Mount Isabel de Torres soars above Puerto Plata at 2600 feet.  A cable car ride takes you to the top–and the panoramic views go on forever!  It’s hypnotizing to watch the change in vegetation as you climb. I didn’t realize how high we were until I watched a cable car return down the mountain and disappear from my view.

Deb used VRBO for our accommodations and we couldn’t have been happier.  We stayed a short distance from Puerto Plata, in Costambar which means “Amber Coast” because it’s where they discovered amber.  Our rental had mountain views in the back and ocean views in the front.  Our gracious hosts, Yash and Hemu, offered to take us to Carnival.  There were gaudy performances on the Malecon with raucous music, abundant street food, and frenzied fun all around.

We ended the evening at an Italian restaurant with pasta so thin you could see through it–the mark of a fine Italian restaurant (in my opinion).  Yash and Hemu are excellent dinner companions. Yash received his doctorate in seismology and had an illustrative career.  Though retired, he’s turned his attention to the universe and is trying to get a paper published in cosmology.  Hemu is a graphic designer, and her business created albums for James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Engelbert Humperdink, and even the Beatles, among many others. You can imagine what great dinner conversation we enjoyed!