NOTE: Many of these photos were taken with my iphone.
Obligatory travel shots
After arriving at the Lifestyles Resort Confresi Beach in Puerto Plata, I stopped to grab something to eat. Passion fruit seemed to be a staple on the island and I couldn't get enough of it! #love
I took a little walk on the beach to check it out and do some location scouting for my wedding.
I headed back to my hotel room, got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. I was greeted at the door of the restaurant with a shot of Mamajuana, a Dominican drink made up of red wine, rum, honey + local tree bark and herbs. It tastes very similar to port. Fantastic!
I was standing outside the restaurant waiting for transportation back to my hotel when my entire evening changed. A group of girls probably about 10 years younger than me commented on my high heels. We talked fashion and shoes for a few minutes and the next thing you know they had convinced me to go to the Thursday night street party with them. I clearly had no idea what I was getting into, but it was a blast! There was a huge bubble machine overhead that covered an entire city block with bubbles that went up over my head in most areas. And as you can see from a few of the photos, I was covered from head to toe in glitter. I've never seen so much glitter in my life! It followed me home (the glitter, not the glitter man), was on the hallway walls trailing to my shower, in my shoes, my purse, my dress, my hair! I didn't get rid of it until day 4.
I ate a ton while I was here. I will spare you by not posting every food shot that I took, but I will include a few! The Dominican staples include beans, rice, chicken and plantains. Many meats seemed to be stewed. Everything that I had was very good, other than the tripe. I could live without eating that again!
Presidente is a pilsner produced in the Dominican Republic. Most places that we went to only served Presidente. I didn't realize I was getting something special when the guy at the souvenir shop gave me a Bohemia Especial!
Off to the Brugal Rum factory! I never knew how much I liked rum until visiting the DR. How had I missed out for so long on Cuba Libres? After taking the tour, I sampled 4 different types of rum and left with 2 bottles of extra viejo. Fun fact: Did you know that rum is made from sugar cane? I had no idea.
Now on to Fort San Felipe which was used to protect the City of Puerto Plata from pirates. It was built in 1577 on top of a hill which gives it a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Next up, the Amber Museum. The semi precious gem is formed out of the fossilized resin of ancient trees and can be clear (nothing in it) or contain bits of history such as insects, plants, or even small animals like lizards! This museum houses a rare piece of amber that contains a lizard dating back 30-40 million years ago which you can see in the photo below. The Dominican Republic is also the only place that contains blue amber which gets its color from volcanic ash. One other thing to mention although I didn't photograph it is Larimar or blue pectolite which is an extremely rare gemstone that has only been found in the mountainous province of Barahona, Dominican Republic. Fun fact: did you know that you can tell real amber from fake amber by putting them in slightly salted water? The real amber will float while the fake amber will sink. They will both sink in fresh water!
Mamajuana and cigars - they are everywhere!
Walking around downtown Puerto Plata, near central park.
There are quite a few cigar factories that we came across. After learning about the process I rolled and smoked (just a tiny bit) my first cigar. Interesting and fun. Crossing it off my bucket list!
Next we took Teleferico, the only aerial tramway in the Caribbean, up to Pico Isabel de Torres, a 793 meter high mountain. There were many beautiful things to see and overall views of the city below, but this tree and the light caught my eye as soon as I started walking.
Downtown Puerto Plata I knew I wanted to get some street photography in while I was here. We dedicated a day to walking around and exploring the downtown area to take photos. This first image is Central Park. We had the taxi take us here to start us off!
We didn't get but a few blocks before running into a (potentially) familiar face. There was a young guy, who you will see in many of the following photos, named Antonio. He approached me as if he knew me, said something about the Tropical, which was where I was staying at the Lifestyle Resort and pretended to be offended that I may not have remembered him by my slightly confused look. The reason I was confused was because I thought I had met him a few days before on the street, NOT from the resort. When he told me he was a lifeguard at the Tropical pool, I was just trying to sort out my thoughts. Anyway, not sure that he was from either place, he may have just had us pegged based on our silly resort bracelets. Whoops. He turned out to be an awesome personal tour guide anyway!
