I awoke Sunday morning to realize that I never packed my sneakers for the south! I had to run out to Wal-Mart to pick up a pair which didn’t impress me much. Ah well…it was better than hauling some winter boots down south!
Uncle Richard and Aunt Dinah gave us a lift to the hotel near the airport where the rest of Vero’s family were staying. After getting dropped off, hellos were exchanged and the sheer immensity of the group of people dawned on me. There were 50 people going down on the trip to the Dominican Republic. I had to switch into French speaking/listening mode which has become natural over the years. Sure, there are a few words that bewilder me but I just go through the motions. The smile and nod as it’s called.
We take a shuttle over to the Pearson Airport, go through security and wait for the flight. I decided to take a nap as the night before had taken its toll and I fell victim to the groomsmen scaring me awake. Serves me right for taking a snooze around all the excitement! The flight was fine…four hours of trying to take a nap, screaming kids (the groom (Steve)’s niece fell sick…poor thing) and some excellent in-flight sandwiches in the form of Quiznos prime rib and horseradish.
We set our watches an hour ahead and exit the plane at 8:45. It’s a warm night…maybe around 15 degrees. We have our pictures taken upon entering by some women in grass skirts and I joked that this must be their security measures. Turns out that they sell the photo upon your exit from the country if you so choose to purchase it.
Upon first look, the airport is interesting as there are no windows and the entire roof is made out of palm leaves. I suppose there is no need for windows in a place where it never gets too cold. We headed outside and people were wanting to take our luggage but I knew better than to have them carry it and then give them a tip. It wasn’t too far to get to the bus. The bus itself was called the S.T. Gonzales which we found out stood for the Speedy Gonzales. We were all in good spirits when the bus driver got on board and asked if we wished to stop for a beer along the way to the resort.
We pulled up to a shop with a giant cooler of beer in behind the counter. At $4USD, I thought it was a steep price to pay for a beer down in the South but it was well worth picking it up. I was also pleasantly surprised that I looked like a hobo upon exiting with my beer in a brown paper bag! El Presidente beer is a decent beer indeed and it whet my appetite for some more as soon as we got to the Bahia Principe resort.
When we arrived at the resort there was a mix up in where to actually go. They dropped us off at the Bahia Principe Bavaro resort but we needed to go to the Bahia Principe Punta Cana resort. After an hour, we all got on a trolley which brought us to the other resort but in reality, it was a different side of the same resort and was literally a hundred meters apart from one another. They were mirror images of each other. Hey, how were we supposed to know? With 50 people wondering where to go, I soon grew tired from everyone trying to figure things out and realized that it was better for me to just ‘go with the flow’. This was a vacation! I could turn off the Palmer Planner mode!
We checked into the Punta Cana reception with ease although Vero’s grandmother didn’t have as much luck as everyone else. For some reason they had no reservation for her! After 30 minutes the rest of left Vero and her grandmother to deal with the issue and we caught a trolley which brought us to our rooms so we can put the luggage away. In the end, Vero’s grandmother had to stay with Vero’s parents for the night until they could figure things out as they had no spare rooms. Strike 1.
When Vero ended up finding us, we followed the sound of the music and ended up at the karoeke bar and then the discotheque for a drink. These places are all on the resort. I was laughing at the discotheque as it felt like a Canadian bar with cheap palm tree decorations (think the RumShack for you Ottawaites). I was expecting some Caribbean music but all we heard was what we would hear in a bar in Canada.
Even though we were at an all-inclusive resort, when Vero went to order a bottle of water, they wanted $2 for it. We were really not impressed as they had to ask their manager if we could get it for free and she still said no. Vero ended up ordering a Pepsi instead (much to her displeasure) and was questioning the all-inclusive resort option.
Thoughts of the Resort at this Point:
– The resort consists of a lot of similar looking buildings which hold a bunch of rooms in them. So it is easy to get lost for the first while. After a day I had it engrained in my mind where Villa #15 was located (right next to the pool, naturally!).
– When you enter the grounds, there is a giant market area to the left which also have little shops such as a burger joint (for late night snacks), an Internet café, the discotheque, the karaoke bar and a variety of different shops.
– When you continue in, you get to the main lobby which is a thing out of a James Bond film. Very majestic. A lot of seating area around a fountain. A reception desk, doors to enter the buffet area, a bar and an outside patio.
– There is also a theatrical stage to go to every night and watch a show each night.
– A few pools scattered about with swim-up bars.
– A main strip where the trolleys can drive though and pick you up to bring you around the complex. The sheer size of the resort is astounding. If you were to walk from one end to the beach it would probably take you 20 minutes.
iplaying: Tonight Tonight – The Smashing Pumpkins (AOL Sessions)