Panama
Since our flight to Chicago didn’t leave till 6:40 pm, we decided to visit the city highlights. Despite objections from the rest of the crew, we were picked up at 8 am, after a scrumptious breakfast (a reason alone, worthy of a stay at Hard Rock Hotel Panama Megapolis) to go to Panama Canal.
It’s a neat site to watch the gigantic ships go through, lifted by the water when the locks open and close. Also, a good educational moment for the kids, or so we hope! We stayed there for about an hour and a half, were back at the hotel at 11 to check out, and eating (again!) lunch at Casca Viejo.
Old city is just a few streets, with nice restaurants, a few coffee shops, and some souvenir shops carrying the same assortment of merchandise. I was finally able to buy an authentic Panama hat and some Panamanian chocolate.
We were impressed by Panama City. The modern architecture of high rise office buildings, condos and hotels line the downtown and for a a moment, you would think you are driving through downtown Miami. Of course, like any big city, the outskirts are not that glamours, but that’s to be expected.
Check in at the airport was smooth, except that we had to go through an additional full security check again at the gate. The flight back was uneventful, leaving and landing on time.
