So as I mentioned in an earlier post, the ticket I bought to fly home for my cousin's wedding involved a 16 hr layover in Panama City, Panama. Bumming in an airport from 5:30 p.m. till 9 the next morning was NOT my idea of a good way to spend my first time in a new country. So I did a little research and found a hotel in Casco Viejo which seemed to be a main tourist trap within reasonable distance from the airport, reserved myself a room and anxiously waited for my plane to get there.
Let me tell you, it did not dissappoint!
I will admit, I was a little nervous. I mean, I had researched it and everything seemed simple and safe, but you just never know. But leaving the airport was no problem. I was a little disappointed that I had to collect my checked luggage. I was kinda hoping I would be able to just send it straight through to Dulles. But I guess they thought I needed a little extra exercise and so I ended up hauling my 100 some pounds of luggage to the hotel with me. My biggest concern, finding a good taxi turned out to be one of the funniest things of the trip. I walked out of the arrivals doors and away from the crush of people trying to get my bearings a bit, I'm sure I didn't look disoriented at all! Barely had time to look around when I nearly ran into this ginormous black man. Pretty sure he had some kind of NBA history! "Taxi?" He asked me.
And all I could do was nod rather dumbly while trying to picture this giant of a man in a little yellow cab! Let me tell you, he wasn't fitting!
I asked him if they have taxis that go out of the city to Casco Viejo, he assured me they did and told me to follow him. Turns out Panama airport has a very sophisticated taxi system. There are only certain taxis that run from they airport and they all wait in a very nice orderly line. None of this shoving and yelling in your face and competing to get you into their cab. So my former basketball star very gallantly hauled half of my luggage and started striding out the door. And I gathered myself together and started trotting after him. He took me over to the taxi line where he lost a little bit of his gallantry when he started begging for trip like a little boy. Then I got a little confused because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pay him the taxi fee or if that went to the driver. We had a good laugh over the generous tip that I was giving him, then my personal chauffeur got in and we were off!
Thankfully, I got a talkative driver, or maybe he just didn't have a chance because I was asking so many questions! Either way I was able to get a lot of interesting little tidbits about Panama out of him. We took the "tourist" route through the city. The road that goes straight through the financial district. Amazing skyscrapers of offices and penthouse suites whose monthly rent is more than I make in a year! Lovely beachside restaurants, and parks with families enjoying the cool evening breezes.
Sadly, this was my only view of the canal/locks. From the air. I didn't have time to fit in an actual visit. The locks are in the upper left half of the pic.
The financial district from the air. It's a little hard to capture the grandeur while speeding by in a cab.
Some really impressive architecture . . .
Found my hotel with no problem, the driver of course was super helpful with luggage and all and then I walked into this really cool old French colonial style mansion, restored into a hotel/hostel. Little Amish girls were definitely in a minority among the dreadlocked, guitar-playing, European backpackers who seemed to make up the majority of the guests. I had been tempted to simply get a bed in the hostel
area, rather than forking out the cost of a private room. But I was glad I had, since I arrived feeling slightly bedraggled! Another plus came about when I was checking in. Turns out the room I had reserved was under renovations so I got upgraded (at no extra cost!) to a penthouse suite on the top floor with a balcony and really cool views. The downside. It was four flights up and there were no elevators! The desk clerk who was checking me in very gallantly offered to help me haul my bags up. Remember, 100 lbs. plus! I think he was regretting his offer about the second flight. I don't consider myself very strong, but I think I was almost in better shape than he was! Anyhow, we made it to the top eventually.
And the room had A/C, and a hot shower, and a giant soft bed with mountains of pillows and I was sorely tempted to just take a nap then and there, but I knew if I wanted to get out for supper I'd better do it before dark. I may like trying new things but I'm not totally dumb!
I trooped out, stopping by the front desk to ask directions to a restaurant that I wanted to try. The guy was very helpful, giving me a map and all, but turns out he didn't know exactly where the restaurant was himself. Got to where he had said it would be and there was definitely no Fish Market. So I took a little trip around the block thinking it might be in a back alley. It was also a good excuse to look around the central square a bit more. Super awesome old style part of the city, with cobblestone streets, restaurants with sidewalk seating and cool old buildings. After not finding the restaurant, I stopped and asked a few ladies who were sweeping the sidewalk. They were very happy to help me. Calling over a boy that was working with them and telling him to show me where it was. So once again I was escorted by a tall black boy! Found the awesome little place. Basically a food trailer/concession stand set up permanently in the shell of an old building. White tents and paper lanterns and picnic tables and strings of white Christmas lights made for a super cute ambience. They didn't have a huge menu selection but I decided to try the fish tacos. Was a little tempted to try one of their wide selection of alcoholic drinks but decided I'd better not!
The little side street that my hotel was on.
The Fish Market
Inside an old crumbling building, was way cool!
By the time I finished supper it was getting darkish so I decided to amble back to my hotel. When I got back I double checked to make sure I had a taxi coming to pick me up the next morning. I had arranged it earlier. Turns out the hotel's normal driver was already booked elsewhere the next morning and for a minute I thought I was gonna have to flag a taxi down, which could have been interesting at 5:30 in the morning. But the front desk guy was super helpful and he called a taxi driver that he was friends with to see if he was available. He was, so I headed up to my room. I was looking forward to a nice long night of sleep but turns out that section of town seems to be party central. For sure on a Saturday night. I think I was hearing music and partying till about 3:00 in the morning. It didn't bother me too badly till I heard rather loud slurred voices on the balcony/hallway outside my room. Then the single deadbolt on the door felt a little flimsy! But the bed was super comfy and it felt amazing to sleep in a room that was cold enough to snuggle up in the covers a bit, so I did end up sleeping good for a few hours.
5 o'clock came all too soon and I stumbled around getting everything ready to go and made two trips up and down the stairs to get all my luggage. Surprisingly, my taxi driver was waiting for me. Little more punctual than El Salvador maybe! He didn't seem to mind talking in the morning and so once more I found out lots of interesting facts. He was just a city cab driver so he was a lot more down to earth and took me the back route out of the city where I got to see the more realistic side of Panama City.
All in all I decided that I will definitely need more time in Panama City. My hotel had a bunch of tourist brochures sitting by the front desk. The one that caught my eye was an offer for boat rides to Colombia. Maybe next time I can knock South America off my list too!
The view from my balcony
Had to take a selfie to at least prove that I was there!
Landing stateside, I was finally able to catch up with Dar on the way home from the airport. 2 hours just wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing and we managed to fit Sweet Frog in so that was a nice bonus!
I was also able to finally hold my newest nephew, rather than just see pictures of him.
I managed to spend about a day and a half with my family before heading up to Ohio to help my cousin get ready for her wedding. Driving, my own car. . . Was . . . Blissful!
I managed to get a lot of things checked off my list, saw a lot of people that I wanted to see, managed to do a little bit of Threads business, spent time with family . . . Sleeping in a lot, sadly didn't happen. Maybe I'll catch up some day.
Btw, anyone who would like to accompany me when I travel to Panama "for real" let me know! :)
And if you actually made it to the bottom of this post, high five to you!
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