Off Again: Day 10

Got an earlier start today although it could have been earlier if the Internet here was more reliable.  Tried to download one of those voice translation apps and it took over an hour. Finally have one called simply Translator. It will do voice translating as well as having a dictionary where you can look up words.  So far, haven’t been able to get it to work.

Desyuno today was across from Parque Colon again but at the restaurant next door.  I had a delicious ham & cheese omelette which I forgot to take a picture of until I was half way through so I’ll have it again another morning and try to take a picture first.  Friendly waiter with good English and gold wavy hair.

Right after breakfast, I walked to Spanish Square, Plaza de España, on the waterfront where they have the Museo Alcazar de Diego Colon. He certainly had a beautiful spot with long balconies facing both the water and the square and gorgeous cross breeze throughout. I loved the stone and brick. The furniture throughout had the same pattern mostly.  I’m pretty sure the furniture wasn’t all original to his house or else he really liked having a lot of dining rooms.  I’ll just put a few pictures here and then later I’ll add a page with all of them which you’ll be able to access from the header.

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Coming away from the plaza there was a lovely wide walk with many interesting buildings including a mausoleum honouring DR patriots; it’s called The Pantheón de la Patria. There is an honour guard on duty and an eternal flame.  It houses the remains of many of the heroes of the DR.  The building was originally a Jesuit convent (1715-1745) but the Jesuits were expelled from the DR around 1767.  After that, it was a number of things including a tobacco factory until the dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered it restored in 1958 in order to have a place to house his own remains.  I had visited it last year but left my camera on the bus as it had been a long day and we were told we wouldn’t need them. So this time I got my own pictures.

Out in front of the Casa de Ovando there were iron sculptures of a horse and a bull.  I’ve seen similar sculptures before and love them. A group of elementary school children in uniform were there and I asked one of the teachers if they’d like a group picture in front of the horse. So I got them all organized and took their picture. Then they went on their way and I got this clear shot of the horse.

I passed a lovely hotel (5 star) that had 6 flags flying, 3 on either side of the doorway. I talked to the bellhop for a bit; they had the DR flag, US, French, and others but no Canadian flag so I asked him where it was.  He’s going to try to do something about it.  Maybe.

By the time I got back to the park I needed a bottle of water, so I bought one at the restaurant, checked when the next little tourist train would leave, then sat down in the shade to wait.  While I was writing this up in Notes (I find it saves time later if I can copy and paste into my blog), yup, one of the hundreds of pigeons pooped on my back.  Two people giving out pamphlets and talking to people about God helped me get most of it off.  Then I waited a bit further up El Conde where it was a bit safer.

Lots of these street vendors have stacks of canvas paintings on the ground and when they sell a mounted one, they pick one up off the stack, grab another wooden frame and staple the new one on and put it up on display.  Some of the stores do that, too.

I don’t remember seeing this young man yesterday but I did see him on Wednesday and published his picture on my blog for that day.  Have to admire his ingenuity — he looked totally different today and I liked him much better.  I’ll try to track him each day now to see how many different poses he strikes.

I really enjoyed the Choo-choo Tourist train.  Many of the streets I had been down before but it was interesting to hear the history behind some of the buildings, the street name changes, and some of the modern history of certain places.  The photo I finished my blog with yesterday is of a street that is very famous.  Many movie scenes have been shot there and it is a main attraction.

Spent the rest of the afternoon poolside then had cheese sandwiches in my room.  There is a grocery store on the corner so I picked up a few things as I’m finding I could have used more cash on the trip.  I have my card but . . .  Tonight I went out and got a frozen yogurt smoothie.  Really cool.  They put kiwi and blackberries in for me and it hit the spot.  Cheers from the Colonial Zone, Santo Domingo!