A few shots of a graveyard that we visited on our way to the market.
Feral dogs and cats are everywhere. These pups were catching a nap in the shade to escape the heat!
Entering the market...
You'll notice a few people hiding their faces from the camera. I was told that these folks were probably Haitian refugees.
We then moved on to the clothing market which was full of piled up clothing, shoes and accessories.
I really wanted to try the passion fruit juice...but I didn't. Maybe next time!
We then ventured into a building known for it's voodoo magic. Interesting to say the least!
Nothing scary at all about the voodoo closet...nothing scary at all ;-)
Back out into the streets walking around, checking out architecture and heading to find some lunch!
Motorbikes are huge in the DR. If you see someone riding a motorbike with a yellow vest on, they are for hire. It costs $1-$2 to go basically anywhere on the back of a bike!
A little added security at the top of this wall!
Pretty sure this is where our lunch came from...
I have already forgotten what kind of fruit this is hanging from the tree. I was amazed at all of the fruit that could be spotted (and eaten) just walking the streets of downtown Puerto Plata. We saw mangoes, avocados, passion fruit, guava, and a few things that were unfamiliar to me.
Finally, lunch time. Antonio promised to take us to a restaurant where the locals eat to get authentic Dominican food. We basically sat down and let him handle the rest. He brought out beans, rice and chicken.
Seems as if I wasn't the only one happy to have lunch :-)
Antonio also added an avocado that we picked up at the market. Delicious...
We, of course, wanted to take care of our tour guide and had ordered 3 beers. He ran off and joined us a bit later with I swear, 2-40 ounce beers for David and me and a bottle of rum for himself. Straight up rum, right out of the bottle. Ouch. Not to mention, he finished the entire bottle by the time our 'tour' was over!
It seemed to me that anywhere that something was produced was called a factory in the DR. This was a painting factory. Some of the art around the island was pretty amazing.
Antonio made it a point to show us this Victorian house. It seemed like a big deal so I thought I would post a shot...
I was admittedly a little hesitant at this point to follow Antonio. We walked through a ton of trash and nastiness to get to where he was standing and we weren't exactly sure why at first. Antonio had spotted a mango tree and had his mind set on getting a mango for us to snack on.
Probably a little tipsy from the rum, he picked up a large board and knocked down a mango or two!
He seemed quite pleased with his skills!
We then went to a little corner market type store where he broke out his knife to cut up the mango. We had also promised to buy him some powdered milk for his baby as he insisted he didn't want cash. I have to say, I actually loved what he did with the mango. It was greener than I would typically eat it, but he sliced it up and sprinkled it with coarse sea salt. It may be a new favorite of mine!
We ended up back at Central Park where we caught a taxi and headed back to the resort!
There was one thing that I was told that I had to do while in the Dominican Republic and that was to go to Cabarete and have Camarones del Papi which was promised as being the best shrimp I have ever eaten. Of course we had to make this happen. One thing we learned on this venture is that it's cheaper to hire 1 taxi roundtrip vs paying separately both ways. You pay at the end so you don't have to worry about them taking off and not coming back. It was about an hour taxi ride ($100 USD RT). We got to the main street, stepped out of the taxi and just by luck happened to be standing right under the restaurant's sign for Papi's!
A fresh mojito while waiting for lunch...
Oh my did we over order. We had already eaten some awesome ceviche and had no clue how huge the orders of shrimp were going to be. Each order was in a wok sized pan and we had ordered 2!
Just to give you a little perspective on how huge the pans were!
AND finished. I haven't eaten that much in a long time. I couldn't even think about food for the next 12 hours!
But with that said, I had read about these little desserts that were sold on this beach and had to try one when the man came by selling them. They were candied coconut and were fantastic!
Gorgeous beaches in Cabarete - known for windsurfing and kite surfing.
Random, fuzzy plant:
Back at the resort, hanging out on Confresi beach:
Overall, a fun trip!
