Arrival (Day 1)

I woke up this morning - by which I mean about 3 AM - with the sudden realization that I hadn't packed any swimming trunks.  So, I fished around and found them, only to discover that someone had chewed a hole through them at some point.  (It's doubtful that it was Sappho, since she really doesn't do the clothes-chewing thing, so it must have been one of her predecessors.  Incidentally, she's been gone for all of two days now and I already miss her.)

So, I ended up not getting any more sleep after that, and I had to go buy a new pair when the stores opened.  An inauspicious beginning.

Got to the airport early, and got a great seat.  Here's the jet.


Sadly, like a chump I traded my window seat with a young man (high school student) who quite clearly wanted to score with one of the young ladies sitting beside me (also high school students - apparently there was some kind of trip.)  What can I say, I sympathized with his plight.  At any rate, the seat I traded for was...  Well, it was right next to a young fellow about three or four times my width (yes, high school student as well).  Granted, I'm a pretty skinny guy, but that still meant I had to manage a 4.5 hour flight with 1/2 to 2/3 of a seat.

Still, I managed, watching an in-flight movie in which George Clooney travelled all over America firing people (didn't catch the title, but I remember seeing trailers for it a while back) and then the first two-thirds of the Hangover on my laptop.  Finally, we arrived.

Note the pic of the jet.  That's the weather I was leaving - coolish, damp, and pretty miserable.  Soon as you walk off the plane, the heat and humidity hits you like a wall.



 The luggage belt.



The bus that took me to the hotel.


The bus trip was interesting, mostly because I learned another reason for the discount at the resort this week - it seems that a pretty major holiday (Easter) starts at noon Thursday, not ending until Sunday, during which time all the stores in Puerto Plata are closed.  Ouch. That pretty much decides my itinerary - tomorrow and Wednesday I do all my shopping and such, then I spend thursday onward relaxing and taking tours.

Also of note - it seems there's an election going on right now, judging by all the political signs I saw during the trip.  I found it interesting how many anglicized names there were among the candidates, including a Frank and a Francis.  *shrug*

There's an orientation tomorrow morning (another short sleep *sigh*), and I'll be deciding pretty much my entire trip schedule then, or at least pretty close to it.

The resort is called Gran Ventana - literally means "Big Window."  I got some shots that should show why - the place is like a giant window to the resort pools and the ocean - but I'll try to take more tomorrow when the lighting's better.





I was greeted at the door by a waitress with a drink.


I have no idea what this was, but it was delicious!

There are three pools with a swim-up bar.  Again, not the greatest pics, I'll try again tomorrow.



The beach was absolutely gorgeous, but I didn't take any photos that were even worth sharing.  Just take my word for it for now, once again I'll get some daytime photos later.

My room is a "superior room," which actually isn't superior to anything at all in the resort - it's the bottom-rung, really.  Still, the point isn't the room, but all the other stuff that comes with it.  Here's the pics.








The balcony.  Modest, but still nice.



Oh, yeah!  I noticed in my complimentary mini-bar that pepsi bottles are oddly-shaped here.  Here's one next to a regular-sized beer bottle for comparison.


At any rate, now I'm going to go see if I can find the "Midnight Snack Cart" that my resort map assures me exists somewhere around here, then get some sleep for orientation.  I'll probably post this tomorrow when I get the chance.


UPDATE:  I posted this when I got the chance.

DRINK TALLY:
-1 glass white wine (on the plane)
-1 glass red wind (on the plane)
-1 glass champagne (on the plane)
-1 rum and coke (resort)
-1 mystery drink (resort)