December 14, 2005
Travel Where They Feed You
It was a wonderful time in Dominican Republic with beautiful weather and some much-needed quiet time. We slept in, played tennis, read, swam in the azure ocean and even negotiated souvenir prices! Actually, the BF did that work, while I smiled and played dumb.
The resort itself, Grand Palladium Bavaro (part of the Fiesta Hotels), is clean, well-maintained with pristeen beaches. It's quiet and peaceful and makes you feel so removed from the everyday and the mundane, that it's a bit shocking when you're traveling back to the airport and see "real" life in DR.
What we missed and wanted as much as sleep itself was the food. It was sub-par, to put it gently, at our resort. The fruit was bland, flavorless and unvaried. Any takes for some bruised bananas? The selection of dishes was unexciting, the taste of them even less so, and the presentation downright depressing. I contemplated taking some pictures for you all, but in the end, I decided that it was not a good idea. After all, you want to look at food that makes you salivate, not throw up. The best food item we uncovered there were french fries. Believe it or not, these gave McDonald fries a run for their money. And coffee. The resort made tasty cafe con leche and I, a firmly one-coffee-a-day girl, treated myself to one after every meal and sometimes while I was lounging and the BF played voleyball.
I suppose that it's hard enough to cook for hundreds of people. To make the food varied and unique, you need to hire more chefs, build out more kitchen-space, purchase premium ingredients in bulk. All this is unlikely to happen at an all-inclusive resort. Unless of course, I am unaware of jewels out there that satisfy you need for rest and your love of food. I'd love to know more if such things exist. It's hard for me to be convinced to go on vacation where I won't eat well. I'm more guided by food than museums even though I like those quite a bit.
