I had plans for one day in Panama City, but we found ourselves with 2 after changing our flights. While my initial inclination was to pack more things in, we all pretty quickly recognized that the hot, humid weather would take a bit of time to adjust to, so we decided to take the day slowly.
We got an Uber (super cheap and absolutely everywhere!) out to Punta Culebra, a Smithsonian-run nature center on Amador Causeway, a causeway built from material removed from the canal construction that goes out to 2 small islands. For some reason, the center is closed, so we walk over to a lookout point to admire the view and reconfigure the plan.
We decided to walk the causeway for a bit, admiring the views of the city on one side and the queue of massive ships waiting to enter the canal on the other. I LOVE big ships, and so I spent a fair amount of time looking at them and looking them up. I can’t explain why I find it so interesting, but I do enjoy looking up the boats and learning their names, the flag they fly under, where they are coming from and going to, etc.
We found ourselves suddenly with an overheated kid, so we made a stop for lunch, then we got a taxi over to Casco Viejo, the city’s old colonial neighborhood. This looks so much like Old San Juan or Cartagena de Indias, and for good reason since they all were Spanish government seats at some point in history. I did make the rookie mistake of not setting the taxi fare in advance and I was overcharged. I know I should have argued since yielding only encourages that type of dishonest behavior, but I just couldn’t be bothered to argue over $3.
Casco Viejo is cute, with lots of colonial buildings, balconies, and bright colors. It is cleaner and in better shape than Cartagena, although I think Cartagena is much prettier.
We did some shopping, and that also was not as nice as Cartagena, but also not as overpriced (it’s certainly overpriced for Panama City, but the delta in pricing between Casco Viejo and the rest of Panama City is much smaller than between Cartagena de Indias and the rest of Colombia).
The Church of Saint Joseph was our last stop before dinner. This church is famous for its gold altar, which was supposedly kept safe from the pirates who frequented the city by being covered in black mud or paint by the priests. Whether or not that’s true, the altar is quite resplendent.
The church also has wooden statues of the 12 apostles which were outside the church for over 350 years until the Judas statue got struck by lightening (how ironic) and they were then moved inside, next to a massive diorama of the full nativity story. That was a bit strange, reminding me of the little dioramas I would build inside a shoebox for school to accompany a book report.
We had a 5:00 reservation at Fonda Lo Que Hay. This restaurant was recommended by a colleague of mine as well as the New York Times, and they did not steer us wrong! I had a dish with tuna carpaccio over a cream cheese spread on yuca chips with green onions. Basically, a Panamanian bagel with lox. It was absolutely phenomenal! Kiddo got langoustines, which I wasn’t sure she would like, but clearly my worries were misplaced as she devoured them.
Vacation Days 