Adios, Panama

Panama - February 18, 2017 Last day in Panama (tomorrow is travel day). You know the drill: breakfast buffet, pool/sun/reading. That’s the morning. Today is also shopping day, to get those last souvenirs we haven’t yet bought. To that end, we walked back to Multicentro, where we went on our first day in town. We …

The Zipline to Peru

Panama - February 17, 2017 Zip line day today! After breakfast we went out to the pool for some sun and reading, as usual. Headed to the lobby at 11:20 (about 10 minutes early) and our driver, Miguel, was there waiting for us. We got on the Panama-Colón Expressway and were at La Granja (“The …

Casco Viejo and Cucina Italiana

Panama - February 16, 2017 It’s a beautiful day with lots of sun! (Not that that’s unusual.) After breakfast we hung out by the pool and did some reading. At lunchtime we took a cab to Casco Viejo (aka Casco Antiguo, aka San Felipe). This historic part of town is loaded with really nice little …

Panama: From Primitive to Pricy

Panama - February 15, 2017 Up early today—breakfast at 6:30. Met our driver, Raul, at 7:30. Another couple, Simon and Jenny, were already in the van. They were English (from Manchester), but had lived in Zurich for 20 years. We than picked up Bob and Sally, who live in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (but are from …

Valentine’s Day in Panama City

Panama - February 14, 2017 It’s Tuesday, and Valentine’s Day. Kind of a mellow day today, with rain in the forecast (a chance, anyway; it never did). After breakfast we hung around the pool to read. Lisa finished her Janet Ivanovich novel (crappy) and I’m halfway through Flowers for Algernon (excellent). We went to a …

Laziness and Lebanese in Panama

Panama - February 13, 2017 No big plans for today, other than “book day”. We want to get some books to read poolside and try to book some tours (the Gamboa guy owes us for not picking us up at the airport). Calling Gamboa proved to be a pain in the ass. I don’t know …

Getting to Know Panama City

Panama - February 12, 2017 Today was the day we decided to get our Panama City orientation via a full-day guided tour of the city. Our guide was Marcos, a guy in his 30s who spoke excellent English (a rare commodity around here). He drove a very comfortable late-model Kia crossover vehicle, so it was …