Dominican Republic

I just came back from my vacation after a week of sun, sea and sand. It felt really good to not have a computer around for 7 days to put things in perspective. Buildind sand castles is definitely more fun than blogging or public speaking or business consulting. I could do that for a living if it paid well. Of course, I have ways to go before considering changing careers:

I stayed in a nice resort in Punta Cana. I’ve never been a big fan of the huge resorts in the Caribbean, as they feel pretty much like a Second Life of sorts: everything is fabricated to look like the stereotyped tropical paradise. But I confess that this time I was just looking for a place to relax, and that is their specialty.

I took a day to at least get a glimpse at real Dominican life and went to Santo Domingo. The Dominican Republic has been through a lot since the first Europeans came in the late 15th century, and just walking down the streets of Santo Domingo and seeing the poor countryside tells you that the world is anything but flat.

Back to Toronto, I have a huge backlog of emails and urgent tasks to deal with, so enough of blogging for today. As a filler for content, here are some pics I posted to Flickr:

Small settlement between Punta Cana and Santo Domingo

Street art

Columbus, hopefully not pointing to the Hard Rock Cafe

Sundial

Diego’s Columbus Alcazar

The French Embassy (formerly known as Hernan Cortés’s House)

Franciscan monastery ruins

Presidential Palace

The oldest cathedral in the Americas

Cathedral’s main nave

Ugly modern monument (Columbus lighthouse)

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