Gardens and Grocery Shopping in Boquete

Today is Domingo (Sunday) in Boquete and that means church and family day.  Many shops are closed, but as we wandered around downtown Boquete, the shops that were humming with activity included the barbershop (seems to be haircut day for Dads and sons) and the grocery store.  Joe and I dropped into Romero, the bigger grocery store in town, in search of a tasty, inexpensive lunch.  We left Romano having spent $24.48 USD.  Here's what we got:  A large tube of sunscreen, two foot-long freshly made Italian sandwiches, three garden salads topped with chicken salad (for dinner later), 2 cans of diet pepsi, a can opener, small jar of mayonnaise, 2 bananas and a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay, Frontera brand!!!  Sweet!  YES, ALL THAT for only $24.48!

Every road we have wandered onto has been a treat.  Lush and beautiful is such an understatement here.  The many shades of green, flowers, textures, grasses are too many to mention.  Joe read that there are more types of plants in Panama than in Europe and North America combined.  Roads are excellent for the most part and wind up the hillsides where the views are fantastic.  Once you get a bit of elevation, you can see Volcan Baru (currently inactive) and the Pacific Ocean.  The flowers you see here are mostly from one property, "Mi jardin es su jardin" but even the trees here bloom flowers.

Have already seen lots of homes and neighborhoods where we could see ourselves living.  One gated community looks a LOT like The Shire in the Hobbitt. Has golf course, hotel and pool amenities - going to see a home tomorrow just to see the finishes, etc.

Tonight we're going to a local church that has an English-speaking service on Sunday nights.  Will let you know next post on that.

Staying at Hotel Ladera here for the next 7 nights - negotiated a rate of $60 per night.  Nice with all the amenities and walking distance to town.  AC is very uncommon here as it is known as the City of the Eternal Springtime.  However, we would want AC just to keep things dried out.  Very comfortable, but still moist.

October is the height of the wet season and I can attest that it can rain very hard here.  It poured violently yesterday from about !:45pm to 3:30pm while we were having a late lunch outdoors but underroof and it was awesome! You had to yell to each other across the table while eating with all the noise. The dorado (mahi maki) was excellent and the onion rings were on par with the best I have had anywhere (meaty and homemade). Working hard on our Spanish and may take a free lesson one day this week.  Joe and I are both doing the online Spanish site, Duolingo.com which Joseph put us onto.  It's excellent and fun!  Also, since the beach is only about an hour's drive, think we will commute to the beach one day. The new roads are under construction, but it's going to be a breeze to go from here to the beach for a day (or two) and return home same day if desired.  Roads will be two lane each way.  Don't even think it would be a problem to haul a boat along.  Later!

What a privilege to see more of what God has created.  I am a huge history fan and appreciate what a blessing (and how blessed) the United States of America has been to me, my family and many people around the world.  God has certainly blessed the USA, but my point is that it's easy to forget that He created the World and we in the US are just a small part.  He created and loves us all - all around the world.  Hope you are all having a great day!  Hasta Luego, mis amigos.