Monday, Panama City

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After a leisurely morning, we headed out to see a bit Panama City. We wandered down to the Igelsia del Carmen. It was a beautiful Spanish church. It appeared to be a fairly active church, not like many of the old churches you visit in Europe that appear to be pretty much deserted except for tourists. It was very light inside, due to the white stone or stucco of the interior and the stained glass windows that lined to top of the cathedral. All in all it was quite gorgeous.


We were not hurrying because it was very warm and HUMID and pretty much any exertion was sweat causing (at least for Chuck). On the way back from the cathedral we needed a bit of refreshment so we sampled the local McDonalds. The Coke Zero was cold with plenty of ice and they had little coffee bar inside the restaurant which was different than anything i have seen in the US. It felt really good to have a respite in conditioned air

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The altar backdrop was all ceramic tile except for one statue.

The stained glass windows in the top of the church made it very bright inside.

After a short respite, We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant --it struck us as similar to a local Dennys in the US. Chuck had an omelet chorizo, Caroline had spaghetti after trying to order two things what were not available for lunch, and Jon and Jeanne had club sandwiches. After lunch we walked to the stop for the tour bus that gave us a ride through the city. It was interesting to see the city and some of the buildings. Panama City is quite modern, with many Americans and others retiring in the condos that line the shore line.

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This building is called The Revolution or, by the locals, the Screw. Very cool.

We returned and we all took a nap. We were pretty tired after our long day yesterday. At the end of the nap, we got a call from our tour organizers who moved our pick-up time to 5:30 (from 6). So that meant for an even earlier morning that we were expecting.

Our dinner was a nearby restaurant which was much nicer than it looked from the outside. The food was great, as was the service. A couple of games of Skip-Bo which the ladies won and we called it a night.


© Charles Eklund 2012