Another fresh travel journal!
The context:
For my 60th birthday, I had planned to take my family (kids + partners) for a week in Gran Canaria, at an all-inclusive hotel, but with the firm intention of exploring and hiking. The deal was to meet up at least in the evenings to spend time together, if my pace didn’t suit them. Personally, I’m not into beaches and lazing around, but my daughter-in-law is pretty cool. We were going to be together, do what we liked, and all would be well.
Unfortunately, five days before departure, my mother-in-law passed away, and of course, we had to cancel everything.
I was able to get a refund for a lot of things, including the hotel despite missing the free cancellation deadline (really cool of them), and I got a one-year credit for the full price of the flight tickets.
So, we tried to plan the same thing for my kids, but with their schedules, we couldn’t find a date.
I had to find a destination served by Iberia, far enough to use up my credit.
We don’t know the Caribbean, we needed sun and a bit of rest, so the Dominican Republic won out.
But no way were we going to mess up by staying in an all-inclusive hotel and only visiting the island’s paradise beaches… (we’ll get back to that).
So, as usual, I put together a little road trip with a rental car.
Here we go!!!!
Day 1: Crossing the Atlantic
Super early departure for Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. A 3-hour layover in Madrid (my wife’s had enough of flight delays, so I played it safe). Flight to Santo Domingo without any issues. The luggage arrived, the driver I’d booked was there, everything went smoothly.
We got to our hotel in the Zona Colonial around 4 PM.
Bad luck—it’s on a cute little square where there was supposed to be neighborhood activity in the evening. It’s completely under construction! Too bad!
We decided to head to the Malecón, a sort of local Promenade des Anglais, except there are no English people. It’s nice, safe, spacious, and by the ocean. We walked for a while, and as happy hour rolled around, I started my training as an intern in rum-based cocktails.
A mojito, classic, but it’s amazing to be sipping the drink in the warmth, right by the big blue.
On the way back to the hotel, we grabbed some bananas, ate them in the room, and then bedtime.
The plus: We actually left!
The minus: There isn’t one
