Casa de Campo Living

DJ Gringo flying in from Miami for MIR Afterparty!

Rebecca — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:35:42 +0000

This Saturday the 13th of March is the Fundacion MIR’s ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ gala, beginning at 8.30pm in Altos de Chavon – following which Praia will be hosting an AWESOME after party!

The after party, being hosted by Praia, is USD$50 – with an OPEN BAR.

DJ Gringo a VERY famous DJ from Miami is flying in especially to play at the event, which will undoubtedly be rocking and keep EVERYONE up and dancing until the early hours….or at least until they close the free bar!!

VIP tables – USD$1,000 include:

2 bottles of Grey Goose Vodka

1 bottle of Dewars

2 bottles of Ron Atlantico rum

1 bottle of champagne

6 entrance tickets

For table reservations, email: magdelena@fundacionmir.org o call: 809-523-8270

Get your dancing shoes ready! This party is going to ROCK!

To read full details about the dinner, click here.

This Weekend In Casa- March 12th to 14th

Priscilla Baez — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:36:09 +0000

This weekend in Casa is going to be absolutely BRILLIANT! The Fundacion MIR’s Magical Splendor for Life Gala will exude glamour, and above all passion for an amazing cause. There are also Polo games and art exhibitions to attend. Readers – prepare yourselfs for a busy weekend!

Excellent movies are on display.

Friday March 12th

H20 o No Exhibition @ Altos de Chavon Art Gallery, Altos de Chavon
Magical Splendor for Life: Lanvin Boutique -> 10am – 6m @ the Flamboyant Conference Centre
Cala de Agua Trunk Show @ Batey #22, Casa de Campo -> 10am – 8pm
Re-Openig of Papajack’s Disco @ Papajack’s Disco
Resident DJ JP @ Papajack’s Disco
The 5th Annual McDaniel Teaching Pro’s Tournament @ La Terraza Tennis Club

Saturday March 13th

H20 o No Exhibition @ Altos de Chavon Art Gallery, Altos de Chavon
Magical Splendor for Life: Lanvin Boutique -> 10am – 6m @ the Flamboyant Conference Centre
Magical Splendor for Life Gala: Fundacion MIR -> 8.30pm @ Altos de Chavon
Magical Splendor for Life: Praia AFTER PARTY! -> 11pm @ Altos de Chavon
Cala de Agua Trunk Show @ Batey #22, Casa de Campo
Polo- Liga de Ejecutivos 4-6 Goles @ Polo Club, Casa de Campo
Polo- FINAL Copa Audi 10-4 Goles @ Polo Club, Casa de Campo
Resident DJ JP @ Papajack’s Disco
The 5th Annual McDaniel Teaching Pro’s Tournament @ La Terraza Tennis Club

Sunday March 14th

H20 o No Exhibition @ Altos de Chavon Art Gallery, Altos de Chavon
Magical Splendor for Life: Lanvin Boutique -> 10am – 6m @ the Cacique Conference Centre
Polo- Liga de Ejecutivos 4-6 Goles @ Polo Club, Casa de Campo
The 5th Annual McDaniel Teaching Pro’s Tournament @ La Terraza Tennis Club

No related posts.

The Fundacion Lirio del Valle – putting smiles on faces

Rebecca — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:10:08 +0000

The Fundacion Lirio del Valle is a charity project which was started only a year ago, but since then has already improved the lives of many poor children in La Romana. The foundation was founded by Anna Maria Pla and Rosario Volquez, who with a mixed group of Dominican and Spanish volunteers began working to help the children from Villa Caoba, one of La Romana’s poorest areas.

The foundation aims to educate these children, provide them with clothing, food, school supplies and toys.

The Foundation currently has 120 girls and boys enrolled in it’s care program. A number of these children have been sponsored by kind donors, who pay between USD$29 and USD$43 a month to provide meals, after-school help and recreational activities as well as school equipment, schooling and school uniform. All sponsors are welcome to visit and form a bond with their sponsored child.

MANY of the children are not yet sponsored – if you would like to sponsor a child or just make a donation please contact Anna Maria Pla.

Email: amplapujal@gmail.com
To read more about their sponsorship options, click here.

To raise funds for their many activities, the Fundacion Lirio del Valle is hosting a charity dinner, this Saturday evening, March the 13th and are hosting a Bazaar on Saturday the 20th of March, here in Casa de Campo. The Bazaar will take place at Las Cerezas #68. 100% of the funds raised are dedicated to the children of Villa Caoba.

