dominican republic, part iii.

but mostly, we laid in the sun. and drank cocktails. our breakfast was included with our stay, and i took pictures of it, of course, but it's not that exciting. except for the fact that there was always papaya on the plate.
we broke any potential of habit by changing our location each day. one day at the pool, another on the beach (which was about 10 feet from the pool), and a couple of days truly lounging on these "beds." and they would bring our cocktails to us. oh yes. incredible.
we did, however, eat one fancy meal on our last night in the dominican republic. it was at a french-caribbean place literally across the street from the hotel. i spoke french twice on this trip; we ate at 2 restaurants owned by french people. i was surprised at myself; i really had no idea how much french i knew. i've spent a lot of time NOT speaking it.

anyhow, that last meal was something to write home about, but the photographs are lacking, due to the fact that we ate outside and there was little light. tracy and keith started with foie gras, and ate some beautiful fish (salmon and tuna, i believe). this was the only restaurant where they offered to make me a vegetarian meal, and it included very fancy mushrooms, spinach, asparagus mash, a goat-cheese filled biscuit, and a million other kinds of excitement. we finished with a shot of mamajuana, a combination of rum, wine, honey, and herbs (including tree bark). it is supposed to increase sexual energy. unsure about that.

dominican republic, part ii.

this is when i eat the chicken.
we took the longest walk to go to la casita de juana. we attempted it once before, but the streets are not lit, and we didn't want to venture into foreign neighborhoods after dark. it was a little scary. even the bars were seemingly not open.

so, we left the beach early and embarked on our food adventure, easily finding it the second time around. we ordered the dish we had read about: fried yuca with anise seeds. i am not a fan of licorice but this was a chewy, tasty treat. the anise tasted a lot like caraway, which i love.
keith ate some sort of fish soup. i have no idea what kind of fish. the woman in charge, presumably juana, told us about the fish, but it was unfamiliar, something local to the region.
i knew there might be a moment in this vacation where i might have to put my vegetarian ways aside. dominican food is not very conducive to vegetarian eating; it's pretty privileged. i am trying to be a better traveler and eat more local foods, and that means trying things that are outside my food realm.

we asked juana for the best item on the menu. she told us it would be the dominican chicken. that was the prevailing answer everywhere we went, and so i decided that this was my moment. i hadn't eaten chicken since i was 14, but i decided to go for it. there was nothing vegetarian on the menu anyhow, besides the yuca.

it was served on the bone with rice and pinto beans (which i am convinced were also not vegetarian, as i think there was pork in them). i ate it. and liked it. keith thinks that dominican chicken is a lot like filipino food. maybe there is something similar in places colonized by the spanish?
i over-thought the experience later and almost got sick as i thought about eating flesh. but i think it was worth it to eat the local food. really. i do.

dominican republic, part i.

so, tracy, keith, and i went to cabarete, dominican republic for 5 days. i had never really been on a vacation where all you do is lay on the beach for days and days. i was a photographing maniac.

we flew delta, and on each leg of the trip, they offered us the grand gesture of these cookies, which they referred to as biscotti. tracy described them as cinnamon graham crackers. rightfully so. this is not a biscotti. but it does say "delta" on it.
so this is where we stayed. pretty sure it was the nicest hotel i've ever stayed in.

brahma was the beer of choice. there was also presidente. but keith and i were all about brahma. street food. finally. we really wanted to eat dominican food, but that is easier said than done. we did get empanadas. yum.

isn't everything the best when it's fried?

note: there was a picture of tracy holding said empanada, but she demanded that i remove it.