Day 14 – Exploring Santo Domingo & Dining in a Cave

Santo Domingo is dubbed "The First City of the New World," so as you can imagine, there is a lot of history.   Our hotel was located in the heart of the Zona Colonial so we were walking distance to the various markets, cathedrals, plazas, shops and any other worthwhile site.
 

We had high expectations for Mercado Modelo but unfortunately it was filled with mass produced generic souvenirs

El Conde is a popular walk street with shops and cafes

Plaza Colon, which is built around a statue of Christopher Columbus, is the central area of the Colonial Zone

Lauren strikes a pose in the Plaza Colon 

 

Greg stands alongside one of the towns many cannons - Santo Domingo is on the water and needed to fend off invaders coming across the Atlantic

The Cathedral, where Christopher Columbus is said to be buried, is the town's main attraction

Garrett taking part in the Dominican national past time of sitting

We worked up a strong sweat walking around sightseeing so we stopped for lunch and some air conditioning at Angelo, the neighbor restaurant to Pat’e Palo.

Enjoying the air conditioning at Angelo

By the late afternoon, we had our share of sightseeing so we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the last night of the trip.  Mo and Matt stopped off to get a few beers and mingle with the locals at a nearby café overlooking the Plaza Colon.

Weekeday afternoon beers is a common tradition in the Dominican, one that Mo and Matt fully supported

We wanted to do something special for our last dinner so we did a bit of research and found EL MESON DE LA CAVA, a high-end dinner joint that is about 100-feet below ground in a cave.  The place proved to be more than just a gimmick as the unique location and ambience was matched by its delicious cuisine.

Garrett and Greg descend into the dining area of La Cava

The dining area was a massive room surrounded by the rock walls of the cave

A delicious final feast

It's not a proper meal unless it ends with a hot hot fudge sundae

After dinner we bounced around a few bars in the Zona Colonial and wound down around 2am.  A fitting last evening to a whirlwind of a trip.

We were close friends before the trip but even closer by the end

Day 15 is our final day and it's mainly a travel day.  We fly Santo Domingo to Miami and then Miami to LA.