The Canal and the Cafe

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This was one of those trips in which very little planning was involved. I had been looking at the American Airlines flights to Panama and saw that they were open and decided to go.

Wednesday July 13

I left Indy at 1pm on an American Eagle EMB-145 to Miami and then took an American 757 to Panama City. I arrived in Panama that evening and took a taxi to the city. It took about 30 minutes to get there on the modern toll road. It was raining real hard with lightning and thunder. I love those kind of storms! It was about 9pm, so I just went to sleep.

I stayed at the Hotel Roma Plaza for $35 a night and enjoyed the stay.

It was conveniently located with a friendly staff and the rooms were nice and clean. It also had ice cold air conditioning which is perfect for Panama in July. The hotel had a restaurant but I only ate breakfast there and it was decent. It also had a roof top swimming pool which I did use once.

Thursday July 14

I awoke at 7am and had some breakfast downstairs. I met up with a taxi driver outside the hotel who shuttled me around the city all day for $40. The first place he took me was the Panama Canal. I thought the visitors center was really fascinating. Besides the thrill of watching huge ships transit the canal, it was neat to learn about the construction of the canal. I stayed there for probably 2 hours and could have stayed longer but I did not want to miss out on other things in the city.

Next, he drove me across the Bridge of The Americas to a point where I could get some good views of the bridge itself and some other parts of the area. Close to noon, we went to the Casco Viejo and I walked around and also visited the Cathedral. The driver dropped me off at the Multicentro Mall, where I visited another Hard Rock Cafe and did some city exploration. I walked back to the Hotel Roma later that evening and went to sleep at about 1am.

Friday July 15

I awoke at 5am, got ready and headed out to Tocumen Airport for the American flight to Miami. I had over 7 hours in Miami, so I took the Tri-Rail up to Fort Lauderdale for a short trip. At about 10pm, I was back in Indianapolis.

Another Hard Rock visit and crazy weekend trip done! I would love to go back.

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