My first journey went to the Dominican Republic, where a friend of mine, Nikki, was getting married. The second one was to Amsterdam, where Jenny, a very good friend of mine, was celebrating her 30th birthday yesterday!
But... let's do one after the other:
Dominican republic is a paradise, when it comes to beaches, ocean colour, meals and weather. It combines great hospitality and wonderful climate with the best (and I really mean BEST) sandy beaches I have ever seen in my life... (and those, who follow my blog, know, that I have seen the beaches of Greece, Gran Canaria and Sardinia in the last couple of years). Sorry, those cannot even compare! But Dominican Republic is also a country of great divide between the rich and the poor, the tourists from the former colonisation countries and the original citizens. The infrastructure of the city (even the capital, Santo Domingo) is surviving at best. The slums are there, and they look worse than you would ever imagine. The country however is full of life and full of motion. Almost kind of a chaos, which follows certain main rules, however anything else, which does not defy them, is allowed. Due to this kind of mentality, the country possesses an enormous potential in future development. The journey was really cool also due to my fellow journey(wo)men - Paulina and Roland! Thanks a lot for dragging me onto the boat in the first place and then sticking with me during the whole trip! :)
The beach of Punta Cana resort:
Me at the beach of La Isla Saona:
(Btw, in those seven days, I have managed to read ca. 1200 pages of Dan Simmons Hyperion and Dan Browns The da Vinci Code. The first one being quite good, very well written, almost a show-off of the writer's skills. The second one is a weak and repetitive, slowly dragging story of no special inventions. I cannot understand where the hype came from!)
Tip for future travellers to Dominican Republic: If you come and see the country, do not stay in your resort / club only! Take a car, a bus or a caro publico and get your ass around the country a bit! The busses are cheap and get you almost anywhere. Just check for connections as the busses come and go at different times. This will enable you to see a bit more and maybe gets you interrested in fighting poverty in the world!
Amsterdam is a gem of a city... Thanks a lot, Jenny, for inviting me! The whole weekend was a blast! I have not felt that good in a long time now! The city is very intimate, incredibely romantic, very touchy-feely. I love it! But the weekend would not be such an amazing time without the poeple there: Wai Kin, Paul, Natalie, Elise, Jacqui and of course, Jenny, the b-day child! :) Thanks a lor for the great time, guys! It was a pleasure to meet you all and spend these almost four days with you together! And I am strating to miss you already. This may be kind of weird but I almost felt like a part of a family... and that made me feel wanted and belonging somewhere as opposite to my attachless wandering through the time and space right now. You are in my hearth.
The b-day cake for Jenny:
Wai-Kin, me, Elise, Jacqui, Jenny, Natalie, Paul:
Btw, Jenny has more photos from the weekend in her Picasa album.
Kisses!
Listening to: Mika and his amazing album called Life in Cartoon Motion
2 comments:
That sound like cOOl vacation ;) Looking forward to your next story and photoz as you finally gave me link to your blog :)
Loved having you here that weekend Alex!! It was amazing how the group clicked together and it made my b-day weekend that much more special to feel so close to everyone and belong to the group - laughing, dancing, playing together. I look forward to the next random gathering!! J xxx
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