Yesterday I arrived to Santo Domingo from Spain.  Interesting fact: that was the exact route of Columbus he followed more than 400 years ago. Espanola Island was his first discovery in New World. Columbus took months for what I did in 9 hours :)

I've stand the flight well however I hate all those 9 and more hours flights. My neighbor turned out o be a Dutchman (I’m lucky to meet them frequently). That guy earned his money by playing poker via internet :) The first thing I saw after we landed was the a huge bright rainbow above the runway. Well, I considered that to be a good sign :). I was pleased by muchachos who offered me local rum right in the airport terminal :) I decided to reject the offer because I had to have conversations with taxi drivers :)
I realized that I made a right decision wasting 30 minutes for booking hotel via internet and searching for the information on transportation costs to it. Otherwise, I’d choose the first pick and that definitely wouldn’t be a cheap one :) During my way to the hotel I saw bright Caribbean sun which was going to the sea with Caribbean radio tunes on the background. That atmosphere made me realize that my journey had already started :)
Despite the fact I didn’t take those shots of rum, I was confused by the local currency and gave the taxi driver exactly twice as I should :( This discovery made me upset, so I decided to stay at the hotel at night because I was an easy booty for the local los depredadores. Moreover Stefan (the Dutchman) told me that it was unsafe to walk in my district. His words were supported by the fact that the hotel had several prison-like lattices on its doors :)

That hotel was not the worst one I had ever lived in:). The main point was that there was Wi-Fi in guest room! What else do I need? Wi-Fi, bathroom and secure space for my belongings. BTW, now I need to get used to cold showers because there is no hot water in this place at all :)

Today I went downtown and walked down the seafront. I was pleased by the sea… I love Caribbean Islands and Atlantic Ocean. After that I walked at El Condo. One of the interesting places I saw there was the house of Cortes. For those who aren’t familiar with this personality: he was one of the Spanish conquistadors. The general impression I got from Santo was that it was very similar to Habana. However Santo was much more civilized :))) Music plays everywhere and everybody have fun :) That was unusual experience after India where everything is “shanty-shanty” (peaceful and quiet). I think I need some time to get used to this rhythm.