Saturday

Posted by Linda

We had quite an overwhelming morning at the Albrook Mall on Saturday. I was reminded of a quote I heard a few years back about the Smithsonian that you could visit for eight hours a day, seven days a week, spending about 20 seconds viewing each piece and not look at everything in a lifetime... or something like that. It may not be quite that extreme at Albrook, but it was pretty close. Definitely the largest mall I've ever been in and full of Christmas shoppers. One of the most different things there was the food court. Unlike the standard American mall with one food court with maybe 10 restaurants (if you're lucky) all priced about the same ($5 to $10 a person), Albrook had five food courts, the largest of which had forty restaurants ranging in price from $1.75 for an individual pizza (which I could not finish individually...) to a $20 steak from a full on steakhouse- in the food court! In a line next to Popeye's and Tako Maker.

After lunch we went out to the Causeway and rented bicycles- but not just any bicycles, we had straight up "mad pimpin'" car-cycles, some made for two, some four, and some six people. We all rode up the coast, stopping as we pleased to take pictures. I liked seeing a different kind of area in Panama City. Although the area was a hot spot for tourists, it was not overrun by tourists, and it was absolutely beautiful seeing the water on either side of the road as I got some exercise and felt the wind in (what is left of) my hair.

As nice as anything we did this week was in and of itself, I enjoyed it so much more because

of the company. I'm really glad that we were all lucky enough to get such a good group

together, you all made Panama great for me!