Kathy's travels: A day out at the mall

Today I went to Albin and Patricia's place. It's in another part of Beirut. There's a taxi driver that they know who knows the way to their place. Yesterday, I asked Mohamed in the Saifi reception to call that driver and reserve the ride for me this morning. Mohamed knows Albin and Patricia because they stayed at Saifi in September and he knows who the driver is who knows the way. The driver actually arrived a little early. Albin and Patricia have a beautiful apartment on the 9th floor of a very modern building. From their balcony, you have a view of the ocean and the mountains. Albin made hojaldras (a Panamanian fried dough meal), fresh lemonade and coffee for us.

Then we walked to the City Mall. It's a very nice mall - just like one in the states. We walked around the stores and had lunch in the food court. Most of the food places are the same as in the U.S.: MacDonalds, KFC, etc , but there was a place that made Lebanese sandwiches. We chose that one. There was also a supermarket in there. We went there because they needed some things for their home.

Then, they were going to take a taxi home because they had bags to carry. I said I would just take a separate taxi back to Saifi since it was already 3:30. We told the driver the neighborhood (Gemmayze) and he got me to the neighborhood, but didn't know where the school was. I told him Pasteur Street, but that didn't seem to help. After a while, as he drove, I recognized where I was. It was on the street I walked on last night. I'm so glad I walked last night and learned that other street. I got out there and walked the rest of the way. There are a lot of one way streets, including mine, and I was afraid if I tried to have him drive the next couple blocks to where the school was, we'd get lost again. Then after going to my room, I went for another exploratory walk. Here are a few photos from the walk.

This is written on the side of the colorful steps.