Panama Week 11

On Sunday, we enjoyed hosting a brunch in our condo to celebrate the pool of new found friends and to repay kindness bestowed on us during our stay at the secluded Coranado Country Club. In January, we had quickly transformed from "visiting snowbirds" to being part of a community of vacationers, semi-permanent and permanent residents who all shared a love for Panama. We traded our experiences of the area and of adventures and travels around the world, giving us new ideas for, or confirming our choice of, future destinations to explore. At our brunch we began saying "goodbye-bye" to friends who were returning home. Similar to Our group of four, many had opted for a 3 month condo rental to escape the northern winter. And from the news of southern Ontario's temps, it was a good choice for like minded a meak Canadians!

On Tuesday morning we caught a bus to Panama City for few days after first being picked up by a gentleman who insisted on stopping at a local bakery and buying us a treat! We had a choice of cranberry and oatmeal or a huge cookie so full of chocolate chips I thought I must be in heaven. 

After checking into the Toscana Inn Hotel, we taxied to the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal to enjoy hearing the history of the original construction (in operation since 1914) and to learn of the ongoing construction of a wider and deeper lock to be completed in 2016. Our timing was such that we witnessed a container ship entering and exiting.  Notice the "mules" or locomotives on the railroad tracks pulling the vessel through the lock.

On Wednesday, a tour guide walked us through Casco Antiguo (aka Casco Viejo, aka old city). From several vantage points in this quarter you observe the tradition and transition of the original Spanish settlement founded in 1673. The modern Panama City now boasts a population of over 1.5 million people.

Spanish and French style balconies and narrow streets invoke a New Orleans French Quarter vibe.

In the entrance hall of the Canal Museum, an Italian sculpture "bathing between the seas". She is on the beach surrounded by sand, surf and shells. I thought she was a beautiful interpretation of the link between 2 oceans.

Bill and I hanging out with the rich crowd in a gated community west of Coronado.