You'd be in awe when you see the architectural designs at Dominican Republic which are mostly Spanish influenced. The beautiful plazas surrounded by stunning landscaping and most of all the balnearios found along the prime coastlines of the Dominican Republic. The place is best for couples who want to enjoy the outdoors and get to relax at the sight and beauty of nature.

The Dominican Republic is great for couples who love the blessings of nature. Unravel great things while you go hiking and camping in the wild. Then after exhausting yourselves at your adventure, get to relax at the beautiful scenery that nature has to offer you.

You also get to experience various climate changes while you're at Dominican Republic. The temperature changes depending on the land elevations and that's what makes the whole hiking trip exciting. Everything is so unpredictable.

For the most pleasurable destinations, come visit the Punta Cana and enjoy the numerous resorts and spas which make up most of the coast. Specializing in giving you utmost pleasure, these resorts would stop at nothing to give you the finest quality service in the land. Feast on appetizing seafood and let go of yourself while pigging out on local cuisine.

Afterwards, a relaxing massage in combination with soothing music would bring rest to the weary traveller such as you and your spouse. Having the whole day for fun and frolic sure takes out a lot from you, but all this is worth it as you and your partner share the whole holiday in bliss and happiness when you have a Dominican Republic honeymoon.

Harvin Gulfill is writing about Romantic honeymoons. Do also read more about Honeymoon Dominican Republic.

A Glimpse of Dominican Republic Honeymoon is a post from: Dominican Republic Travel Deals

Historical documents kept at the Ministry of Mining in the Dominican Republic, show an application made in 1916 by Father Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren to explore and mine a blue rock he had discovered. Although pectolites were first discovered in Italy in 1828, news of their geological importance had not yet reached the Dominican Republic. Thus, the application in 1916 was denied and the volcanic blue rock was left untouched for over 60 years.

In 1974 a Dominican named Miguel Mendez and a Peace Corps volunteer were walking the beaches of the Barahona province when they came upon small blue stones. Mendez explored the origins of an adjacent stream close to where the stones where found, and found it lead to outcrops of the blue rock. The discovery eventually meant the establishment of the Los Chupaderos mine. Today there are about 2000 vertical shafts, which despite their invasive nature have left much of the surrounding rainforest vegetation intact.

Since Miguel Mendez found the blue rocks and the mine site, he was given the privilege of naming the stone. He chose to combine his young daughter's name (Larissa) with the Spanish word for sea (mar), and came up with Larimar. When it is polished it can look like a blue form of Amber, thus its nickname Laramber.

Larimar has become very popular with travelers as a lovely way to remember their time in the Dominican Republic, especially as it is the only place where the stone can be found naturally. There are also green forms found in the Los Chupaderos mine, and some blue forms with red or brown flecks in them. When it is exposed to excess heat and light, the ethereal blue color can fade, as the elements within are photosensitive. The popularity of the stone has reached all over the world, even Asian jewelry manufacturers have begun purchasing large quantities of Larimar.

The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, and with each visitor more Larimar is mined. Since there are no other Larimar mines yet discovered the supply is dwindling. Should you travel to the Dominican, admire the Larimar for its rare beauty but leave it where it lies. Such unusual specimens should be protected and left in their country of origin.

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Larimar: National Stone of the Dominican Republic is a post from: Dominican Republic Travel Deals

Up until 2002 the Dominican Republic experienced a period of economic growth and declining inflation rates. During this time there were several incidences of engineering projects completed.

Bridges

The Mauricio Baez Bridge is located near San Pedro de Macoris, on the southeaster coast of the nation and crosses the Higuamo River. The bridge is a Cable-stayed bridge, the most modern built in the Caribbean, and with the longest span.

Considering the relative poverty of the Dominican Republic, the RD$1 billion cost of building the Mauricio Baez is definitely a feat in itself. The Puente Juan Bosch is another new bridge in the Dominican, located in the capitol city of Santo Domingo and crosses the Ozama River.

Dams

As previously discussed, the Dominican Republic experienced a period of economic growth right up until 2002. Hydroelectricity was one of the major projects of the time, and therefore a total of six dams were erected in the country. The largest was at the Mao River, built in 2001, and meant to hold over 369 million square meters of water.

Shortly before that, in 1999, the dam at Maguaca River was completed but with far less capacity at just 15.6 million square meters of water. The smallest dam in the Dominican Republic was built in 1950, is located at the Jimenoa River and holds just 0.3 million square meters of water.

Sports Venues

There is a strong European influence in Dominican culture dating back to the days of Christopher Columbus' arrival on the island in 1492. It is therefore not surprising that sport, particularly soccer (European football), is a high priority. Unlike the sports venues normally found in North America, the stadiums of Europe and South America will traditionally hold between ten and thirty thousand people.

