... and after yesterday’s advice about not being a tourist...

I really must recant: sometimes, being a tourist can be fun - although as one who hates wearing shorts and sandals with a passion, I have a slightly easier time blending in than most tourists do - there is something to be said for wandering around a strange city seeing "the sights" with friends, a camera, and a couple bottles of water where necessary.

After spending the last post on Boca Chica beach, this post was spent wandering around Ye Olde Citye (ok, this Olde Englishe spelling of things is getting a little ridiculous now) of Santo Domingo with Alex and a friend of ours from her J-school, Julie.  After getting Julie from the bus station in the late morning, we decided to take a walk down the Conde and into the Colonial district of Santo Domingo. There are certain historical sights that are not to be missed in this region - not the least of which is Diego Columbus' house.

For the uninformed, Deigo Columbus was (we think) Christopher Columbus' son. A note of caution here, for the lack of an historical guide (offered, but declined for reasons of cost efficiency), some of the historical data posted here is the result of studious thought and discussion between Alex, Julie, and myself. This being said, daiquiris and pina coladas go very well on hot days in the tropics, so who really knows how accurate our "studious thought and discussion" actually was. Anyhow, Diego Columbus had it pretty good, all things considered - some people get a car for their sweet 16, he got a country. This as a secondary benefit to being able to respond to "my daddy's a fireman" with "yeah, well MY daddy's a conquistador". 

After seeing Columbus Jr.'s house, we went up to this nice little restaurant nearby for lunch. Another word of advice about not being a tourist - don't eat at "tourist" restaurants. The food is generally overpriced. The row of restaurants out front of Columbus' house are such a selection of restaurants. Their food was good, if overpriced. Anyhow, after lunch, we continued strolling around the city, taking in an ancient ruin of a cathedral, and noting with distinction the sheer capacity it had for housing pigeons.

It almost reminded me of Nathan Phillips Square - except that the pigeons exist for naught except for shitting on Christopher Columbus, who, having realized his mistake points eternally towards India with a look of "Oh shit!" etched permanently on his stony face. Another kilometer and another bottle of water, we came to our last destination of the afternoon's excursion - Mercado Modelo (market). This is a huge place full of little shops, selling essentially the same thing, at between 2x and 4x what it's actually worth to dumb tourists who don't know how to haggle, and at approximately what it is worth to locals, and smart tourists who do. We were, apparently somewhere in the latter group, as the only person who bought anything was Julie, who got earrings of some kind for about 1/5 of their tag price. 

So no trip to Latin America would be complete without a couple of random guys playing classical guitar and singing to you over dinner on a windy terrace - at least if the movies are to be believed. Little did we know, the movies were actually telling the truth about that one. After our afternoon's exploration, we decided to visit this neat little pizza joint on the Conde called Segafredo. As a side note, I will happily recommend this place to anyone who is curious - doubly so with Monday night happy hour. The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and even entertainment in the form of two random guys playing classical guitar and singing in Spanish over dinner on a windy patio. We even had a mangy (but very, very cute) stray dog lying at our feet listening whimsically to the music along with us. Actually, the music was beautiful, and suited the ambience quite nicely as well. To top this off, we created a new drinking game. Short version: take turns reading something aloud - we used the drinks menu for a certain sense of irony - but use only long vowel sounds (ie: "Vodka Martini" becomes Vohdkeh Mehrteyeneye, and "Strawberry Daiquiri" becomes something utterly and completely unpronounceable). Whenever someone screws up, they take a drink.

"Oh shit" list for visiting the Dominican Republic:

1) Oh shit, this isn't India.

2) (looking up in the sky at pigeons) - Oh shit.

3) Oh shit, I hijacked a public car.

4) Oh shit, I'm a tostone. (never mind)

5) Oh shit. I haven't got 4 grand to spend on anything never mind dinner. Oh. Wait. That's in pesos.

Notes on being a tourist in Santo Domingo:

Calle el Conde - a kilometer-long street just outside the Colonial District full of merchants, restaurants, and the like. There are great bargains to be had here for the enterprising tourist; however, just for the record, the $33 (USD) Rolex watches are counterfeit.

Current exchange rates from American to Dominican currency: $1 USD = 33 Pesos. There are a lot of people who will change your money. Know what the current exchange rate is before going into the street and using this particular service.

Public cars are the local equivalent of public transportation - a combination of all the worst qualities of a taxi, a bus, and the TTC subway during rush hour, in your friends 1984 Toyota Corolla. The good news is that they're exceptionally cheap (12 Pesos), and relatively efficient.

There is also a small Chinatown in downtown Santo Domingo. This small region serves no noticeably useful purpose, but does serve as a nod to the ever-expanding Asian population here.

If you've managed to lose your towel in the crowd, you can purchase attractive counterfeit wrap skirts roughly half-way down the Conde on a side that isn't east.* While not the same as a towel, it can, for the purposes of most sensible hitchhikers, serve many of the same functions as one, and looks very nice if you are/are traveling with an attractive female companion. If you are lacking an attractive female companion, I would recommend not engaging in the services of those available for hire in this particular city.

*I can't actually tell you what side of the Conde the above store is on, unfortunately, Alex is directionally challenged. Fortunately, you will probably be able to find a counterfeit compass for $5(USD) to go along with your equally counterfeit Rolex, and counterfeit wrap skirt for yourself or your (hopefully not counterfeit) attractive female companion mentioned above. You can assuredly take that whatever direction the needle on the fake compass points is non-North.

Thus ends the lesson. By this time next post, I'll be in Haiti. I'll put up pictures whenever I have internet access that's fast enough to upload them. Cheers.