Santo Domingo: First City in the New World (The People)

Although the history alone is fascinating in Santo Domingo, the people make strolling around town lots of fun too! There is much more to Santo Domingo than some really, really, old buildings. Look at the smiling faces! The boy on the right with the shoeshine kit called me over and asked me to look inside the cannon he was leaning on....so I did. There was a cannonball stuck in it about a third of the way down! The Dominican people of all ages are proud of their heritage and will happily share with you these little "secrets" that aren't in the guidebooks.

The gathering place for the locals is in La Plaza de Colon, adjacent to the cathedral. These guys in the picture above hang out there everyday...getting their shoes shined...I wasn't close enough to eavesdrop, but there was a tall tale being told. Just look at the expression on the face of the guy on the left!

There is almost a carnival air about town, especially when the kids have a break from school.
The mobile candy stores follow them around town.

The picture on the left is not of candy apples, but HUGE candy cherries. Yum! When this guy comes by with his tray, shopkeepers will leave their stores unattended to run out and grab one. They cost about 2 Dominican pesos..about a nickel !






















A favorite past time for the young and old alike is playing with and feeding the hundreds of pigeons that live in la Plaza de Colon. Couples in their wedding gowns and tuxedos pose for wedding photos in front of the church and at just the right moment, the photographer makes the birds fly with a stomp of his foot. I admit it was great fun to watch.

The kids below, mostly the boys, spent at least an hour one afternoon, probably side tracked on their way home after school, holding out food in the palms of their hands to the pigeons and when they were just close enough, they reached out and grabbed them! The handsome young man in the middle of the picture below offers a white bird out for me to hold.

Santo Domingo is a great people watching city! Peace out!