Probably last report from here in the wonderful Dominican Republic

It is Friday, our next to last day here. We leave on Sunday morning. Back to reality. Can't say I am looking forward to it, especially with what the weather has been at home. I used to like snow, sort of. I still think it's beautiful when it's falling and right afterwards. At least, when I don't have to go anywhere. But I don't enjoy being out in it anymore. Loring still does. He skis, of course, but also likes to just be in and play in the snow. And, of course, there is the political situation to have to face. It's not that we haven't been following things here, we have beeen reading the Globe and looking at other internet sources every day. Yet I feel like we can at least maintain distance by virtue of the fact that we are in a different environment, where it isn't the focus of everyone's attention. We do have tv here, three of them actually, in the living room and two of the three bedrooms. But we haven't turned them on even once. And now for the food report: We have been having either eggs or yogurt and bananas for breakfast every day. My eggs have been in the form of French toast, because that is the perfect use for stale baguette. We don't have any syrup. I had intended to use our kiwi marmelade, but tried cooking slices of banana atop each piece of bread. Not bad. Loring has been making omlettes'with cheese and tomato. Lunches have been mostly cheese with bread or crackers and tomatoes, and cucumber the one time we found some. We have only been shopping in the little local markets, haven't been to the large supermarket at all this time, which is about a fifteen minute walk away. We have eaten every supper out, all of them in the various beach restaurants just steps away from our house. There's about a dozen of them. We've had only one meal I didn't like. The portions are huge, and I have wound up taking home leftovers several times, which became my next day's lunch. But a few days ago, we realized that one meal was plenty for both of us, so that's what we've been doing. Only problem with that is that we don't have the same favorites. Loring likes whole or fileted fish, which I do like also, but not every night. My favorites are seafood, shrimp, conch, crab, squid. Last night Loring gave in and we ordered conch in garlic sauce. Each meal comes with a huge side dish, of salad, rice, mashed potatoes, fries, tostones (fried plantains) and some other choices. One or two nights we had delicious vegetables, a combination of carrots, onions, tayota (chayote) but we can't remember which restaurant that was at. I thought the conch was delicious, Loring, not so much. So tonight I guess it's my turn to conceed the decision. Unless we get ceviche, which we both love. They serve it here as a main dish rather than an appetizer. Our conch meal last night was served with rice, so much of it that I took a huge amount home and ate it with eggs this morning. Which I also do at home when we have rice leftover from Chinese food. We had ice cream for lunch once this week, and plan to do so tomorrow for our last lunch. So I guess we need to make sure to not have leftovers tonite. The pastries from the French bakery around the corner are pretty good, although not quite at the level of true French ones. We've had fruit tarts, an almond croissant which I mentioned before, chocolate croissants, and an unusual tarte that was half chocolate and half a lime cream. It was good if a bit strange. There have been days when I don't go out to the street at all, just to the beach side, for part of the morning, part of the afternoon, and then again in the evening for supper. So i go without shoes all day. The people here are a real mix of tourists and locals, Dominicans and foreigners. I have been hearing nearly as much French as Spanish. We are wondering what proportion are from France, and guessing that at least some of them are CAnadian. One thing that has made us wonder is that we have seen poutine on a couple of menues, which as far as I know is not French but Canadian. The menus here are sometimes in Spanish, French, and English, but more often just in Spanish and French. Today is one of the only days I did not go in the water. It's been really calm almost every day, but today was much rougher and I chose not to go in. I do hope the waves are calmer tomorrow. If not, I plan to go in anyway. It's so relaxing to be in the gentle waves. Or maybe, even a quick dip on Sunday morning, before we leave here for the airport. It's a couple of hours drive. This will probably be my last post from here, unless something special happens tomorrow or Sunday. I am already thinking about the possibility of coming back next winter, which would really be a first. Unless someplace else beckons strongly, always a possibility. I just heard today that one of my mosaic teachers is planning two workshops next winter in Bali!

