SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC part 2

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: Authentic Stimuli for all the
Senses Awaits Visitors to the Oldest City in the New World

A sunrise visit to the Malecon gives the perfect insight into the textured mix of beauty and ugly that is Santo Domingo. The sun, pure red, rises of the Christopher Columbus monument and dances along the blue Atlantic till it falls right at your feet.

Statues and monuments are all around, but most are in various states of disrepair and, no thanks to vandals and graffiti, worse for wear. More than a few ne'er-do-wells lounge on these faded icons, but seem non-threatening.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore -- before the city has woken up and created traffic noises -- is divine. But look down to the shoreline and an embarrassing mass of garbage will be churning in the saltwater and piling up on the craggy beaches -- creating a sort of Lord of the Flies city for dozens of dogs who scavenge through the mounds of refuse.

Thelonious Monk composed a seemingly paradoxical song titled Ugly Beauty. Perhaps this is what he had in mind.

But do not despair. Santo Domingo may not have the wealth to fix all that is broken, but it is wealthy beyond compare in texture. Texture is a photographer’s word and Santo Domingo will burn up the memory card in your digital camera faster than a photo safari.

Everywhere there are lush, vivid textures. The streets have colorful buildings. Partially restored colonial masterpieces stand next to art deco apartment houses in need of a paint job.

The food is quite inexpensive and unless you fall prey to buying pizza or chicken from a franchise place on the faded but enchanted El Conde pedestrian shopping street, you will not have a bad meal in Santo Domingo.

Every street has a personality (and ten thousand tons of electrical wire overhead. It is impossible to snap a picture of a beautiful person looking back at you from her balcony -- without seeing a tangled mass of power lines in the viewfinder. Take the photo anyway -- those frayed wires add the kind of authenticity that has been sanitized out of too much of this world.)

And while we're on the subject of Caribbean power supplies, let's get back inside those Castillo-sized doors and into the mystical tranquility that awaits in the Dona Elvira's courtyard, café and rooms.