For more information about the Fundacion Lirio del Valle, visit their website: www.fundacionLDV.com

Here are some photos of the children and Casa de Campo volunteers:

The children enjoying a food donation:

Evangelina helping a boy to read:

Volunteers help wash the children’s hair!

NEW Movies and Trailers: March 11th – 17th

Mr Casa — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:10:11 +0000

This week’s movies are in! One word – DAYBREAKERS!!!!!!!!

Daybreakers [view trailer • read review]
- Weekdays @ 9:20pm
- Weekends & Holidays @ 9:20pm
The Vampires Assistant [view trailer • read review]
- Weekdays @ 6:50pm & 9:10pm
- Weekends & Holidays @ 4:30pm, 6:50pm & 9:10pm

Land of the Lost [view trailer • read review]
- Weekdays @ 7:00pm
- Weekends & Holidays @ 4:45pm & 7:00pm

Sol Caribe
- Weekdays @ 7:40pm, 9:35pm
- Weekends & Holidays @ 5:50pm, 7:40pm & 9:35pm

REMEMBER! While most movies are presented in English with Spanish sub-titles, never forget to double check the language when purchasing your tickets!

Feeling Critical? Have an opinion on any of the above movies? Leave your comments or movie reviews below – just please be sure not spoil the movies!

Daddy Yankee in the Altos de Chavon Amphitheater – ticket prices

Rebecca — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:01:55 +0000

Daddy Yankee is coming! The great regeatton artist Daddy Yankee, will be performing in concert at the Altos de Chavon Amphitheater on Saturday the 3rd of April in a production brought to you by PRAIA & BRAVO ENTERTAINMENT.

With more than 8 million records sold world-wide, 5 Billboard number 1 hits, 4 albums at the top of the charts – the artist Daddy Yankee is one of the most popular Latino artists of this decade. AND as a winner of multiple Grammy and Billboard awards he has been named one of the most influential personalities in the world by CNN and The Times. For more information, visit the page www.daddyyankee.com

Tickets will be on sale SOON (by the end of the week), from UEPA tickets, Corripio and the Casa de Campo concierge desk.

Ticket Prices:

General Entrance: RD$1,500.00 (tickets purchased BEFORE the 19th of March)VIP: RD$3,500.00
RD$2000.00 (tickets purchased AFTER 18th of March)

VIP Entrance: RD$3,500.00

Andaluz Tapas Bar y Más: Special Promotional Nights with FREE appetizers!

Rebecca — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:18:54 +0000

Andaluz Tapas Bar y Más is a wonderful new restaurant in La Romana, which is quickly gaining a reputation for serving great food and drinks in a relaxing and fun atmosphere.

In order to recognise, celebrate and unite the various sections of our community – Casa de Campo, La Romana and beyond, Andaluz has organised ’specials nights’ each one aimed at a different group of people – and during each of these special nights they will be serving FREE appetizers!

Of course the nights aren’t restrictive , you can still go to Andaluz any night you want – the idea of these nights is to unite friends and people with something in common.

The nights are as follows:

Wednesday is ‘Romana Night’ - for Journalists, La Romana T.V. people, Government and business executives from town.

Thursday is ‘Teachers´Night’ – for the staff of the Abraham Lincoln School staff, although I’m sure staff from any other school would be more than welcome and I’m sure the Lincoln teachers would enjoy meeting other teachers!

Friday is ‘Andaluz Friends n More’ – for the fans and friends of Andaluz, a.k.a everyone and Casa de Campo people!

Saturday is Party Night – with music for dancing!

Sunday is ‘Celebrations Night’ – celebrate your Birthday at Andaluz on a Sunday and get FREE appetizers for you and all your guests!!!

and Wednesday the 24th of March is ‘Carol’s Friends Night!’ A special night for everyone and especially the friends of Carol Trembley, owner of the Casa Wine Shop with music and FREE appetizers! (More details about this soon!)

Remember: Andaluz will welcome you with open arms on any of these nights – even if it’s a Thursday and your not a teacher!

The FREE appetizers change from night to night, but an example would be nachos, guacamole and mini-pizzas!

In January when Andaluz first opened Casa de Campo Living was invited to Andaluz to do a ‘Casa de Campo Living review’ and we LOVED it! Both the food and service is excellent. To read our full review with plenty of photos of the food, click here.

Only in the DR: A ‘REAL STATE!’

Rebecca — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:01 +0000

This week’s ‘Only in the DR’ post was sent to me by Philip Silvestri, taken from his mobile phone in Santo Domingo.The photograph shows a Real Estate office called ‘Montesino, Real State.’

