We didn’t expect too much from another Central American capital city (after Managua and San José, and also due to travel guides not praising Panama City too much). But we forgot all of that when we arrived at our AirBnB room in the charming Casco Viejo neighborhood. The apartment was overlooking Plaza Bolivar, one of the nicest places in the city. From the sundeck we also had a nice view of Panama City’s modern skyline.
Our host Andreas from Rome was having his family over (including dachshund Jacobo)—really nice people. Simone bonded with them over a great cup of espresso (no milk, no sugar, just like the Italians).
Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal.Of course we had to take the tigerduck to one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, the Panama Canal. We went to see the Miraflores Locks, where we had to wait a little bit since there were no ships passing through between 11am (when the last ship moves up from the Pacific towards the Atlantic side) and 3pm (when the first ship moves down in the opposite direction). It’s quite fascinating how huge ships can steer through the narrow locks with only 10 cm room on each side. Other than that, there’s an overpriced restaurant and some other rogues.
The bus ride to the airport led us through the areas of the city that you probably don’t want to stay in (lots of charmless highrise buildings).
And this concludes the Central America portion of our trip. Argentina, here we come!
