The impulse when you hear of the Mall of America is to snicker. And then you stand in front of it bug-eyed in astonishment. So such a place really exists, as lavish and loving a monument to shopping as any cathedral is to God. Within the towering walls are not only 520 shops and 50 restaurants but also a seven-acre amusement park, an aquarium, a speedway, a post office and even a wedding chapel, should the urge strike you on the way to Bloomingdale’s from Macy’s. In 2006, 40 million people visited the mall, moved to travel from as far away as Iceland and Japan by the absence of sales tax in Minnesota. See www.mallofamerica.com.