Apparently, this is a VERY common Dominican spelling mistake – seemingly the name of the office should have been ‘Montesino, Real Estate,’ but somehow the ‘E’ in estate got lost somewhere – if this is the case I do not think I would be able to trust these people selling my house! Seriously, people who actually OWN a real estate business and they can’t even spell estate? Very dodgy…

However, I am willing to believe that ‘Real State’ is the ‘Dominicanised’ version of Real Estate, so that ‘Real State’ isn’t even meant to be an English word – it’s the Dominican translation for Real Estate. This, in my opinion makes much more sense – surely someone, somewhere would have pointed out this spelling error???

Another (real) example of a ‘Dominicanised’ word:

‘Zafecon’ – the Dominican version of ‘Safe can’ meaning bin.

What do you think?

Real State – a ‘dominicanised’ word? or a spelling mistake???

We want your photos and/or stories! If you have any photos of classic DR scenes or even bizarre photos or stories, we would love to hear from you! Email: info@casadecampoliving.com

The Magical Splendor for Life Gala – all the ultra-glamorous details..

Rebecca — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:05:27 +0000

It’s finally here! The Fundacion MIR’s ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ fundraising weekend is THIS weekend – with special fundraising activities starting THIS Thursday the 11th of March.

The highlight and main attraction of this fundraising weekend is undoubtedly the ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ Gala which incorporates a dinner, a fashion show and an after party! This wondrous event will take place in the romantic Altos de Chavon, from 8.30pm.

Before the start of the dinner and fashion show, guests will have time to enjoy the atmosphere with a glass or two of champagne, or maybe a Bacardi cocktail and purchase 1 or several ‘Tiffany’s Mystery Blue Boxes’ – guests purchase one of the Tiffany’s blue boxes ($300 a box) and receive a surprise Tiffany’s gift, from necklaces to watches.

Guests will enjoy a feast prepared by Casa de Campo’s finest chefs, whilst watching the Lanvin fashion show, with the beautiful Ileana Garcia from Miami’s Alfombra Roja Radio Show, who will be the evenings’ Mistress of Ceremonies. Following dinner and the fashion show, the orchestra of Rubby Perez will play, giving guests the chance to get up and dance!

At 11pm the after party will begin with DJ Gringo from Miami.

Entrance tickets: VIP tables from $1,000, $500 and $300.
After Party: $50 per person or $1,000 for a VIP Lounge.

For more information and reservations:
Ana Alba of MIR Charities: (561) 366-5095 or visit www.mircharities.org
Magdalena Cavazos of Fundacion MIR: (809) 523-8270 or magdalena@fundacionmir.org

Over the weekend a number of fundraising activities will be taking place. This is the schedule of events/activities as I understand it:

Thursday 11th March

The ‘Lanvin Boutique’ will be open and selling exclusive Lanvin design clothes flown in especially from Paris
9am – 6pm at the Flamboyant Conference Centre. More info here.

Friday 12th March

The ‘Lanvin Boutique’ will be open and selling exclusive Lanvin design clothes flown in especially from Paris
9am – 6pm at the Flamboyant Conference Centre. More info here.

Saturday 13th March

The ‘Lanvin Boutique’ will be open and selling exclusive Lanvin design clothes flown in especially from Paris
9am – 6pm at the Flamboyant Conference Centre. More info here.

The ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ gala – glamorous dinner, fashion show and after party, taking place in Altos de Chavon, 8.30pm
Full details below.

Sunday 14th March

The ‘Lanvin Boutique’ will be open and selling exclusive Lanvin design clothes flown in especially from Paris
9am – 6pm at the Cacique Conference Centre. More info here.

Here is the Fundacion MIR’s official press release about the event ( in Spanish of course!):

La Fundacion MIR anuncia su “Esplendor Mágico por la Vida”
con desfile de moda por Lanvin Paris en Casa de Campo

Casa de Campo, La Romana. – La esperanza y la solidaridad se vestirán con los nuevos estilos de la colección primavera-verano de Lanvin Paris y las joyas de Tiffany’s en el tradicional desfile de modas “Esplendor Mágico por la Vida” que anualmente celebra la Fundación MIR en Casa de Campo, desde el 12 al 14 de marzo.

Según detalles ofrecidos en rueda de prensa por la señora Lian Fanjul, presidenta de Fundación MIR, se informó que los fondos recaudados en dicho evento serán destinados para desarrollar cada uno de los proyectos sociales que tiene a cargo la fundación, entre ellos dos escuelas vocacionales que acogen a más de 1,000 niños y niñas de La Romana, y otras comunidades del Este.

