Well, I'm back from a gorgeous week in tropical paradise. It was my first time going anywhere tropical and I truly loved it. We arrived in Punta Cana to our resort, the Melia Caribe, just as it was getting dark out on the first day. After getting lost trying to find our rooms, (the resort is HUGE) we found the buffet for dinner and the rest of our group. There were about 60 of us or so going to the wedding so it wasn't too hard to locate the group of sunburnt Canadians most days, lounging by the pool drinking coco locos. After a delicious dinner (the buffet is amazing) we headed down to see the beach. It was night but I couldn't wait to feel the sand under my toes.
Friday was our first full day at the resort. We slept in as we had spent the previous night awake in the airport. Unfortunately this caused us to miss the breakfast buffet, but we were able to eat lunch on the beach and then lounge for several hours. We claimed a row of lounge chairs and Mike headed off with some of the guys to get drinks while I chatted with some girlfriends and read my book (the second in the Outlander series). The first moment of stepping onto that beach was by far the highlight of the trip. I couldn't believe the water could actually be that turquoise and that the sand could be so white. It truly is a beautiful paradise. So, I contented myself with gazing at it and feeling the hot sun for the first afternoon.
That evening, we managed to get a dinner reservation for 8 people at the Dominican a la carte restaurant. The food was delicious! For an apppy, I had Queso Frito, which is essentially fried cheese with a yummy sauce. For dinner I chose the chicken risotto which was also delish. Dominican food is very good!
Here are a few highlight pictures. The first three days were essentially spent sunbathing, swimming, eating out with a group of people and then enjoying the evening entertainers and open bar! There are lounge areas with cabanas, chaise longues and couches everywhere you turn, so there was plenty of space for the 60 of us to socialize in the evenings.
On monday we had the wedding to attend, which I will leave for a separate post.
The lovely beach...
Our room...
