Iberostar official blog where we can meet and decide our next travel destination
Header

Carnaval, Dominican-Style!

febrero 27th, 2012 | Posted by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts in Snapshots - (0 Comments)


It’s one of the most joyous (and exhausting) weeks of the year in various parts of the world, from Venice to Port of Spain and New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro.  But being as fond as I am of the Dominican Republic, I’ve got a soft spot for the pre-Lenten Carnaval celebrations down here – especially because unlike in many other places, here the party keeps poppin’ for a good part of the month of February in various towns and cities, culminating today, February 27th, which is also when the country celebrates its Independence Day. The biggest hoo-has are held in Santiago, La Vega, and Bonao in the center of the country, and of course in Santo Domingo, where the waterfront avenue, the Malecón, becomes transformed into a brightly colored sea of people watching and participating in the carnival processions.

There are all sorts of themes and historical allusions in these processions, especially those dating back to the colonial era, with conquistadores, slaves, and the like, plus dudes in drag (no, not drag queens, but rather traditional figures known in Spanish as as roba la gallina, “chicken robbers”, who supposedly conceal the stolen birds in their “hips” and “cleavage”), as well as all manner of fantastical animal characters.  Participants often march in organized groups called comparsas (think of the krewes in New Orleans’ Mardi Gras). A central figure is known as the diablo cojuelo (lame devil), more impish than evil, who appears in myriad versions of brightly colored costumes and outsized horns.  Often the wearers spend months creating their costumes and papier-mâché masks out of found objects and materials.

For those of you who might be vacationing out in one of the Punta Cana Iberostar resorts, the local carnaval happens in March instead of February – and this year it’s scheduled for Saturday, March 10. But wherever you witness it, Carnaval a la dominicana is certain to leave you buoyant and impressed with the creativity, resilience, and joyousness of the Dominican people.

Whether or not you make it to Carnaval in the Dominican Republic, your vacation with Iberostar resorts is sure to be a party. Which will you choose?

Photo | LuieRRe

, , , , , , ,

Party Knight and Day at the Cadiz Carnival

febrero 10th, 2012 | Posted by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts in The View - (0 Comments)

One of Spain's wildest annual festivals is Carnival when ten days of street partying hits the streets of Cadiz in February.

Knight and Day

It’s a high octane plot that doesn’t let reality or accuracy get in the way of telling its story. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, the stars of Knight and Day, are running for their lives across Europe and North America as a series of cops and criminals chase them and attempt to kill them for their troubles. Cruise plays a spy who is accused of being one of the bad guys while Diaz just happens to get in the way. As they dodge bullets from Boston to Spain they inevitably fall in love (I don’t think I’ve spoiled the plot there!).

From Bad to Worse

The making of Knight and Day was riddled with problems. Ten writers were involved at different points, with the plot changing out of all recognition by the time the movie was produced. The actors also weren’t the first choices of the casting team, with Eva Mendes and Chris Tucker initially lined up for the lead roles. Perhaps the financial backers wished they had stuck with their original choices given the poor box office performance of the movie when it finally came out.

Most movies have one or two mistakes or inaccuracies somewhere in the story, but Knight and Day has one of the most glaring errors in recent years. An important sequence in the movie takes place in a festival in Seville (in one of the scenes shot in Andalusia in southern Spain). Yet the movie shows the festival including the Running of the Bulls, a world-famous annual event that takes place not in Seville, but several hundred miles north in Pamplona as part of the festival of San Fermín. A minor detail, clearly….

Spanish Festivals

It’s a shame that they chose to “import” a festival to Andalusia for the movie, given the many well-known celebrations that really do take place in the region. Perhaps the most colorful is the Cadiz Carnival. Every year on Shrove Tuesday, Cadiz puts on a spectacular show to mark the last day before Lent, with floats, costumes and copious quantities of wine.

The festivities in Cadiz is counted by many among the world’s top pre-Lenten Carnivals, in a league with those in Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad, and New Orleans. Hotels in Cadiz book very quickly for the Carnival, so it’s wise to plan well in advance. If you’re in the mood to celebrate a real Spanish festival, this is one not to miss.

 

Photo |  DODO

, , , , , , ,

The Twelve Grapes of Fortune for 2012

diciembre 30th, 2011 | Posted by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts in Snapshots - (0 Comments)

If you find should yourself spending New Year’s Eve at an Iberostar resort in a Spanish-speaking country – say, Dominican Repubic, Cuba, Mexico, or Spain itself – you may notice that the locals have an interesting tradition of their own for this special night. As the big moment nears, participants will suspend clusters of grapes over their mouths (or have a loose handful of them) and eat one with each clock strike of midnight. These are “las doce uvas de la suerte” (the twelve grapes of fortune), which of course is what everyone wishes themselves and others for the coming year.

This colorful – and tasty – tradition dates back to the end of the 19th century in Spain. Personally, I would recommend they be seedless – makes it a little easier. And as you can also imagine, most people can’t get them all down by the last stroke of the clock, so you end up with everyone standing around with mouths stuffed full of grapes and trying not to laugh or choke. Here’s a fun video of how it was done one year at a party in Granada, Spain.

¡Feliz año nuevo!

Photo |  Ibán

, , , ,