After arriving at the Lifestyles Resort Confresi Beach in Puerto Plata, I stopped to grab something to eat. Passion fruit seemed to be a staple on the island and I couldn't get enough of it! #love
I took a little walk on the beach to check it out and do some location scouting for my wedding.
I headed back to my hotel room, got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. I was greeted at the door of the restaurant with a shot of Mamajuana, a Dominican drink made up of red wine, rum, honey + local tree bark and herbs. It tastes very similar to port. Fantastic!
I was standing outside the restaurant waiting for transportation back to my hotel when my entire evening changed. A group of girls probably about 10 years younger than me commented on my high heels. We talked fashion and shoes for a few minutes and the next thing you know they had convinced me to go to the Thursday night street party with them. I clearly had no idea what I was getting into, but it was a blast! There was a huge bubble machine overhead that covered an entire city block with bubbles that went up over my head in most areas. And as you can see from a few of the photos, I was covered from head to toe in glitter. I've never seen so much glitter in my life! It followed me home (the glitter, not the glitter man), was on the hallway walls trailing to my shower, in my shoes, my purse, my dress, my hair! I didn't get rid of it until day 4.
I ate a ton while I was here. I will spare you by not posting every food shot that I took, but I will include a few! The Dominican staples include beans, rice, chicken and plantains. Many meats seemed to be stewed. Everything that I had was very good, other than the tripe. I could live without eating that again!
Presidente is a pilsner produced in the Dominican Republic. Most places that we went to only served Presidente. I didn't realize I was getting something special when the guy at the souvenir shop gave me a Bohemia Especial!
Off to the Brugal Rum factory! I never knew how much I liked rum until visiting the DR. How had I missed out for so long on Cuba Libres? After taking the tour, I sampled 4 different types of rum and left with 2 bottles of extra viejo. Fun fact: Did you know that rum is made from sugar cane? I had no idea.
Now on to Fort San Felipe which was used to protect the City of Puerto Plata from pirates. It was built in 1577 on top of a hill which gives it a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Next up, the Amber Museum. The semi precious gem is formed out of the fossilized resin of ancient trees and can be clear (nothing in it) or contain bits of history such as insects, plants, or even small animals like lizards! This museum houses a rare piece of amber that contains a lizard dating back 30-40 million years ago which you can see in the photo below. The Dominican Republic is also the only place that contains blue amber which gets its color from volcanic ash. One other thing to mention although I didn't photograph it is Larimar or blue pectolite which is an extremely rare gemstone that has only been found in the mountainous province of Barahona, Dominican Republic. Fun fact: did you know that you can tell real amber from fake amber by putting them in slightly salted water? The real amber will float while the fake amber will sink. They will both sink in fresh water!
Mamajuana and cigars - they are everywhere!
Walking around downtown Puerto Plata, near central park.
There are quite a few cigar factories that we came across. After learning about the process I rolled and smoked (just a tiny bit) my first cigar. Interesting and fun. Crossing it off my bucket list!
Next we took Teleferico, the only aerial tramway in the Caribbean, up to Pico Isabel de Torres, a 793 meter high mountain. There were many beautiful things to see and overall views of the city below, but this tree and the light caught my eye as soon as I started walking.
Downtown Puerto Plata I knew I wanted to get some street photography in while I was here. We dedicated a day to walking around and exploring the downtown area to take photos. This first image is Central Park. We had the taxi take us here to start us off!
We didn't get but a few blocks before running into a (potentially) familiar face. There was a young guy, who you will see in many of the following photos, named Antonio. He approached me as if he knew me, said something about the Tropical, which was where I was staying at the Lifestyle Resort and pretended to be offended that I may not have remembered him by my slightly confused look. The reason I was confused was because I thought I had met him a few days before on the street, NOT from the resort. When he told me he was a lifeguard at the Tropical pool, I was just trying to sort out my thoughts. Anyway, not sure that he was from either place, he may have just had us pegged based on our silly resort bracelets. Whoops. He turned out to be an awesome personal tour guide anyway!
