From our home to yours...: Honeymoon/Babymoon Part I

Ok...I finally had time to sit down and do this and I will try to keep it from being boring!!
Sunday night (May 24th) Joston dropped us off at SFO to start our vacation...we had some problems at the counter b/c of my passport. I thought they wouldn't let me on the flight, but luckily they fixed it for us when I told them it was our honeymoon that is why my last names were different!!!

It was a very long redeye flight usually I'm pretty good with red-eye flights, but being pregnant I was WAY uncomfortable! We got to Miami for 3 hour layover where it was raining and then left Miami to go to La Romana. We get there and we have to pay $10 for a "tourist card" which we paid for and then gave back after you leave the airport...crazy how they just get money from you! Our van was there to bring us to the Dreams Resort and I was a little worried about drive, but it wasn't too bad. We got to the resort and they told us to check in at the Preferred Club because we got upgraded! Everywhere they go they say "Welcome Home!"

Me in front of the Preferred Club

We get shown to our room and unpack our stuff. We decide to order room service b/c we are soooo tired and SUPER hungry and then we look around the beach area and come back to the room to relax . Here are some pics of what the beach and pool at the resort looked like.

A bed on the beach...

Flamingos

David by the pool and swim-up bar

Another view of the beach

Then we got some champagne and chocolate strawberries too for it being our "honeymoon". we went to the resort store to get some chips and david needed shaving cream....it was sooo expensive! took a nap that ended up lasting most of the night!!! woke up at 10;30PM and was hungry again...went to the Trattoria and got pizza. Went back to the room and went back to sleep.

We thought we wouldn't be tired the next day with all the sleep we got...BUT I woke up at 10:30am!!! I didn't mean to sleep in that long! We got ready had some continental breakfast at the preferred club and went to lounge on the beach. We were able to get a bed on the beach and read our books and played in the water. The water was sooo warm...probably around 80 degrees! After lunch we decided to go lounge by the pool and go swimming in the pool. While we were there some of the resort staff came by with their pet Iguana. We took some pic with the the big green iguana but when we went to go get our pictures they had accidently got deleted =(

Our view from our lounge chairs

Every day we have housekeeping come in the morning and then later in the evening for turn down service. Each night they bring us a new schedule of what is going on at the resort for the next day.That day at 4:30pm we saw a circus on the beach:

It was kareoke this night...but we missed it =( We watched Journey to the Center of the Earth and then headed to the beach for a couples bonfire to end the night.

Our bonfire...

Us at the couple's bonfire on the beach

On Wednesday we woke up early and left at 8am to go to La Romana/Altos de chavon. The drive was about 1 hour again...but we had a tour guide on the bus that told us about Republica Dominica (that is how they say it). We learned some people do have cars, but most ride on motorcycles. They ride motorcycles because you don't need a license and there really isn't an age limit, no helmets are necessary and sometimes there are up to 3-4 people piled on one motorcycle! Its cheaper for them to buy...about $1000. How they drive is a little different too...you can pass anytime anywhere and no one gets mad! They consider the Hatians to be the "working class" because they are the ones that do the field work like harvest the sugar cane. They said they acutally live IN the sugar cane fields!!! They do have schools, but they only go to school from 9-1pm (4 hours) or 1-5pm. they split it into two parts b/c there is not enough schools for all the kids. The people in the towns only have about 18 hours of electricity a day so majority of the day is spent outside. We passed by a "hotel by the hour" which he called a "car wash" and said this was legal here. Also legal was drinking and driving and there was no age limit for drinking...

Motorcycle

Sugar Cane Fields

People selling stuff right on the street

In the town where school is.

We then went to a home where they made cigars. It was two ladies that worked on the cigars and that is it. Then we went to Altos de Chavon which was a school for artists. The town was made to look an old Italian village. This is where their ampitheater was which all the big stars performed at...Frank Sinatra and Shakira for example. We were able to explore there and we saw a church behind it that had a statue of Mother Mary and another of the Saint that protects Poland which was a present from Pope John Paul II. After this we got back on the bus and went to the river of Chavon and rode a riverboat and had lunch, it was very pretty! after the ride we went back home and rested and got ready for our couples massage at 6pm. Then had dinner at Seaside Grill which was yummy! steak and stuff! We went to sleep b/c we were going to have an early start again tomorrow for our excursion to the Marinarium!!