Esta vez la actividad tendrá como escenario las piedras de Altos de Chavón, donde los invitados disfrutarán además de la cena de gala preparada por los chefs de Casa de Campo y la fiesta bailable con la orquesta de Rubby Pérez. Durante la actividad los asistentes podrán adquirir las joyas de Tiffany’s y su “Mistery Blue Box” conteniendo fabulosas piezas de la reconocida firma, y al mismo tiempo cautivarse por las esculturas florales de Emilio Robba que adornarán cada detalle en la decoración de la noche.

El evento incluye también, a partir de las 11:00 PM, un divertido After Party musicalizado por DJ Gringo exclusivamente desde Miami, Florida, organizado por la discoteca Praia de Santo Domingo. La maestra de ceremonias será Ileana García, conductora del programa radial La Alfombra Roja, de Miami.

Entre las personalidades confirmadas en asistir figuran la actriz Adamari López así como también la modelo y presentadora de televisión Karla Monroig, lo que promete será una noche muy especial con figuras internacionales.

Fundación MIR es presidida por la señora Lian Fanjul y su hija Lyanne Azqueta Fanjul como directora ejecutiva. La organización lleva casi dos décadas brindando asistencia social a los sectores más desprotegidos en La Romana y comunidades cercanas, en materia de educación y salud.

Para más información y reservaciones, visite www.fundacionmir.org o llame al 809-523-8270. También puede escribirnos al correo electrónico magdalena@fundacionmir.org

Altos de Chavon

Casa de Campo Resort
La Romana, DR

###

Cafe de La Leche: March 2010

Rebecca — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:17:50 +0000

Last Friday the 5th of March, Mapi Avanzini opened her house and welcomed the ladies of Casa de Campo to join her for this month’s Cafe de La Leche.

It was a lovely afternoon, Mapi’s house is beautiful and Mapi herself was very friendly and welcoming – she actually thanked me personally for my milk donation as I arrived, which made me feel very welcome indeed!

As I have come to expect at all Cafe de La Leche gatherings, the food was wonderful - especially the pastellitos and the shrimp, absolutely wonderful and dangerously moorish!

Food, food, glorious food – a few photos of the food, not too many as I got distracted actually eating it!

The Cafe de La Leche is a monthly charity event, held for the Hogar del Niño, children’s day care centre and school, where ladies from Casa de Campo and La Romana get together over a cup of tea, wine, occasionally champagne, and a few nibbles. Each lady brings a donation of dried milk, cereals or baby formula, which is then used to feed the over 200 babies cared for in the Hogar del Niño everyday.

Unfortunately, as I arrived a little late, I wasn’t able to take as many photos as I normally do – which meant I had more time to enjoy the yummy food and drinks! Nevertheless, here are my photos:

Carnaval en Casa – announcing the prizewinners….

Rebecca — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:05:18 +0000

The votes have been counted and the results of our Carnaval en Casa costume competition are in …..

As part of our Casa de Campo Living ‘Carnaval en Casa’ we held a costume competition, with prizes for people who came dressed in the BEST costumes.

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

FIRST PRIZE: The Lamparas – Patricia Proaño, Ivonna Sosa, Gricelle Lahoz de Olivo, Adriadna Torres, Amelia Pereyra and Fatima Torres.
Who have won a trip for 6 to Oscar de La Renta’s beach with Marine Trader Services.

RUNNER-UP PRIZE: Erika Villain – dressed as a white and sparkly Diablo Cajuelo
Who has won a hair-dressing appointment – hair treatment and blow dry at Amadeus Hair Salon in the Marina Casa de Campo

RUNNER-UP PRIZE: Matilde Martin – dressed as a pink ballerina or maybe she was a fairy!? Either way she was super cute!
Who has won a hair-dressing appointment – hair treatment and blow dry at Amadeus Hair Salon in the Marina Casa de Campo

If you (or your daughter, or sister) is a prize winner, please email us: info@casadecampoliving.com to claim your prize!

Our ‘Carnaval in Casa‘ was a HUGE success and lots and lots of fun, which we will most certainly be repeating in the future! During the evening I took literally hundreds of photos, you can find some of these photos below, to view the rest, click here and click here!

