ThursdayWe woke up around 5:45 am, packed up the food we had bought and froze (no, not POM meals for all you purists), and headed to EWR. After a pretty painless parking job at a hotel (thank you, Google), we arrived at the airport, breezed through check-in (thank you, Star Alliance gold) and security (thank you, TSA precheck), and even had time for a quick stop at the lounge to daven and get some drinks. Our flight into AUA was a short 4 hours, but the plane had no wifi or in-flight entertainment.
Upon landing in AUA, we were dismayed to learn that the correct side of the plane to sit on is the left side, and we were on the right. The left side is awarded views of the turquoise waters and white sand, while the right side gets to see absolutely nothing. Midway through the deplaning process, the pilot suddenly announced that we had to stop. Apparently, too many people had gotten off in the front of the plane while the luggage was still in the bottom towards the back. We had to wait until more suitcases were unloaded, otherwise the plane would tip over! Gosh, talk about making me feel confident in those Boeing engineers. A short while later we were allowed to walk off the plane onto the jetway and were immediately hit by the humidity (note: when you are outside there is a constant beautiful breeze that makes the humidity completely bearable). The next thing to hit us was the crowd. There was a line through the entire hallway and doubling back, just to go down the escalator to customs! Some hour and so later, we made it through, located our bags and exited the airport. We tried to locate the city bus, but it turns out they don't pick up at the airport, so we took a taxi instead. A cab will cost you $25 from the airport to the Hyatt Regency. We split it with JJ (who was also there for the weekend) and paid $35 total for a slightly larger van.
Unfortunately, Lou and I both forgot to email the general manager and ask for an upgrade, since the nights were booked out of a Diamond account (Lou: HT Marco Polo). When requested at check-in we were told there were none left. Oh well, lots more future vacations to try our luck on (right Lou??).
Now, I know y'all like hotel room pictures, but I didn't take any. I do, however, have a few of the view from our balcony.
The Hyatt Regency in Aruba is a resort, so it's a lot more open and airy than your typical hotel.
The grounds, though not so extensive, are pretty to walk around and the staff was friendly and accommodating with our various shabbos needs. However, I find it hard to imagine spending the kind of cash or points required to book this hotel considering its category, if not for a glitch.
We were pretty tired from our early morning and flight, so we unpacked our food, made some sandwiches, (grilled cheese for me and deli for Lou, in case any of you were oddly interested) and went down to the beach for sunset.
Nearly everything in Aruba closes at 8pm, including the supermarkets and any tour bookings. Of course, we got to the front desk at 8:10pm to ask for directions. Luckily, the concierge was still able to book us on a UTV tour for the next morning and to direct us to a small convenience store that stayed open late which was located in a little area across the street and to the right of the hotel with all the tourist traps one could ask for. We picked up a few overpriced essentials, went back to the hotel and turned in.
Passing over the Dominican Republic:
Part one of the line for customs:
And part two:
Our “Balcony:”
The View:
A red beaked black swan:
The items Lou can’t travel without:
A magical sunset:
