Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 圣多明各，多米尼加共和国
December 17, 2025
After a day at sea, we arrived in Santo Domingo for the second time on this trip. We hired a taxi to take us to Faro de Colón, the Columbus Lighthouse, where Christopher Columbus is allegedly buried. The final resting place of Columbus has been disputed for centuries. Today, two cities—Seville and Santo Domingo—both claim to hold his remains, and over the years we have visited both.
The monument itself is enormous, almost overwhelming in scale. Inside, it houses numerous small exhibits contributed by countries around the world that participated in or supported the monument’s construction. We spent about an hour exploring the museum while our taxi driver patiently waited for us outside, then drove us back to the ship.
After lunch onboard, we disembarked again—this time returning to the city center. We wandered at an unhurried pace through the streets and came upon the atmospheric ruins of an old convent, currently under renovation. Even in its partially restored state, the site felt evocative and quietly fascinating.
A small but memorable moment came when we encountered two young girls speaking Chinese on the street. Throughout the entire trip, it had been rare to hear Chinese spoken, and tourists from China—or Asia more broadly—seemed few and far between. That brief exchange felt unexpectedly familiar and warmly human, standing out amid our explorations of history and stone.
2025年12月17日
前二天在哥伦比亚的卡塔赫纳是我们这次邮轮走的最远的地方，接下来便是往回开。在海上航行一天后，我们的船再次抵达 Santo Domingo（圣多明各）。因为是第二次来，我们就自由行，雇了一辆出租车前往 Faro de Colón（哥伦布灯塔），这里据称安葬着 Christopher Columbus（克里斯托弗·哥伦布）。事实上，哥伦布的最终安息之地几百年来一直存在争议。如今，西班牙塞维利亚（Seville）和圣多明各这两座城市都声称保存着他的遗骸，而我们也都曾到访过这两处地方。
这座纪念性建筑规模宏大，气势逼人。建筑内部设有许多小型展览，展品来自参与或支持该纪念碑建设的不同国家。我们在馆内参观了大约一个小时，出租车司机一直在外等候，随后将我们送回了船上。
在船上用过午餐后，我们再次下船返回市区。这一次，我们放慢脚步，在老城市里悠闲地漫步，偶然发现了一处正在修缮中的古老修道院遗址。即使在翻修过程中，这片废墟依然充满历史气息，令人觉得别有意味。
在老城区闲逛时我们走进了一家小超市，无意中听到两位年轻女孩正在用中文交谈，从口音上能知道是来自大陆，这让我们很吃惊。与她们交谈后知道是自己飞到多米尼亚的Punta Cana (蓬塔卡纳)，然后又开车来到了圣多明各。半个多月来的整个行程中，几乎听不到中文，来自中国或其他亚洲国家的游客在这一带也相当少见。很佩服这两位年轻女孩，那一刻的偶遇及乡音，给我们带来了一丝亲切与温暖。