The Fundacion MIR: press conference for the ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ weekend

Rebecca — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:44 +0000

One of the MOST glamourous events of the Casa de Campo social calendar, the Fundacion MIR’s ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ gala is this Saturday the 13th of March. Yesterday Lian Fanjul and her daughter Lyanne Azqueta Fanjul held a press conference at the Fundacion MIR’s vocational school for boys.

During the press conference Lian Fanjul spoke about the Fundacion MIR, the charity which she founded and it’s wonderful work educating La Romana’s children as well as caring for women and children living with HIV and AIDs. To read more about the Fundacion MIR and it’s inspiring and life-changing work with the people of La Romana, click here to read about my experience or click here to visit their website.

During the press conference the ladies took a tour of the Fundacion MIR’s boy’s vocational school – where boys are taught important trades such as carpentry, electrics, working with air conditioning systems and much more. Here is a photo of some of the boys working in one of the labs:

This weekend – the Fundacion MIR’s ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ weekend is one of the Fundacion MIR’s main fundraising events of the year – last year over $200,000 dollars was raised. This year the main event the ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ gala is taking place in Altos de Chavon, where guests will be treated to a dinner catered by Le Cirque, a catwalk show from Lanvin and a Praia after party.

I will be publishing more details about this event tomorrow – I have the press release in Spanish and because its such an important event, I’m going to translate it, so everyone can read all the exciting details about Saturday night’s event.

The 5th Annual McDaniel Teaching Pro’s Tournament starts Thursday 11th March

Rebecca — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:40:58 +0000

This Thursday the 11th of March is the opening day for the 5th annual McDaniel Teaching Pro’s tournament, a tennis tournament held in benefit of Casa de Campo’s ball boys.

The first tennis matches will begin at 9am on Thursday March the 11th at the La Terraza Tennis Club, the tournament matches will then be played out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the grand final will be held at 4pm on Sunday the 4th of March at the La Romana Country Club.

To read bout last year’s successful tournament, click here.

The tournament was started 5 years ago my Rick McDaniel, here Rick tells us a little more about the history of the tournament and his motivation for setting it up:

I have been coming to Casa de Campo since 1981 and have always been active in both tennis and golf. While playing in the annual Caddie’s Golf Tournament in 2005, I noticed that the tennis ball boys as well as the tennis teaching pros were not being recognized in a similar manner.
Therefore, I decided to organize and sponsor a tournament in honor of these fine young men.

Our first tournament was held in 2006 and was a very simple limited affair with only myself and the LRCC as sponsors.

Since that time we have grown to the point that last year we had 43 sponsors who contributed a total of $900,000 pesos. All of the proceeds go toward prize money for the players and four full scholarships each year for the ball boys.

It is not to late to give a donation and sponsor the tournament! Sponsorship donations are from USD$150 to USD$5000, if you would like to make a donation, or would like more information, please email me, Rebecca Hughes on: rhughes@casadecampoliving.com

The Fundacion MIR wishes you a ‘Feliz Dia de la Mujer’

Rebecca — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:57:07 +0000

Today, Monday the 8th of March is International woman’s day – a day to celebrate women, after all we are AWESOME! From myself and Casa de Campo Living I would like to wish you a very HAPPY woman’s day – even if you’re not a woman, you should still be giving thanks for how wonderful we are!

To read more about the ‘Dia de la Mujer’ or International Woman’s day, it’s history etc, click here.

Here is a paragraph, sent to me from the Fundacion MIR, a quote from Mother Theresa – about living life to the full!

FELIZ DIA INTERNACIONAL DE LA MUJER

Siempre ten presente que: La piel se arruga, el pelo se vuelve blanco, los días se convierten en años. Pero lo importante no cambia, tu fuerza y tu convicción no tienen edad. Tu espíritu es el plumero de cualquier tela de araña, detrás de cada línea de llegada, hay una de partida; detrás de cada logro, hay otro desafío. Mientras estés viva, siéntete viva; si extrañas lo bueno que hacías, vuelve a hacerlo. No vivas de fotos amarillas, sigue aunque todos esperen que abandones. No dejes que se oxide el hierro que hay en ti. Haz que en vez de lastima, te tengan respeto. Cuando por los años no puedas correr, trota; cuando no puedas trotar, camina; cuando no puedas caminar, usa el bastón. Pero nunca te detengas.
Madre Teresa de Calcuta

Fundación MIR felicita a todas las mujeres del mundo que con genio, pasión y humanidad, hacen el cambio día a día.

FELICIDADES!

Don’t forget this weekend is the Fundacion MIR ‘Magical Splendor for Life’ weekend! To read more about the weekend, click here. To read about their ‘Lanvin’ boutique which will be here from thus Thursday to Sunday, click here.

