MY TRIP TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (PART 2) 4.11 to 14.11.2005
Being in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, meant seriously a lot for a very simple reason: we are talking about the OLDEST CITY in America. Walking through the so called ZONA COLONIAL (colonial zone/district) is absolutely fantastic. I did a quick, but very "direct to the point" tour in the zone, experiencing unique monuments and places as the house of Cristobal Colon (the italian discoverer of America) and the first street build in the Americas. Colonial zones are very popular in other latinamerican cities as Cartagena (in Colombia) and San Juan (in Puerto Rico), among others. Being in Santo Domingo was for sure one of the highest points of my Latin experience during the country visits, looking around and trying to imagine how all happened 500 years ago when Colon found the island and how all that evolved under the control of the spaniards into what we are today, is a very special feeling for any latinamerican.
House of Cristobal Colon, in Santo Domingo
First street of America
Small colombian girl next to tall and strong dominican guard
Streets of the Zona Colonial
Woman painting on the street in Zona Colonial
WHAT ABOUT DOMINICAN PARTY?
Similar as the disclaimer that I did for the alcohol in the last posting, I tell again that not matter how well I try to describe the dominican night/party life, I guess I will be never able to express it as "hard core" as it is! I had the opportunity to go one night out (actually to the same Zona Colonial, that besides being a great morning walking district, in the night is the meeting point of party people) with an alumni of AIESEC Colombia, Paula Gonzalez, that was hosting me - but that was totally surrounded by domincans, including his husband :) It was for sure one of the funniest nights ...
Paula & me
FROM "COLMADOS" TO FANCY NIGHT CLUBS
Party in the Dominican Republic has really nothing to do with how much money you have ... I was briefly introduced to the world of "COLMADOS", that are very simple liquor stores, or actually also groceries (in Colombia we would simple call it TIENDA), where people meet sit, listento music, and drink beer or rum, or whatever the person likes. In Colombia, for instance, you also do that, but there are not AS MANY colmados, as you can see in Domi, here you have almost one in each corner. Relatively cheap and very traditional way to have fun, dominican style - AND ALMOST EVERY DAY, I´ve been told that a dominican working day ends at a "colmado". However if "colmados" is not what you like, in the Zona Colonial especially, you are able to find very fancy night clubs, where you can find all type of music, but also where right now, no doubt, the king is the REGEATON! I will not extend myself much talking about regaeton now, they I will reserve this for my posting about Puerto Rico.
Paula & me
FROM "COLMADOS" TO FANCY NIGHT CLUBS
Party in the Dominican Republic has really nothing to do with how much money you have ... I was briefly introduced to the world of "COLMADOS", that are very simple liquor stores, or actually also groceries (in Colombia we would simple call it TIENDA), where people meet sit, listento music, and drink beer or rum, or whatever the person likes. In Colombia, for instance, you also do that, but there are not AS MANY colmados, as you can see in Domi, here you have almost one in each corner. Relatively cheap and very traditional way to have fun, dominican style - AND ALMOST EVERY DAY, I´ve been told that a dominican working day ends at a "colmado". However if "colmados" is not what you like, in the Zona Colonial especially, you are able to find very fancy night clubs, where you can find all type of music, but also where right now, no doubt, the king is the REGEATON! I will not extend myself much talking about regaeton now, they I will reserve this for my posting about Puerto Rico.
Regaeton is the king of the dance in the caribbean and whole Latin America