Day 13 – Travel to Santo Domingo and Out & About in the Capital

After the morning golf round, we hit the road for a three and half hour drive across the middle of the country to Santo Domingo on the south coast.  We arrived at the HOTEL PALACIO in the Zona Colonial, the historical area of the city, around 5pm.  We settled in, changed and headed to dinner at PAT’E PALO, one of the highest rated restaurants in the city.



Cuddle up - Matt and Mo crashed out on the drive to Santo Domingo



Mo fell asleep in the most awkward position, thankfully he's mastered various yoga poses

Joselito drops off 'La Familia' at Hotel Palacio in Santo Domingo

Before becoming a hotel, Hotel Palacio was a palace of a former Dominican President 

Mo checks out the view of the Palacio's garden patio

Around every corner of Zona Colonial was a historical site of some sort – cathedrals, plazas, museums, pantheons, etc.  On our walk to dinner alone we came across the palace of Christopher Columbus’ son Diego and the cathedral where Christopher Columbus himself is supposedly buried.  Even the restaurant we were going to was located in a block of 16^th century warehouses that were converted into restaurants and shops. 

We walked by the Las Cosas Reales, a16th-century  mansion that housed the supreme court

Alcazar de Colon, the former palace of Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus

Pat'e Palo did not disappoint.  The setting, the view of the Plaza Espana, the music and of course the food were all spectacular.  It was easily among the best meals of the trip. 

Pat'e Palo overlooked the Plaza Espana, an open area that often hosts live music

Lauren with our waiter Junior - the waiters wore pirate getups

Short Ribs - You couldn't go wrong on the Pat'e Palo menu

Lots of smiles and full bellies 

After dinner we bounced around ‘the Zona’ looking for some action but we had to venture out of the area to find anything worthwhile.  Based on a few local recommendations, we made our way across the river to Avenida de Venezuela, a local area popular for merengue dancing.   Our first stop was House Drink, a club-like spot with lots of packed tables and thumping merengue tunes.  Stop two was La Barrica, which also featured meringue but the place had a bit more of a country bar vibe. 

Lauren and Matt gave merengue a try at House Drink

Dominican beer is served so cold that often times it's partially frozen

The boys sitting bar top at House Drink

Matt's vodka with olive juice always proved an adventure - at La Barrica they served a  glass of vodka with a side of olives

Lauren and Garrett enjoying the local vibe at House Drink

Greg wasn't too fond of the Charlie Chaplin photo at La Barrica so he gave it the bird



Around 2am we had our fill of merengue so the boys headed to the casino while Garrett and Lauren headed back to the hotel.  It was a brief stay, but just long enough for us to take advantage of the free table-side food.  

 

Greg enjoyed some fried chicken, vegetables and plantains at the blackjack table

Day 14 is a Santo Domingo site-seeing and exploration day and with so much history around the city we will have our work cut out for us.