Mackenzie Vacay, Part II

My parents' house has 10+ inches of snow - perfect time to run through the rest of what my family did on their recent tropical vacay to the balmy, sunny Dominican Republic, don't you think?

Our first full day back from the resort, we visited two small, organic chocolate factories run by women. The first, Chocal, was on the itinerary I'd put together, but after making the ~50 min. drive, the tour was disappointingly short...although we did get to spoon tempered chocolate into molds.

 Not to be deterred, we spontaneously stopped at Chocolala, which we'd passed on the way. A bus full of high schoolers was just arriving, so we piggypacked on their tour. It was similar, albeit a bit more thorough, and started in a wooded area behind the facility. Freshly picked cacao tastes nothing like chocolate!

"Nine out of every ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies."

While we sampled hot chocolate, cocoa dusted cocoa beans, and various tropical fruit wines made with the byproducts of the chocolate-making process, this lady labored tirelessly to remove unwanted remnants from a bucket of freshly roasted beans. 

Saturday consisted of my two favorite Santiago activities: the botanical gardens and a Ruta de Murales. I don't remember noticing this one before!

Sunday after church we drove to the capital since there is so much history there! Our first stop was the Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse). It's not a traditional lighthouse but rather a gargantuan monument in the shape of a cross that celebrates the evangelization of the New World. It's also Columbus' final resting place (there's some debate, but I'm going to side with the Dominican!). 

A typical sight on Calle El Conde. He signed it right after I took this picture!

Watching the city wake up the next morning...

...while drinking fresh juices and waiting for breakfast at Restaurante El Conde. 

Mom and Kara had to cover their knees to enter the cathedral. I wanted one of the makeshift sarongs they gave them to use as a blanket; it was freezing!

After that, my plan had been to go to the Fortaleza Ozama - which I knew was open on Mondays, having scouted it out a few weekends ago - but it was closed for maintenance after a free concert the night before. Boo! All the more reason to go back, I suppose, plus I think we were a little tired of sightseeing by then. 

The rest of my family's time in Santiago was low-key; we mostly played cards and knocked out small projects around the house that had been on my "daddy-do" list - like hanging these bookshelves!

I took them to the airport Wednesday morning before day two of LAC's biennial regional meetings...stay tuned for more about that. 

Until next time, blessings!