We made it home safely

Just wanted to close the blog out by saying we are home trying to get used to the time, the weather and the altitude.  

What always happens is we feel really tired when we get back to 6,000 feet elevation.  But it is now December 27th and we are getting our normal energy back.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah and will have a great New Year.

No trips planned right now, so hope you enjoyed our trip 1/3 as much as we did.

Excitement tonight

 

 

Just as we sat down with our dinner, the captain announced that someone was critically ill.  We thought he was going to tell us that we were diverting somewhere.  But, instead, he asked for volunteers with O neg or O pos blood to come down to the clinic.  So we left our meal right were it was and headed down.  He also said that the volunteer needed their donor card showing their blood type.  Well since Duane has O neg, the universal donor, we thought that they might want his blood even without his card.

 

Well, when we got to deck 4, via elevator, and the door opened, I almost lost my breathe.  You almost couldn’t get out of the elevator due to the number of people already on deck 4.  Several were lining up at the sign up station, because they had their donor card.  One lady in our elevator was O neg and had her card.  So I knew of at least 5 people who were able, and willing, to donate.

 

So we went back up to the Lido deck and started dinner all over again.  There has been no word about the condition of the patient.  I hope they will let us know if the blood helped.  But here, in the middle of the Caribbean, on a ship with only 800 passengers, they got a floor full of volunteers in about 2 minutes.  Aren’t people great…..

Santo Domingo part 5 the last, I think

 

just a few odds and ends

 

   cute little houses on the outside, but

 

  this is what it looks like inside (someone left their door open, so I took the pic)

 

  this is what your balcony could look like if you lived here

 

 

   this may be the smartest dog in the Caribbean.  It is very hot and humid out.  We walked by this bank and almost went in because of the air conditioning.  It felt great just walking by when someone entered or left.  This genius dog had it all figured out.  He just laid there and got cool everytime that door opened.  Smart puppy.

 

 

   OK, a red Christmas tree is strange enough, but look at the Santa on the bottom holding a Diet Coke.  I know it is diet, because the sign says “sin azucar”  without sugar.  (the extent of my Spanish)

 

     I don’t know who this lady is, but I tried to ask where she got her Santas, but wasn’t able to.  Great, aren’t they…..

Santo Domingo part 4

 

  this was a convent where the nuns took care of mentally ill patients. 

 

 

    When a patient died they were buried under the floor of the convent.  That was true of the hospital, also.

 

 

   this was a hospital put up by the Spanish for all the people.

 

          And, FINALLY, we got to see wild parrots.  There were lots of these cute green, loud, parrots in the walls of the hospital.  I couldn’t get one to come to me.  I would have stayed all day trying, but I wasn’t allowed to.

Santo Domingo part 3

 

Since I love ruins, I hope you will like the pictures I have taken inside the city.  I’ll tell you what I know about them.

 

   this is where Christopher lived for a little while.  His son, Diego, lived here with his family until his wife wanted to go back to Spain.

 

   there are several buildings where they have saved the facade of the old and built or refurbished the old to make a new useable space.

 

             this building used to be a church and been turned into a space where honored people are buried.  It is guarded but open to the public.  Beautiful inside

 

   

 

there are more if you are up for it.

Santo Domingo part 2

First some pictures of the wall of the city

 

 

 

   nice greeting to a cruise ship, having cannons pointed at us.  But note, there is a lot of traffic between the guns and our ship.  Actually there is a lot of traffic everywhere.  The police stopped traffic for us tourists, so we could cross the very congested street.  They are not stupid….the know which side their bread is buttered on.  (tried that expression on our guide and he had no idea what I was talking about, even tho he said he is a US resident..)

 

   this is an entry to the city with Spanish plaques above

December 4 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic part 1

 

This is the last port before we disembark in Fort Lauderdale.  It has a lot to offer.

 

Some history.  When Columbus “discovered” the new world, he actually landed on this island.  So he named it Little Spain.  He thought, because the inhabitants had brown skin that he landed in India..  His brother founded this city.  It, therefore, is the oldest city in the new world.  Now it has 3 million people.  The Dominican Republic has over 12 million.  So we were told by our “guide”.  More about him in a bit.  It is the second largest city in the Caribbean, after Havana.

The people are not happy about Columbus.  He enslaved the local population, he stole all the gold, and there was a lot I am told, and the Spanish imported slaves from Africa and when they left they took everything of value.  Emptied all the churches.  You get the idea.

 

 

He was originally buried in the Cathedral

 

 

but they moved him to a new place, we did not go there

 

 

So usually we do not like cities.  But this one as a Zona Colonial, old town.  Right outside where we docked.  The city was a walled city.  So…off we went.  In case you don’t know, I love castles and ruins.  The city wasn’t a castle, but because of the wall, it came close enough.

 

Our ship was met by dancers and drummers welcoming us to Santo Domingo.  (about time someone did.  Usually we are met with greetings and get a goodby sendoff, but this trip this s the first time)

 

 

We asked a gentleman how to get to the other side of the wall, so we could walk around the old town.  So he showed us, and took us and showed us the entire old town.  We walked for 2 hours, we tasted local punch, chocolate from local cocao beans (even tasted a cocoa bean) and tea made out of cocao and back to the ship.  He is a lovely man and we enjoyed our tour, even tho it was a surprise.