The Naked Fish – closed!?

Rebecca — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:45:49 +0000

Last week, on an ordinary outing in the Marina I noticed that the Naked Fish restaurant was closed and according to a notice posted on the door will remain closed for the foreseeable future!

Unfortunately, we do not know why or for how long the Naked Fish will remain closed – I only know that any craving I have for their wonderful Spinach dip will have to remain unfulfilled!!

Don’t believe me? Here’s the notice on the door:

Memories of Casa de Campo: Before and After Hurricane Georges

Rebecca — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:32:40 +0000

In this week’s ‘Memories of Casa de Campo’ post, Carol Burke recalls the day Hurricane George arrived, largely destroyed and left Casa de Campo and La Romana. Her memories are fascinating and the photos quiet incredible. The above is a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot of Carol’s back yard – totally unrecognisable! No wonder their dog looks a little lost!

The evening of September 21, 1998, I was watching the Weather Channel – news of the hurricane which was heading towards Puerto Rico. Then it changed course, jogged a little to the south, and headed straight west towards the eastern end of Hispaniola where Casa de Campo is located.

The following morning, September 22, 1998 — who could have known it would be such a workman-like hurricane? It arrived at 8:00 AM, scrubbed Casa de Campo like a giant housemaid from the sky, and left by 5:00 PM.

The hotel guests and villa owners had been invited to spend the day in the Conference Center. I decided to stay at home that day. The villa we lived in at that time was built against an embankment, so there was a lower level which was protected. The main part of the house was upstairs and at street level.

In the lower level there was a small windowless room, and while the hurricane blew, that’s where I stayed with my three cats and two dogs for company.

Georges came in around 8:00 AM with winds that made a scouring, brushing sound. At noon, the eye of the hurricane came overhead, and all of a sudden everything was quiet and peaceful again. The sun came out, the birds started to sing, and I could hear people in the street talking. Georges was on his lunch hour.

I went upstairs to see what had happened. Winds had knocked down a fence in the little back patio, and a tree was blocking our front door, but otherwise everything seemed ok. Since the Weather Channel had said the eye was 15 miles across, and Georges was moving forward at about 15 mph, I figured that the second wind would be arriving in about an hour.

I gathered some bottles of water and some food, and went back downstairs. The other side of Georges was right on time. When the wind hit again, it scrubbed even harder. Just before it ripped off our roof, it lowered the air pressure of the little room until it was hard to breathe and my ears were popping. I heard what sounded like large pieces of concrete falling to the floor above me. A crack appeared in the ceiling of the little room and water began dripping through.

By sunset the hurricane had moved on, and the only sound was some left-over rain dripping. I walked over to the stairway and looked up. Furniture had been tossed down the stairs by the wind and I could see the sky where there used to be a ceiling.

By the next morning the rains stopped for a while and I went out to see the new day. Our living room walls had fallen, one wall fell into the house, the other wall fell into the garden, with the phone still attached. Our roof was across the street in the golf course.

Getting around the area was difficult for a few days as many trees were blocking the roads.

Here are some before and after photos I took in the first days after the hurricane.

Before the hurricane we had a living room with a ceiling, after the hurricane we had an open-air terrace!

Before the hurricane Casa de Campo had a pretty entrance portico, after the hurricane it was gone ….

Thank you Carol for such an interesting and insightful post! Carol has sent me many more ‘before and after’ the hurricane shots will I will use shortly.

The Fundacion MIR presents: The Lanvin Boutique

Rebecca — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:54:48 +0000

This coming weekend is the Fundacion MIR weekend ‘A Magical Splendor for Life’ and as part of the weekend ‘The Lanvin Boutique’ will be open.
The boutique will be open from Thursday the 11th of March through to Sunday the 14th of March, everyday from 10am to 6pm.

You will find the boutique in the Casa de Campo Flamboyant conference centre from Thursday to Saturday and in the Casa de Campo Cacique conference centre on Sunday.

All the clothes are being flown in directly from Paris to La Romana especially for this weekend’s special MIR event and 15% of all sales from the boutique will be donated directly to the MIR Charities organisation.

Lanvin is an exclusive and time-honoured French couture fashion house, established in 1889. Lanvin is the designer who will be featured during the hugely glamourous and eagerly anticipated ‘A Magical Splendor for Life’ dinner and fashion show event, which is taking place on Saturday evening in Altos de Chavon.