A few shots of a graveyard that we visited on our way to the market.
Feral dogs and cats are everywhere. These pups were catching a nap in the shade to escape the heat!
Entering the market...
You'll notice a few people hiding their faces from the camera. I was told that these folks were probably Haitian refugees.
We then moved on to the clothing market which was full of piled up clothing, shoes and accessories.
I really wanted to try the passion fruit juice...but I didn't. Maybe next time!
We then ventured into a building known for it's voodoo magic. Interesting to say the least!
Nothing scary at all about the voodoo closet...nothing scary at all ;-)
Back out into the streets walking around, checking out architecture and heading to find some lunch!
Motorbikes are huge in the DR. If you see someone riding a motorbike with a yellow vest on, they are for hire. It costs $1-$2 to go basically anywhere on the back of a bike!
A little added security at the top of this wall!
Pretty sure this is where our lunch came from...
I have already forgotten what kind of fruit this is hanging from the tree. I was amazed at all of the fruit that could be spotted (and eaten) just walking the streets of downtown Puerto Plata. We saw mangoes, avocados, passion fruit, guava, and a few things that were unfamiliar to me.
Finally, lunch time. Antonio promised to take us to a restaurant where the locals eat to get authentic Dominican food. We basically sat down and let him handle the rest. He brought out beans, rice and chicken.
Seems as if I wasn't the only one happy to have lunch :-)
Antonio also added an avocado that we picked up at the market. Delicious...
We, of course, wanted to take care of our tour guide and had ordered 3 beers. He ran off and joined us a bit later with I swear, 2-40 ounce beers for David and me and a bottle of rum for himself. Straight up rum, right out of the bottle. Ouch. Not to mention, he finished the entire bottle by the time our 'tour' was over!
It seemed to me that anywhere that something was produced was called a factory in the DR. This was a painting factory. Some of the art around the island was pretty amazing.
Antonio made it a point to show us this Victorian house. It seemed like a big deal so I thought I would post a shot...
I was admittedly a little hesitant at this point to follow Antonio. We walked through a ton of trash and nastiness to get to where he was standing and we weren't exactly sure why at first. Antonio had spotted a mango tree and had his mind set on getting a mango for us to snack on.
Probably a little tipsy from the rum, he picked up a large board and knocked down a mango or two!
He seemed quite pleased with his skills!
We then went to a little corner market type store where he broke out his knife to cut up the mango. We had also promised to buy him some powdered milk for his baby as he insisted he didn't want cash. I have to say, I actually loved what he did with the mango. It was greener than I would typically eat it, but he sliced it up and sprinkled it with coarse sea salt. It may be a new favorite of mine!
We ended up back at Central Park where we caught a taxi and headed back to the resort!
There was one thing that I was told that I had to do while in the Dominican Republic and that was to go to Cabarete and have Camarones del Papi which was promised as being the best shrimp I have ever eaten. Of course we had to make this happen. One thing we learned on this venture is that it's cheaper to hire 1 taxi roundtrip vs paying separately both ways. You pay at the end so you don't have to worry about them taking off and not coming back. It was about an hour taxi ride ($100 USD RT). We got to the main street, stepped out of the taxi and just by luck happened to be standing right under the restaurant's sign for Papi's!
A fresh mojito while waiting for lunch...
Oh my did we over order. We had already eaten some awesome ceviche and had no clue how huge the orders of shrimp were going to be. Each order was in a wok sized pan and we had ordered 2!
Just to give you a little perspective on how huge the pans were!
AND finished. I haven't eaten that much in a long time. I couldn't even think about food for the next 12 hours!
But with that said, I had read about these little desserts that were sold on this beach and had to try one when the man came by selling them. They were candied coconut and were fantastic!
Gorgeous beaches in Cabarete - known for windsurfing and kite surfing.
Random, fuzzy plant:
Back at the resort, hanging out on Confresi beach:
Overall, a fun trip!
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