).  It also overlooks the ruins of the Roman Forum.

Wish our pines grew like these do

Stadium of Domitian

While I'm snapping shots, Jtl is texting 

Ruins at the Roman Forum

Next we took the train to the Barberinni stop.  We were on a mission to find the Hard Rock Cafe...... believe it or not, after getting a tshirt from the New Orleans Hard Rock my 12 year old is a fan of their shirts.  This area of Rome was quite nice.  We saw more restaurants with outdoor dining, and even spotted LaScala Restaurant.

That evening we had dinner at Red by il Padellaccio.  There were several men working in this restaurant, but no women.  They had the neatest wine racks in this restaurant, but most people were focused on the soccer game that was being shown.  While looking at the menu, I noticed "rocket" listed again on several items.  I decided to get something with this ingredient since it was our last night.  I went with the appetizer described as  prosciutto, mozzarella, olives and rocket.  As it turns out, rocket is simply a form of lettuce.......and quite tasty.  For our entrees, I ordered ravioli with pink sauce and Jtl had rigatoni with tomato, bacon and hot peppers.  Both were quite tasty.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped into a grocery store looking for hand sanitizer.  Instead, I found Santa Margherita Pinot Grigot for 7.89 Euros.  For real?  Why did I not load up my suitcase with this for our return home?  Why are we paying nearly $30 a bottle here?  That's crazy!

Next stop was at Palazzo del Freddo for gelato.  This is the oldest gelato factory in Italy.  It was amazing.  Jtl had chocolate and tiramisu.  I went with plain chocolate.  We both opted for the fresh whipped cream on top.  As a tourist, I took pictures and didn't worry about the kid that found this to be amusing.