Pictures from the Dominican Republic

Oldest Church in the Americans

Shop at local market

Shop in Santo Domingo

Forgiveness Cross - touch it for 5 seconds and all your sins will go away.

Mom trying to get arrested.

View from Christopher Columbus' son's house

The new Mrs. Annik Henry-Rattray and Mr. David Rattray - CONGRATS!

Beautiful beach and water.

Dad having a cold one.

Mom on the stairwell.

Leaving Punta Cana

Well we are in the hotel lobby - actually in an air conditioned room where you access the internet - waiting for our bus to come and pick us up. This time I can't wait to get home. This hasn't been the most fun trip. Everyone got sick and last night it was my turn. My stomache has been sore but I haven't physically gotten sick.

For a resort that is only 3 years old, this place is horrible. I stayed at better 2 star hotels in Peru than here. If anyone wants to know if I'd recommend this place it definitely will be a big NO!

I am going to write a big comment for anyone wanting to come to this resort on the internet when I get home.

The trip to Santo Domingo was OK, but when you went into any sites - Church, Columbus' son's house, etc. - there were way too many people to really enjoy or even hear what the guide was saying. I tried to stay back to get some pictures, but then I still had to fight for a good shot then run to catch up with the group. The old city was interesting. Our guide was opinionated and there were very rough roads.

The shopping wasn't the greatest either. Here I've heard people say it was good and it sounded like an open "flea" type market. we went into 3 stores - that's all we had to choose from.

The first market was run by Chinese people with only a few Dominican items in it. The second was more of a shopping mall type where you could not haggle and the third was an expensive 'designer' jeweler type shop. Needless to say I was very disappointed.

The other day we went to the little shopping centre just outside the resort. It had plenty of shops, but they all had the exact merchandise in it. Again very disappointing. I did buy a Dominican flag for $20 as that was about the only unique item there.

The paintings are all the same, the merchandise is all the same, the food is all the same - NOT a very fun trip this time.

You would at least think they had coconut here, but on no. I came all this way, paid good money and got crappy service, horrible food and a room that smelt like poo.

I can't wait to get home, see the girls and get back to a regular routine. To be able to sleep in my own bed tonight will be heaven. No more sore hips, neck and shoulder from a hard bed.

Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana

Well today is day 3 in the Dominican and it is not like last year.

First the resort is not very impressive. Dad kept reading bad things on the internet and I told him to make his own judgements. Well we should have listened to all the internet reports.

For a resort that is 3 years old it feels and looks at least 10 years. Jacki could have done a better tile job, there are huge cracks in the walls - not very impressive.

The food is the same every day in the buffet. I'm tired of it already. Plus everything is COLD! Cold eggs, cold meat, cold everything. We were at the seafood restaurant last night and everything was again COLD.

Mom got sick the other day from the main buffet and dad last night from the Chinese. I didn't feel great from the seafood but was better today. We went to the Mexican/Dominican buffet tonight and it was the first time I've eaten hot (temperature wise) food. The fruit isn't that good either - not ripe!

I did have a good bowl of coconut sherbet and a few coconut macaroons. Other than that, nothing is good.

To get a second cup of coffee for breakfast it is like asking for someones first child - next to impossible.

The staff is rude and lazy, service for anything is horrible, the "shopping" is disgraceful - on and on it goes. The Gran Bahia is 10 times better and we'd love to switch resorts.

The beach is OK but it is very corally so you have to be careful. The only thing I've enjoyed has been snorkeling daily.

There are a lot of shit just on the coral so it is fun watching them. I've seen white/transparent fish from a few inches to a few feet, to large round blue ones that are very fast. I then saw some with long noses but very slim bodies. There are also a lot of small yellow and black stripped fish. Anyways, lots of fun.

I miss the girls but am enjoying the relaxing beach and sand. We might go off the resort shopping tomorrow as the wedding is in the afternoon.

End of Radiation and Other Problems

Well dad had his last radiation treatment yesterday. He had no problems or affects thank goodness. We can now sigh and take a deep breath. He seemed to have faired really well. I hope that this is the end of illness for him.

Mom - thankfully - has been healthy and in good spirits. She is full of piss and vinegar so that's a good sign.

My car was not towed this week so I'm hoping it gets picked up this week. If everything can be done while I'm in Punta Cana, I'd be a very happy girl.

I'm starting to worry about Cali as I think she is starting to get worse. She is drinking a lot of water again. Dad even mentioned this in the morning. This evening Cali shook her head and I heard the telltale sign of ear problems - water or sloshing when she shook. I cleaned her ears this evening and they weren't that bad. Her left ear was more watery as if she just got out of the water - neither very brown and dirty.

I have to do a 12 hour glucose test tomorrow so let's hope she is better than last weeks.

I keep having this horrible feeling that she isn't going to be here when I get back from Punta Cana. We leave this Thursday and part of me does not want to go.

Snoopy has been fine but I know she senses something is up. I also feel she is getting senile in her old age but maybe I'm reading too much into things and am paranoid on any little change.

I never realized that dealing with dogs as they got older would be sooooooo hard. I keep feeling the inevitable is going to happen at the next corner and it really frightens me. I love them too much.