Day After Day

The days fall into an easy rhythm, not much difference from day to day. And that is fine. We spend the first couple of hours in our outdoor living room, which has two long couches and lots of pillows. Then spend another hour or two in the afternoon after our time on the beach. Breakfast is either yogurt with bananas and granola, or croissants from the French bakery down the street. Then, usually, a couple of hours on the beach. We have plastic lounge chairs that we haul out from the garden every morning, and back in at night. Lunch is usually crackers or a baguette with cheese, sometimes with tomatoes and or cucumber if we can find them. Today, though, we had ice cream from the place a couple of doors down from us on the street. It's pretty good, but pretty pricey for here, on a par with at home. Twice I have taken home leftovers from our dinners. Once it was a pasta and shrimp dish, which I had for lunch the next day. Last night I had sopa de mariscos, seafood soup, which was delicious, perhaps the best meal I've had here so far. And more than I could eat. I planned to have the rest for lunch today, until Loring proposed the ice cream idea. So it will probably be tomorrow's lunch. It had all kinds of seafood including shrimp and squid, conch I think, and I believe also some fish. The broth was gently curried, and there were veggies in it too, carrots, and tayota, known elsewhere as chayote and by numerous other names in different places. In the afternoons, more time on the beach, reading, and playing in the water. The waves have been quite gentle, although on a couple of days strong enough to knock me over a couple of times. And the temperature of the water is perfect. Loring goes on a couple of long swims every day, and I go frolic in the water at least once, listening to music on my favorite toy, my mp3 player. Today, though, the voice on the player was saying something, over Joni Mitchell singing, that I couldn't decipher. Until the music stopped, and I realize she had been saying battery low. Oh well. In the late afternoon we have been usually playing cards while having our rhum drinks at home. First it was gin rummy, then cribbage, and last night played 500 rummy which I don't think we've played for years. It's a good game. We didn't make it to near 500 points, so will continue as soon as I finish writing. And then, out for a stroll down the beach, our biggest decision for the day being which restaurant to eat at. We have eaten only once at each place so far, still have at least a couple to try before we return to any of them. We have six nights left after tonite, so are half way through our sojourn here in Las Terrenas. Today is Sunday. We expected there to be more people on the beach yesterday and today, since probably half the people here seem to be local, or at least Dominican. But that didn't prove to be true. Oh, did I mention the elvers and the elver fishermen? I probably did. Well, I will mention them again. Elvers are tiny eels, about an inch long. They are fished here, in some other tropical places, and seemingly incongrously, in Maine. They are prized in Japan where they are eaten in sushi and perhaps other ways.To be an eel chef is separate than a sushi chef, requiring special training. They are caught and then grown to larger size before being shipped to Japan. They are so valuable, up to $2000 a pound. There was a whole book written about them being fished in Maine. The elver fishermen, with their green nets, head lamps or flashlights, and plastic bottles to catch the eels, create an eerie, almost mystical vision along the shore at night. They line up, fairly close to each other, and comb the waves with their nets. It seems only once in a while do they catch an elver. Last night we walked along the shore, close to our house, and one of them brought his net up to us to show us the one he had just captured. I often see eel on sushi menus at home. I wonder if it is the same species as these. I am guessing not. This requires more research. I will report back.

Onto Terrenas

s We are now in Las Terrenas, our second and last destination in the DR. Today is our third day here; we will be here 12 nights total. This is the second time we have been to Las Terrenas, and the same place we stayed last time. I probably said before, in a previous post, that it is rare for us to stay in the same place twice. We like to explore different places. There are so many places I'd like to go, and also so many I'd like to go back to. I have begun to acknowledge that I will never go to all the places I'd like to visit. Also, so many places seem overrun by tourism that I might not even like visiting them anymore. This VRBO house is unusual in that it is on the main street of the town. The front door is on the street. But the back door gate, through a garden, opens directly onto the beach. It feels like a secret garden opening into a different world. it is apparently the only house in the. town that is directly on the beach. We don't have the spectacular view we had in Cabarete, with the waves rushing almost up to our building. But we still can hear the waves from here, from the bedroom, and the garden. And the beach is low key. There are the dozen or so beach restaurants that we remember from a few years ago, most of them with tables in the sand. No need to wear shoes to dinner, which was also true in Cabarete. I'd be hard pressed to say which place I like the best, we have been happy with both. I'm kind of glad this place wasn't available the first few days we wanted to be here, this way we got to experience both. Last time we spent a few days in Santo Domingo. The hotel we stayed at was historic and charming, but I didn't care too much for the city. The first night here we chose a restaurant about halfway down the stretch along the beach. I think it was a one person operation. A delightful woman welcomed us, took our order, brought the food. I am guessing she also cooked it. Loring had chicken and I had pasta with shrimp in an Alfredo type sauce. Delicious but way too much to eat. I had the second part for lunch today. I may not want any supper! Our pattern is to have breakfast and lunch here, and dinner out. We bought yogurt, granola, bananas, cheese, crackers, cucumber and tomato at a couple of small grocery stores. Our routine was similar in Cabarete except for the sumptuous breakfasts they served. There is a French bakery a few doors down from us. A little incongruous. They have fruit tartes, croissants, various breads, and a bunch of other pastries. The first afternoon we just surveyed the place and said we'd be back in the morning. Next morning L went out early and brought back a baguette and an almond croissant. The croissant was so big and covered with almonds and powdered sugar that I couldn't make out the crescent shape and had to ask the woman what it was! I can't say the pastries are as good as in a French bakery, but I am not complaining! A beautiful beach, a garden and outdoor living room, and French pastries, what more could one want? L went to the bakery again this am and brought home another baguette, a strawberry tarte, and a delicious macaroon. We haven't had the tarte yet, I'll let you know how it is later. Our dinners last night were a wonderful ceviche and a fish filet. There was a choice of ceviches, and two styles, traditional and Thai! I order the mixed Thai, which was marinated in sesame oil and coconut. But pretty sure what I got was the traditional. That's ok. I'll go back another night for the Thai. Loring has gone for long swims every day, as he always does in beach environments. I have gone in for long dips every day, not always true for me. I like calm oceans, with gentle waves. Happily, that's been the case in both locations here. I go in with my underwater mp3 player and dance around in the waves for, I don't know, maybe a half hour? It's hard to estimate time here. Today I listened to Eminem, Debbie Harry, Bruce, the Chicks and more. I think if people are watching me in the water they must wonder what the hell I am doing. And speaking of watching people, we were really entertained this afternoon watching two young women at the edge of the water striking poses and taking selfies and pictures of each other. Loring said they'd already been there for about half an hour before I came out. There are a few kite surfers here, but nowhere like the number of ones in Cabarete. I think the beach they all take off from there is even called Kite Beach. We think a lot of them must have been local, because they all came out late in the afternoon, perhaps after work? Also, we've noticed a number of local children in both places, often without adults, which seems so nice. Not something you'd find in the States. The kids in both places seemed to appear at about 3 o'clock which would mean after school. Yesterday, two little girls came up to us speaking in Spanish that we couldn't understand. They seemed to be asking for something. Then one of them went into a recited monologe which was really two parts of a dialog she'd learned, ie " How are you, sir? I am fine, how are you? And then they both struck frozen poses. It was rather odd; probably some kind of game that we couldnt understand. Yesterday there was one sole kite surfer off the beach, really close to us in the water. . We were actually a little concerned that he might get tio close and we'd get caught in his cord. Well, I've almost run out of things to tell you about, and Loring is hinting that it's time to play cards. And also have our rum cocktails. So I will stop here. On to the next event. TBC.