To read more about the MIR weekend, click here.

To read about last year’s hugely successful event, click here.

Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe – now open!

Rebecca — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:15:11 +0000

The NEW Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe is now open and waiting for your visit! Although, we have yet to visit ourselves, we have heard nothing, but good things about the new Casino and will certainly be visiting very soon to bring you a full review and some photos!

In the meantime, here is a press release sent to us from the Casino, which tells you all about the Casino:
(An English translation can be found at the bottom.)

Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe

Se encuentra ubicado en la Av. Dominicus esq. Wayne Fuller, Plaza Montecarlo, Bayahibe, Rep. Dom. Ha sido diseñado de acuerdo al concepto de las grandes salas de juego de Las Vegas. Ocupa un área de más de tres mil metros cuadrados y abre todos los días de 6 de la tarde a 4 de la mañana.

Los juegos que ofrece el Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahíbe son: Ruleta, Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Poker Texas Hold´em, Poker Caribeño, Black Jack, Chemin de Fer y las Máquinas Tragamonedas. Todos nuestros juegos de Mesas son autorizados por la comisión de juegos de las Vegas, Nevada, y ofrecen límites de apuesta, que van desde los US$5.00 hasta los US$300.00

Entre sus atractivos, el Casino ofrece un Bar y tres restaurantes, cada uno con un estilo gastronómico y ambiente diferente, ofreciendo gran variedad a sus visitantes.

El Casino Diamante Domínicus Bayahibe, es propiedad del grupo de Empresas E.E., una administradora de capital Dominicano, con casi 50 años en la industria del entretenimiento en nuestro país, y forma parte de una cadena de 7 casinos, ubicados en diferentes puntos de la Geografía Nacional. El éxito de las empresas radica en el trabajo arduo, a través de un sistema global de estrategias de negocios y la calidad del capital humano que posee.

Visítenos y descubra que “Hay Joyas que Dan Suerte”, Casino Diamante Domínicus Bayahíbe, otra Empresa EE, Líder del Entretenimiento Dominicano.

Para contactos e información teléfonos 809-833-0574, 809-682-2102 ext. 228, Fax 809-685-3283 y nuestro Web site www.empresasee.com.do.

Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe

The Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe is located at Dominicus Ave. and Wayne Fuller St., Plaza Monte Carlo, Bayahibe, Dominican Republic and has been designed according to the concept of a large gambling Casino of Las Vegas. It covers an area of over three thousand square meters and is open daily from 6:00 pm to 4:00 am.

The games offered by the Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe are: Roulette, Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Texas Hold’em Poker, Caribbean Poker, Blackjack, Chemin de Fer and Slot Machines. Our limits range from $5 to $300 dollars.

Among it’s attractions, the Casino offers a Bar and three Restaurants, each with a gourmet style and different environment.

Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe, is owned by a Dominican Casino Operator (Empresas EE) with nearly 50 years in the entertainment industry in our country, which has a chain of 7 Casinos, located in different cities around the country. The success of the company is due to hard work through a comprehensive system of business and the experience of its Directors in Casino administration.

Visit us and discover that “Hay Joyas que dan Suerte,” Casino Diamante Dominicus Bayahibe, another EE company, Leader of the Dominican Entertainment.

For more information, please contact us at phone 809-833-0574, 809-682-2102 ext. 228, Fax 809-685-3283 or visit our website www.empresasee.com.do.

The Marina in CARNAVAL – all the shops, restaurants and employees celebrate with us!

Rebecca — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:08:28 +0000

Last Saturday the 27th of February, the Marina Casa de Campo was in Carnaval - an event organised by Casa de Campo Living called ‘Carnaval in Casa.’ The event was a huge success – thanks largely to all the Marina Casa de Campo businesses who took part by decorating their shops/restaurants, dressing up their staff and offering free food, drinks and special offers to everyone at the Carnaval.

Casa de Campo Living would like to say a HUGE thank you to all the Marina Casa de Campo businesses, which took part and made the event the success that it was – we look forward to hosting even more events in the future with you!

In order to show our gratitude to the businesses involved we have awarded prizes to the following shops:

Azurro – winner of the best decorated shop

Azurro, a high-end clothing and fashion boutique, made a huge effort decorating the store - as you can see from the photos (below and above) and they were offering free food and drinks to shoppers and happy carnaval goers!

Rubiluna – winner of the prize for the best carnaval costumes

Rubiluna sells everything from house ware to clothing to soft toys and key-rings to sunglasses – which is why it’s a popular place to buy gifts. All of the staff of Rubiluna were dressed not only in very colourful feathered and glittery masks, but were also wearing brightly colored and decorated carnaval capes!

