[BPL888]

After my return to the capital I met my friend around 7 PM and we decided to have dinner at Vesuvios on the Malecon. It was raining in the capital and though it eliminated some of the heat it made it unbelievably muggy. The meal at Vesuvios was excellent though quite expensive. I had the ravioli stuffed with cheese and proccuitto for 350 RD. She had the mixed seafood special for 700 RD. The service was excellent and they had a very nice desert cart. We split a huge piece of chocolate cake that was very rich and very good. We stayed for a few cocktails after dinner and did not feel rushed at all even though the restaurant was very busy. Though it was very good I think there must be other restaurants equally as good in the Zona Colonial closer to our hotel. We returned to the Hotel Condo-Parque and spent a little time enjoying a drink and chatting with the interestingly mixed group of customers at Walter's bar(The Venus Bar). It was a nice way to spend my last night in the DR. My friend needed to get up early to go to work so at 6:30 in the AM we tried to judge the breaks in the rain and I walked her up to the bus stop at the park. The air was heavy with humidity and the sadness of another great vacation comming to an end. After seeing her off on the bus with assorted last minute gifts I trudged over to Parco's Restaurant for a cup of tea and a bite to eat and to while away some time before I had to go to the airport . Paco's is an open air cafe/restaurant at the end of the Conde that is open 24 hours a day. While mulling over my ham and eggs and watching the early morning crowd dodge the raindrops I noticed a dispute brewing at the far side of the lunch counter. Two men, one of them a cabbie were getting into an ever louder exchange of opinions. One thing led to another until punches started to fly. After several exchanges of fists one of the guys grabbed a grande beer bottle from a nearby table and smashed it over the cabbie's head. He then started threatening to use the jagged end of the remainder of the bottle. There were more heated words but by then the staff at Paco's had tried to intervene to calm things down. They supplied a towel to the cabbie who's head was bleeding profusely. The combatents were seperated and a lot of loud pleading of cases ensued. After 10 or 15 minutes of this the cabbie got in his cab and left. 10 minuts later a cop showed up on a motorcycle (small Harley?). Several other cops materialized and all were wearing bullet proof vests. The remaining combatent gave a statement to the cop as did the employees of Paco's. With my limited spanish and the rapid speaking I understood none of it. A brand new SUV police vehicle pulled up and the combatent was invited to get in and was then driven away. All of this went on while most of the customers in Paco's continued to work on thier breakfast as if this was an everyday occurance in these parts. I had been told by a friend that Paco's was not a very good place to hang around but I did not expect this sort of trouble at 7 AM. The excitement over, I finnished my breakfast and waited for the rain to slow down so I could return to the hotel. A few more hours of packing and watching TV and the rain and I said my goodbyes to Walter and his staff and headed to the airport. The taxi, arranged by Walter was 700 RD and the driver was friendly and chatty. Several times on the way to the airport he crossed himself without explaination. I can only guess that that spot on the road was the site of a past tragedy. The trip through check in and immigration was relativly quick and painless, but I constantly got the feeling that I was being sized up. After reading of other peoples airport problems on DR1 I know why. The end of another great Dominican Republic vacation and time to start planning the next one. THE END