The lull of the waves.

The repetitive sounds of waves hitting the sand is so soothing, and equally so, at least in a calm ocean, is the lulling motion of the waves when you are floating in the sea. It was a very conscious decision to leave home for a tropical place at this particular time. We did the same thing eight years ago for the first Trump inauguration. Although I did watch part of it then, and more of the pink hat march. Loring went for a swim then. This time neither of us had any desire to watch. And even though one is still aware of events taking place, just by virtue of being in another place, where you know that most people are not focussed on the event, makes it much more tolerable. Today we had another sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. They serve from 8 am to 10 am. We have seen almost no other people eating at the restaurant. Wondering if perhaps breakfast doesn't come with every reservation. There are somewhat more people at dinner. Although nothing like our first night, Friday, when there was live music and a bigger crowd. I am glad that breakfast comes with ours. Today it was the Americano breakfast, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, toast, fruit salad. It was more than I could eat. This may be the first time in my life that I turned down bacon. There was so much that I gave two slices to Loring. This is our last day here. Tomorrow we leave at noon for Las Terrenas, where we will stay for the remaining 12 days of our visit. It's not that far in miles, but a three and a half hour drive. We haven't had a car here, and haven't needed one, nor will we in Las Terrenas. The only thing I would have wanted to see here is the center of town. Loring did walk down there along the beach this morning, while I established myself on the sand between stands of lounge chairs and umbrellas. I might have been tempted to rent one, but we didn't have any money with us. The one guy who approached us said it would be 500 pesos for two chairs and an umbrella, about eight dollars. So I guess it would have been around $4 for one, not unreasonable. But I am ok lying on a towel in the sand as long as I have something to use as a pillow, in this case Loring's towel while he was walking down the beach and swimming back. However, shortly after I lay down on the beach it began to rain. And continued, more than the brief shower it often is in places like this. Although it's warm and not really unpleasant in the rain, I didn't really relish trying to read while getting rained on. So after about fifteen minutes, with the sky not showing signs of quickly clearing, I walked back down the beach and onto our hotel deck. The lounge chairs we have been using there each day are not covered. But there are some comfortable chairs and sofas where I settled in. About fifteen minutes later Loring returned. At noonish we went back to our apartment and read for a while longer, then had lunch. I was not very hungry after our big breakfast, but knew I would be later if I didn't have something. We have been eating light lunches of cheese and bread or crackers, with some cucumber and tomato. We've had a very good hard cheese, perhaps cheddar, with cumin, and a soft queso fresco, a mild white cheese available in the supermarket at home. It's begun to rain again, a good time to write, but also quite pleasant on our porch overlooking the water. I am not expecting the rain to last much longer, and we'll then head out to our own section of the beach right in front of the hotel, It's somewhat quieter here today, as we'd guessed it might be, now that the weekend is over. The family with several kids who have spent the last few days here, the kids spending the entire day between the pool and the beach, has now gone, and we miss them. They were so friendly and joyful, and we enjoyed watching them. But there are still families with children along the beach who seem Dominican, as far as we can tell. I think the rain has stopped, so, time to head back to the beach.

