Two Families - Five Boys

On Saturday we picked up another family. This time it was mom, Gloria and her three boys, Hatcher, Reed, and Harrison. We arranged for a taxi van to take all of us, the two families and Danny and me to the old colonial zone of Santo Domingo for a little history and tourism. It went much better than I had actually hoped! All the boys were truly interested in what they were seeing. With five boys 12 or under we were quite a group. We kept the number of sites to visit to a minimum, and everyone had a good time. The sites we chose to see were the exterior of the Ozama Fortress, the Pantheon of the Heroes, and the Diego Columbus house. The Fortress was the fort built when the spanish first colonized the island over 500 years ago, and was later used as very dark and dingy prison for political prisoners. The Pantheon has an eternal flame, tombs of national heroes, and guards to make sure no one is disrespectful to this sacred shrine. The guards, however, did allow us to take pictures of the boys with them, even the one on duty! One of the most interesting visits was our tour in the Diego Columbus palace. Diego was the son of Christopher Columbus, and he and his wife ruled the island as governor for 14 years. The old palace has been refurnished with pieces for the appropriate time period, and the tour is enhanced by the english-speaking guide. It was a great way to blend the families for the day before we had to say good-bye to the Bradner family.