Mika, sorry to hear you won't be around -- safe travels wherever you spend the holidays!
Our esteemed Chris Bright has offered a suggestion for meeting in Panama:
..when in panama, stay at the hotel 'central' in the seedy old town. the
neighbourhood is a bit dodgy at night (but then again, where isn't in panama?), but take a taxi and you'll be fine. bike parking in foyer. get some house bricks from the park oppisite to build ramp to get onto
sidewalk to get into front door. from 3rd floor front facing balcony you can see right into cathedral opposite.
he sent me another email to confirm parking
...you could fit 100 bikes in the foyer, although there probably aren't 100 rooms. the hotel was 5 * 100 years ago when panama was in its prime. not much has been done since, so it is a bit basic if you expect a lot of luxury. it has a very bohemian feel to it. the woman at the reception is miserable, but everybody else is fine.
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So, looks like we have a meeting place for Xmas 2002 in Panama -- hope you can make it!
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