Return to the Dominican Republic

It is Sunday. We left Boston Friday morning on a four hour direct flight to Santiago DR. This is our second trip to the country. We rarely go to the same place more than once, always wanting to discover new places. That is with the exception of Paris, where I can never go too many times. Eight years ago, though, we did go on a second trip to Guadeloupe, right on the cusp of Trump's first inauguration. We didn't go to the same airbnb, but to one a few doors down, also right on the ocean, that we had seen on our previous trip. It was upstairs from the bar in the TV show Death in Paradise. This trip we are returning to the same house we stayed in three years ago. But we are not there yet. It was only available on this coming Tuesday, the day after tomorrow. And tomorrow is the inauguration. I was determined to not be in the US for that. So we are here in Cabarete for four days. It was a good choice. We are staying at the oddly named Ultra Infinity Hotel. There is a long stretch of beach here, and we are on the far end. Further down, the beachfront is occupied by myriad hotels, restaurants, and bars. It is all pretty low key. But on our end it is pretty quiet, and the waves are calmer too. There is a constant parade of people walking along the beach, and they all turn around right at our hotel, because there is an old concrete pier jutting out right past there, a bit hard to walk over. Our apartment faces directly onto the ocean. We have a nice balcony with comfortable furniture, Our bedroom overlooks the water, too. There is a kitchen and a second bedroom, which we don't need, except for serving as Loring's dressing room! There is ample closet space, but peculiarly, almost no drawer space. We have found that to be true at many places we've stayed, hotels and b&bs. There must be a reason why, but we haven't figured it out. So I have used the closet, and Loring uses the bed in the spare bedroom as his. Breakfast is included, and there is a wide selection of choices, including a number of different omelettes, pancakes, french toast, waffles, and more. There is a choice of fruit juices, including passion fruit, pineapple, watermelon, orange, and lemon. And fresh fruit is served with each breakfast entree. Pineapple, canteloupe, watermelon, papaya, apple, a different combination each say. The first night we ate here at Ultra. I had a conch dish, Loring had fish. Quite good. Last night, we walked down the beach quite a ways before deciding on a restaurant. The setting was great, table on the beach, away from the loud music that most places have. The food, though, was disappointing. My shrimp dish with passion fruit sauce was ok but not great, and had crunchy pieces that weren't appealing, that I think might have been the passion fruit seeds. And Loring made the mistake of not specifying that he wanted his grouper steamed, not fried. It was very dry and not great. And the service was very very slow. We are used to slow service in many places, but this was extremely slow. The service staff was very friendly though. But I don't think we'll go back there. Tonight, we will eat here at our own place again. Yesterday, we walked down the beach quite a bit and stayed at a spot with our towels spread out on the sand. Most places had lounge chairs, which we assume were for rent. But we found a spot between places where we could spread out. We walked back to in front of our own place and went into the water, me for the first time. It was calm and pleasant. But no sooner had I immersed myself than a police officer blew his whistle and motioned for us to get out of the water. There was a local man and his two kids next to us. They got out too and he asked the young cop why we had to leave the water. His answer was that his boss told him so, and he didn't know why. The local man was friendly and spoke good English. He said that he worked at one of the local hotels, the Majestic if I am remembering right. He made a joke about being loco, a play on being local. Loring thought the only reason he could think of was that there had been a shark sighted. We don't know, and today there was no problem. There are tons of wind surfers and even more kite surfers, dozens, and maybe more than a hundred. Loring noticed that they also were all gone mid afternoon yesterday, perhaps also told by the cop or someonne to leave for whatever reason we had been. But they were all back today. There are venders walking up and down the beach, some with jewelry, some with cigars, others with merchandise undiscernable. They are hardly hustling, in fact seem kind of lacksadaisical. One guy was texting on his phone while carrying whatever was his merchandise, not paying any attention at all to potential customers. The visitors here are a very mixed bunch. There are some other Americans, some French speaking, many that seem Dominican or at least are Spanish speaking. Lots of families with young kids, but also many couples and groups around our age. Since it's the weekend, we aare wondering if there will be less families tomorrow. We'll see. Well, Loring is bugging me about heading down to dinner, so I guess I'll stop here.