Panama City

                                          Panama City

     Getting here was slick.  The planes were on time and we went through the fast security lanes which meant we kept our shoes on, our computer packed, and kept our little tubes of toiletries in our bag. No line, no waiting.  The cab to the Country Inn and Suites was easy enough, but the traffic in Panama City was some of the worst we've ever seen.  Tucked away in the back of my mind was the fact we were going to pick up a car downtown in a few days and try to find our way back to the inn.  We'll worry about that later.

       Panama City is what I picture Dubai looking like with tall building of unusual shapes rising above the sea.  One even has a corkscrew shape.  From a distance it appears clean and modern but the taxi ride through the city toward the canal and our inn revealed a less savory side of the city, one of slums and poverty.  Guide books warn of staying far from these unsafe areas.

     The first evening we strolled the safer area of the Old City.  It's being rejuvenated, and many of the old structures are under construction. The following day, Wednesday, we decided a hop-on hop-off bus would be the best way to check out the city.  There are two buses; one does the canal route, the other does the city route.  We walked from our hotel to get the canal route bus then switched to the city route bus at a downtown location.  It was a traffic-slow ride around the city.  Back on the canal route bus we went to the Miraflores Locks along the Panama Canal.  There we spent an hour watching a 3-D movie about the canal, and enjoying the view of the double locks and scenery.  Tomorrow, Thursday, we would be going through these locks on our canal transit tour.   When we'd had enough of the city and touring The Country Inn and Suites has a lovely pool overlooking the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.