Punta Cana Thibodeau/Langlois Vacation

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Day 1 - Toronto & Arrival into Punta Cana

An ambitious start to the day - maintaining that I'll be up at the crack of dawn running on the beach followed by a nice round of yoga. Jodi & I are up at 7am and out the door at 8am for an hour session at the gym. Jodi graciously succumbed to my whining for a trim and gave me the angled cut I've been waiting for (with all the humidity of the Caribbean it would be the last time my hair was so cleanly straightened til we were back on Canadian snow). After the haircut, we prepped with a tanning session (7 min in a bed did nothing for the nearly 7 days of sun I'd be getting shortly). By 10am, we were ready for some brekkie so called Al & Ken to meet us at Daybreak on Carlton & Church.

By 1pm we were all set to prove to Al that we could fit all 4 of us + 4 huge suitcases into our little Caliber. Once we figured out how to remove the privacy screen under the hatch - we were all set and on our way to meet Ged & Lindsay at the airport, who were only 10 min behind us. After passing through security, we had about 2 hours to kill - what better way to do that but with nachos, caesars and beer!

A little behind in taking off, our SkyService flight was in the air by 5pm and the next 4 hours was nearly painful. With about 2 inches of legroom & tasteless sandwiches (is that what that was?) not to mention the "Clampett" family in the row ahead of us fidgeting in their seats (alcohol withdrawal?) - private joke I guess.

Around 11pm we found ourselves walking into little more than a grass hut - the Punta Cana airport. After a 40min bus ride we were checking into our new home for the next week - Barcelo Premium. Somehow the other 2 couples lucked out with poolside rooms in building 4 while we were across the hall with a lovely view of...the road? Although it was nice that we were all together and building 4 was by far the ideal location because of its central position and proximity to the pool & restaurants, my first order of business the following day would be to check with reception about moving across the hall. Each room featured 2 double beds, TV, balcony, mini-fridge stocked with water, pop & beer daily, hair dryer, iron and safe. Our 2 beach towels were waiting for us on the beds but we were missing all bathroom towels and Jodi & Ken's room had a leak in the bathroom tiles - other than that, not bad.

In a matter of minutes we were heading back out, anxious to taste our first Dominican cocktail & track down some real food. Lindsay's Pineapple Juice, soda & rum concoction went down very smoothly at the lobby bar for the girls while the boys gulped down El Presidente's. It quickly became apparent that tipping was the only way to get noticed by the servers & bartenders around the resort but with a shortage of small bills in our pocket & at the reception desk - tips were scarce and as a result, often so was the service. Referring to the resort map, we set out in search of "Snacks in the Sombrero Restaurant (24hrs)" only to discover that there no longer was a Sombrero Restaurant so we were directed to the theatre bar where other hungry drunks were also hanging out. One tray of suspicious looking sandwiches and 3 hot trays of refried chicken(?) wings, pita chips & cut-up weiners were all that awaited us. Luckily the week's routine had us up fairly early and to bed by around 11pm so the availability of food wasn't an issue for the rest of the week.

I happily led the gang to the disco, knowing full well that this would be my only opportunity to visit it. A 30 min visit was all we needed (it closed at 2am). Smelling a bit like urine and filled with intoxicated twentysomethings (we were a big fan of Mr. Black-Shoes-and-Rolled-Up-Jeans who preferred to dance with the wall than with the ladies.)

After hearing Flo Rida's "Low" 2 times too many, we toured the grounds to see what the resort had to offer during the wee hours. Found the sports bar with 2 worn pool tables & 1 very worn air hockey table (we would have to frequently free the wedged puck out of the corners of the table) so we split up to pass the times while we sipped yet more cocktails.

We all agreed by 3am that we had had enough excitement for the day and stumbled back to our rooms - past one of the dancing machines from the disco now passed out face down on a lobby bench.

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