Wed., Mar. 15, 2023

 Hello my fellow bloggers. Today is sunny with plenty of snow on the ground. I have been out of the game for a while because we took advantage of an excellent price for a sunny get away. It was a "husband has to get away because he deals with seasonal affective disorder every year and he hit a wall" and "wife agrees to it because she thinks she deserves it after the somewhat hellish last several months she has endured and emerged victorious from" situation. We went to a place in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic that has just very recently changed ownership. Because of that, they offered an excellent price and we did a ten day trip (the longest we've ever done). 

We flew out of Toronto (a situation which we would have avoided if we could) using Swoop airlines. Swoop is one of those bare bones, we offer you nothing so you can have a slightly better price, airlines. We had to pay extra so we could sit together on the plane, and we paid extra to bring one checked piece of luggage. We got to have one carry-on each for no extra cost. Do you remember the days when you would receive food (not great food, but food nonetheless) on your flight and a free beverage? Do you remember having little screens on which to watch a movie or some episodes of a fun television show to help you pass the time? Well, those days are long gone. Oh sure, you can get something to eat if you use your credit card, and a surprising amount of people did. Good lord, I am frugal. (Yes, I get the irony in what I'm writing about).

Anyway, the resort is an older one, so established beautiful tropical grounds are enjoyed everywhere. There is one long meandering pool (like a river - we called it our river walk that we would do a few times a day) that runs the length of the resort. The service was beyond excellent and the food was actually very good. Here are a few pictures. I won't bore you with too many.

So, this delighted me to no end. Yes, this is a flamingo walking amongst the lounge chairs beside the pool. 

This is the whole family (I presumed it was a family). Almost daily, the three would leave their little habitat area that they share with some koi and a few cool statues and do a wander up and down the pool area. Nobody bothers them and they are always just out of arm's reach. They were free to come and go as they pleased. I joked with husband that they must have a contract whereby they are must show themselves to some guests five out of seven days.

Here is just a little piece of the pool. Have a look at all the people in the lounge chairs. (?!?) This was the incredible thing about this trip. Because it was a re-opening of the resort, it was only at about 20% capacity. If you love to get away, but you don't especially love to be around people, this was the place for you! (It also meant I could take photos and post them without invading someone's privacy).

The rooms were dated and small by anyone's standards, but they were spotlessly clean and we had decent water pressure and hot water whenever needed and a king sized bed (which we don't even have at home), so we were happy. This is what we saw from our second storey balcony. We could see the water. It was windy and wavy down at the beach and we did not spend much time there, but I had a couple of nice walks along the beach and it was lovely.

At night, when we would walk to whatever restaurant we were eating at, the lights and the pool were so beautiful. This resort just had such a positive ambiance to it. All inclusive resorts may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we had only good things to say about this one and because there were so few people, we got to know people and had nice conversations while on our "river walks" or at the lobby bar in the evening. 

And so I am back home, getting back (slowly) into the swing of things. It is March Break in Ontario, so no occasional teaching for me at the moment. Husband has vertigo and I tweaked my back putting my luggage into the overhead compartment on the plane, so we are each dealing with our own thing (punishment for the hedonistic time away?). I am hoping that Spring arrives sooner rather than later, but as always, we deal with the weather we are given. Have a good rest of your week, all.