Return to Panama City

Back to Panama City for two days after the Caribbean adventure... It makes for a great opportunity to visit further the old Spanish part of town (Casco Viejo), which often appears to be a ghost city, with its abandoned buildings and houses, frequently for an entire block. Then all of a sudden a side street can be pretty busy with people gathering in the street, on balconies and listening to some Buena Vista Social Club music. The block next to that street might even be totally restored and cosmopolitan; that's usually where somebody has opened a restaurant. We've now tried a couple of these and they were all pretty good! Some of these dining places are even rather fancy, which makes the contrast with the abandoned house next door even starker.

We liked the seafront area where we could see both the abandoned club of the aristocracy (which we toured briefly on our city tour 2 weeks ago) and the 'Miami of the South' part of town with its extra tall sckyscrapers. Very scenic, and surprisingly not very busy with tourists. But we have the constant feeling that this won't be for long... We are picturing how this old town will slowly get transformed into a very quaint historical town, like what we are more accustomed to in the US or Europe.

The day ended with a fantastic sunset over the bay, that was a welcome change from the neverending rain at Tesoro!

We're now off to inner Panama for a different taste of the life down here in the tropics, so stay tuned!