Estadio La Barranquita in Santiago holds 20,000 fans and occasionally hosts games for the celebrated soccer club Barcelona FC. Even motorsports is popular, especially with a grand venue such as Autodromo Internacional de Las Americas, built in 1998 and holds 15,000 fans.

The addition of impressive structures that showcase the talents of Dominican engineers, architects and tradespeople, are important to the global reputation of the nation. If the Dominican Republic can be noticed on a large scale, then more high level professionals will be attracted to the country, thus having a positive effect on the economy.

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Engineering Achievements in the Dominican Republic is a post from: Dominican Republic Travel Deals

When Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492, he and his crew brought European infectious diseases that were responsible for the disappearance of the Tainos by the middle of the next century.

This particular meeting between the Spanish and the Tainos, was the first instance of diverging cultures in the Caribbean, with catastrophic results. Within the first few years of Spanish occupation, the bulk of the Tainos population was wiped out by smallpox. Then came enslavement, and forced marriages which inevitably led to the gradual watering down of the Tainos civilization. T

he longer the Spanish occupied the island, the stronger their culture became an influence on the people and the land. Plantations popped up all over Hispaniola, fuelled by slave labour. The economy of the island was blossoming and the region became the unofficial Spanish headquarters in the New World.

By the 18th century the population of Hispaniola was burgeoning with white landowners, African freed slaves, mulatto freed slaves and a massive group of people still enslaved at the plantations. The Spanish were confident in their hold of Hispaniola as they concentrated on stamping out the Mayan and Aztec nations on the mainland of Central America.

Of course, there were certain parties who jumped at the opportunity and made their presence known on the island. First it was a small group of French buccaneers peacefully acquiring the western portion of Hispaniola from Spain. Now that French interests were on the island, they brought their masses of slaves (90% of the overall population) and set up a wealthy colony.

In 1795, just three years after the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Peace of Basel Spain was forced to hand over the entire island of Hispaniola to the French. Unfortunately it was a rough time to gain ownership of that particular piece of land. The slave population was right in the middle of a revolt against any European entity that aimed to continue enslavement.

In 1801 they captured Santo Domingo, which meant control of the entire island and a crippling of French rule. Napoleon Bonaparte I, Emperor of the French, eventually capture the leader of the revolutionaries, but in the end the military forces were defeated by a yellow fever outbreak.

By 1808 the whole of Hispaniola was once again in the hands of the Spanish, but with a greater amount of scrutiny from other powerful world nations. Blatant genocide and slavery were no longer tolerated, at least in theory.

The diverging cultures on just this small 29,500 square-mile island during the last 500 years has been volatile at the very least. Without needing to go further into the gory details; hopefully we are left with cultural lessons learned and a greater appreciation for diversity.

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Divergent Cultures in the Dominican Republic is a post from: Dominican Republic Travel Deals

With the Spanish (and later a later occupation by the French) a large population of African slaves were brought to Hispaniola. All of these cultural authorities over the last 1300 years have resulted in the creation of a few unique dialects of world languages.

The official language of the Dominican Republic is Spanish, however it is not the same dialect that is spoken in Spain or even the Canary Islands of Spain. The differences are mostly in pronunciation and colloquial terms. For example, Dominican Spanish has taken on the Caribbean practice of reversing the position of a second person pronoun.

It is also common for the final 'r' in words to be dropped or changed to an 'i'. Hypercorrection is normal as well, for example instead of 'adminstraciones publicas' a Dominican would say 'asministracione pusblica'. Despite the differences, Dominican Spanish speakers can usually understand Puerto Rican Spanish, Cuban Spanish, and Venezuelan Spanish with no trouble.

On the Haiti end of the island Haitian Creole is the main language, although Spanish and French are also spoken. Haitian Creole is thought to be a mixture of French, various West African dialects and English. It is generally believed the language was created as a means for slaves to communicate without their masters understanding.

The Dominican Republic has seen many Haitian immigrants arrive seeking solace from a tumultuous society and rampant poverty. Aside from other obvious outcomes, the use of Haitian Creole has become more common in immigrant regions of the Dominican.

Additionally, there is a small community on the Samana Peninsula who are direct descendents of former African American slaves. They began arriving in 1824 from other Caribbean islands and Liberia in West Africa. When these people were enslaved they were forced to learn English from the British, Irish and Scottish. The combination of African languages and the various forms of English combined to create what is now known as Samana English.

The Dominican Republic may be stereotyped as a Spanish nation, but there is far more to the language and culture than its history of Spanish colonization. Dominican Spanish still uses words from the Arawak Indian language (used by the Tainos), as well as French, African and English. Learn a little Dominican Spanish before travelling to the country, it will ensure a greater appreciation of your surroundings and the locals will have more respect for a traveller who makes such an effort to fit in.

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Dominican Spanish is a post from: Dominican Republic Travel Deals