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Playful Day at Paradisus Palma Real

It was another sunny day in Punta Cana paradise, and we took full advantage of it.

The breakfast buffet at The Reserve was just perfect – where else can you get an omelet, a chocolate croissant and Plantanos in the same place?!  It was then onto my tour with Oliver and then meetings, where I learned about the resort and it’s eco-friendly efforts, which includes working with the community and other hotels to educate the locals. I had a great exploration of the grounds, dozen restaurants and enough bars to keep the pina coladas flowing.  I got to check it all out (including the bar) in my afternoon with my friend Jaimee.

First up was the grill by the pool, where I had a great cheeseburger and Jaimee enjoyed the spicy chicken wrap.  I spoke with some other visitors to Paradisus Palma Real, a number of whom had been here many times.  It was easy to see why.  This place seems to have everything and it is the only Leading Hotels of the World recognized resort in the Dominican Republic. I enjoyed a few minutes in the lounge in the pool before swimming to and from my room to get ready for our beach trip.

The beach is over at the main hotel and it is as beautiful as the one at the Paradisus Punta Cana.  We were originally scheduled for wind surfing, but it was changed to a sail on the catamaran.  It was a great ride with our guide, who insisted I take the reins for awhile.  Unfortunately, the wind wasn’t cooperating and neither he nor I could get the boat back as when we wanted.  There are worse things than getting stuck in the aqua water on a beautiful day, so we just enjoyed it until the wind improved.

After the sail it was time for a cocktail and a little more mingling at the pool before getting ready for my tennis lesson.  Wrist pain kept me from playing for years and I haven’t had much time to do so since my 2007 surgery to fix the problem.  The good news is playing tennis is like riding a bike and after a few minutes it all seemed to come back to me.  The bad news is that – since I could keep up the rally -- Raimundo, my instructor, took advantage to run me around through forehand, backhand, volleys for an hour! It seems the stamina doesn't come back (especially in Caribbean humidity) as fast as the recollection of how to hit.  I’m not complaining, though, because there was a lot more food to work off.

Jaimee was enjoying our backyard Jacuzzi when I came back to the room and just had enough time to shower and get dressed up for dinner.  We had chosen Vento, an Italian restaurant with a different menu than the one by the same name at the other resort.  The dinner was absolutely delicious.  I had the Tomato Consommé and then the Trilogy pasta – small portions of Spaghetti Bolognese, Fettuccini Alfredo and Farfalle Pesto.  We couldn’t decide on dessert, so the waiter brought us all three choices and we nibbled a bit with our cocktails before Jaimee settled on the Peach Compote with Vanilla Ice Cream and I favored the Brownie with Cream Cheese topping.

After dinner we listened to the live music for awhile and enjoyed the beautiful night lighting at Palma Real.  From the main lobby you can see all the way through to the pool and then the ocean, a sight that is even more spectacular at night.

Our final stop for the night was the casino, where I managed to play the slots for an hour and walk away $2 poorer.  Jaimee actually won her bus fare back to Haiti, however, looming in the back of both our minds is the fact that a hurricane is about to hit there.  There’s not much either of us can do about that so we went to catch some shuteye in our rose petaled beds and so we could be ready to enjoy our final full day in Punta Cana.