We also had a costume competition for our Carnaval goers – to see the winners and vote for the runner-up, click here.

Many other of the Marina Casa de Campo’s businesses also participated, in a variety of different ways.

Mediterraneo, a boutique fashion store was offering free food and drinks, some fantastic discounts and all their staff were dressed up very nicely!

The Emilio Robba store, which sells ‘illusion flowers’ and other stunning household decorations was offering cookies and iced tea and the staff were wearing very pretty Carnaval masks.

Chinois restaurant really got into the spirit of the Carnaval with all it’s staff dressed as Diablos Cajuelos.

Rio Marina, Italian restaurant, situated at the entrance to the Marina Casa de Campo, were so keen to be involved in the Carnaval they actually brought an entire table of different Italian delicacies – which of course were so delicious they didn’t last long!

Also involved were:

ERH Marine who had set up a FREE Grey Goose vodka bar and were offering tours around one of their gorgeous Tiara yachts.
Jenny Polanco’s store who were playing Dominican music, had some interesting Dominican decorations and the staff dressed up in a variety of costumes from a country girl to carnaval attire.
Limoncello who were giving away free soda with all orders of pizza
Dedon who had decorated their store, were offering some great cheese and wine and one of their staff was dressed up in a VERY racy nurse’s outfit (photos below)
Bleu Marine, who create replicas of yachts and other hand made wooden models had set up a stall
Punto y Corcho set up a satellite wine and champagne bar and were serving some very good quality and delicious wines at very discounted prices.
The Hogar del Niño, who had set up a stand selling traditional Dominican carnaval masks (created for their Hogar del Niño weekend
dinner).
Carmen Sol New York, boutique fashion store, were giving away a free gift with every purchase from their NEW Juicy Couture kids range

Here are even more photos of the businesses getting involved:

And here are even more photos of taken by me during the event of everyone having fun:

Photo of the week: Sunset at Minitas

Rebecca — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:05:19 +0000

This week’s photo was sent to us by Conny Rosenbergand was taken from Casa de Campo’s beautiful Minitas beach.

Many thanks to Conny for sending us this beautiful photograph – Conny has told us that since she moved to Casa de Campo last year, she has developed a bit of a passion for photography, so we hope to receive a few more of her snaps soon!

In fact we like Conny’s photos so much that this is the second photo of hers which we have published – the last one, also Minitas at sunset, was equally if not more beautiful than this one. To view this photo, click here.

Got your own great photos you’d like to share? Send us your photos! If you have any beautiful, interesting, fascinating or even weird photos then send them to us to publish! Email us at: info@casadecampoliving.com

Construction in Casa: Punta Aguila 63

Rebecca — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:46:07 +0000

Beautiful villas are always being built in Casa de Campo and although we can see the progress and buildings from the outside it is not often that we get the chance to peek inside a project and see exactly what is going on! In this post Rafeal Aybar, of Constructora Aybar S.A reveals to us, the secrets of one of their latest projects.

Here we have another project taking place in Casa De Campo. The lot, Punta Aguila 63, is located on what used to be the Punta Aguila airport. The airport was moved to give way for more lots due to the ocean views and the beauty of the surrounding area. These new lots are right next to the holes of the world famous teeth of the dog golf course with its lake and green pasteur.

The concept for this villa is of a small Spanish village. The owner being of nature a very friendly person wanted a spanish patio in the center with a very unique landscaping. The patio of coutryard is the focal point and the centre of the villa with all paths and entrances leading to it, even the front entrance to the house goes directly to the patio.

A separate building module for friends and family overlooks the georgous pool. The main living room bordering the pool has a unique suspended stair case made of precious wood. The pool another main component of the villa goes along the house just enough to become a good lap pool for great excersice under the sun.

The stair case that connects the master bedroom to the gym has a light house feel. Designed with an additional floor as an ocean observatory, protected by stainlees steel bars all rround the balcony lets you appreciate the caribbean shores at its fullest.

For the patio a special awning has been designed to cover all the paths and the entrance, each with carefully selected colors to integrate with the surroundings.

As you can see this project is not yet completed, as it progresses we will keep you up to date with the progress and of course will eventually bring you photos of the completed villa.

Article contributed by Rafael Aybar, Constructora Aybar S.A.
Punta Aguila 63
Design: French Arq. Yanez
Construction: Constructora Aybar S.A. (Rafael Aybar)