Part 2

The city seemed to have no end. A virtual maze of streets wound around inlets and pools of water and trees. I couldn't tell what direction we were going but relied on my driver to get me there safely. I was amazed at how horizontal the city was laid out. For an area of such high population density, I expected to see more high-rises but rarely saw a building more than 30 floors high.

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The bridge arched high into the sky. It was difficult to fathom that a bridge that high could be stable in even a slight wind, but apparently the natives trusted it. The first time of crossing it was a novelty. The second became a lesson in controlled breathing techniques. I'm not one for heights and this one made my muscles tense. The stories didn't help. Apparently at some point in the past, a barge had tried to pass under the bridge but ended up striking the bridge at its peak, causing part of a lane to fall into the water below. In the dense fog, drivers had no idea that they were about to drive off of a ledge and approximately 30 people died as they reached the peak only to find a vast space of nothing....and fell the long distance to the water below. Fortunately local police are assigned to watch the bridge (on suicide watch -- jumpers) and soon the lane was blocked off to drivers. As we approached the bridge in the dark, I watched the lights of cars in front of us to make sure there were none falling to the water. Paranoid? Yes. Even if we were to survive a fall like that, I can't swim!

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The beach was beautiful. White sand squished beween my toes as we crossed to the water's edge. The gulf waters were chilly as I let the incoming waves wash over my feet. After one particularly gusty wave, I realized it had washed up high enough to saturate my capris. Ooops. We were still doing shopping and I didn't want to be dripping everywhere. We came back after shopping to watch the sunset. Stunning. I took many pictures of the colorful sky, beach and seagulls. It was a good time with families relaxing and children chasing the flocks of seagulls congregating at the water's edge.