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A souvenir always reminds you of memories from a place and its essence. One can bag a lot of souvenirs for them selves and as gifts. Souvenirs from the Dominican Republic include a number of items that reflect the sights and tastes of this country such as paintings and carvings, ceramics, clay dolls, jewelry of amber or larimar, coffee and cigars. |
The faceless ceramic dolls made from red clay prove to be ideal souvenirs. Their outfits are painted in traditional designs and they reflect the Dominican country life with some dolls balancing baskets or pots on their heads, some milling coffee, and some holding bouquets. Other ceramic items include mugs, plates, vases, and containers, most of which are hand-painted. Another quite popular ceramic item is a music box crafted in the shape of a typical Dominican house. The music played is a classical or contemporary merengue. Dominican-crafted leather goods, available in the larger shopping centers are also popular items that are well-made and fashioned in current styles and designs.
Jewellery is also is good souvenir option. The original medallions found on the Concepcion, a Spanish treasure ship that sank in 1641, is an excellent choice. The coins are mounted on gold and silver and sold as fine jewelry either with a chain or as a brooch.
The native coffee, rum, music, prepared food items and cigars are also excellent items that you can purchase here in any large Dominican supermarkets. A Dominican specialty is the richly-flavored coffee that most natives like to take black in a demitasse cup with lots of sugar. One can also choose a good bottle of rum from the 36 variations available in the country. There are six distilleries that produce hundreds of gallons a day and the main brands are Brugal, Barceló and Bermúdez. Each of these has premium rums, with tastes that remind you of fine brandy.
CD and cassette stores abound in Santo Domingo at the malls or shopping centers. You can also buy the music of this land like the lively merengue, slower bachata or sexy salsa.
The Dominican local products such as tropical canned juices, and Bon jams or marmalades are sold at any supermarket. There are also sweets and candies known as "dulces." These are similar to fudge but flavored with pineapple, coconut or guava, and can be found at specialty shops or supermarkets. Cigar lovers would love to carry back the world-famous cigars of the land that are available in three main brands Aurora, Habanera and Cerdan and these can be found at supermarkets.
Souvenirs may be purchased in the many shopping centers of Santo Domingo, at supermarkets, at hotels, or at special artisan marketplaces.
