The past few days a wonderful day was had by both. The surf was down a bit and the ocean (and pool) were a perfect temperature. It was warm and quiet on the beach. Good for us, not so great for the vendors attempting to make a living. I contributed to the cause by buying myself a beautiful set of earrings, pendant and bracelet in larimar from Cheapy Willie Promotions. It was his first sale of the day at 3 pm so he was pleased. And so was I as it looked lovely with my black dress when we went to supper at the steak house on Tuesday evening. Francis spoiled us with 'specialties' such as garlic toasts, grilled vegetables and more along with our meal - I had a chef's salad, chateaubriand with bernaise sauce, baked potato, corn on the cob, grilled veggies and profiteroles for dessert. Yum.
The only casualty of the week was my Kindle is toast. I guess if this is the only negative then you're doing well. The screen is indelibly etched with a page I was reading. Sigh. I shall have to contact Amazon and see about a replacement and transferring my downloaded books. In looking for a paper book to read I found the vanilla I've picked up for myself and others - hope I don't have to claim it as liquor. The books (take one, leave one) are now managed by the entertainment staff who directed me to the bookshelf when I described my dead e-reader plight. "Es meurte - not the first time this has happened" the staff member tells me. I discovered that a large number of German and French readers leave their books compared to English and the Kathy Reichs novel which I have yet to read as it is on the dead Kindle was there in……German! There were a few choices however and we're only here for another few days so I will survive.
We were over to The Jade Garden last evening and enjoyed an Asian meal - in Dominican terms that is. You know the adage 'always remember your camera' well I didn't follow that rule and we encountered some fractured Engrish which I would've loved to document. On the inside of the menu at the oriental restaurant was a laminated notice that stated for an additional charge you could have "pekinese crispy style duck" we almost hooted out loud - clearly an autocorrect for Peking duck. When one of the appetizers (I think it was a croquette) was not describable I told the travel partner that I thought it was 'mystery meat' and he says "maybe it's pekinese" and that was it - we were lost. Where is your camera when you need it? The fried ice cream for dessert was great - not sure how Asian it was, but it was delicious.
Arranged a tour through Luis for today - jaunt to the cable car - the weather is much clearer than when we were here in March - visibility wasn't enough on any day then. Had a nice tour of Puerta Plata, St Phillipe cathedral, the amber museum, the fortress and…..the funicular. The clouds came in a bit at the top but we had a great view of the city, resorts and all. Had to charge the batteries so will post pictures tomorrow. A bit of a slow start as the tour guide was sent to the wrong resort and we both accused each other of not being there then agreed to disagree. Spent a few hours with some nice ladies from Calgary and the mystery was solved when the tour guide tried to return us to the wrong hotel so we were both there at 9 am just not in the same place :) Off to get ready for supper after catching a few rays at the beach then a swim in the spa pool And tomorrow is the evening for a local meal out with Luis and his espouse before we throw all the dirty laundry in the suitcase for home.
