Exploring Panama City

On our first morning, we went to the Super Gourmet/Cafe Testa deli as Vicente suggested for breakfast. I had an arepa with ham and gouda and a cafe con leche. Coffee here is so smooth! Starbucks should take sone lessons. The proprietor is originally from Venezuela (hence the arepas). We would discover there are a lot of people from lots of different places around the world here. Many came generations ago to work on the Canal. Some are more recent arrivals.

We had planned to visit the Canal museum in Plaza Independencia (which is the square that Vicente's apartment is in) however we discovered it was closed on Mondays so we walked around the area to check out the local shops and the open air market that's located on the old city wall. There were crafts people painting jungle critters on bird feathers and carving them into palm nuts, woven bracelets and baskets along with the usual touristy fare. The market leads to Plaza Francia where a column is topped by a rooster. Apparently this is a memorial to the French workers on the original Canal project (over 100 years ago) many of whom died of yellow fever and other tropical diseases. 

Later in the morning, Vicente picked us up to go to the BioMuseo but that was closed also (Mondays!). We drove along a causeway towards a yacht harbour for lunch at Leno & Carbon. I had a mixed brochette and we shared some ceviche while overlooking the yachts and tons of large birds. In addition to the vultures, there are a lot of other migrating birds here who are funneled through this narrow strip of land between North and South America. Brown pelicans are the most conspicuous but there are frigatebirds and a crow-like bird called talingos. The talingos are particularly vocal and social and we can hear them every morning chatting in the treetops.  On our way back to the apartment, we drove through Frutita again. This time, we also drove through a drive-up ice cream stand for some miel de cana ice cream. Vicente took us on a 'scenic' tour through​ the older part of modern city but I was sleepy and napped in the car. Back at the apartment, we all chatted with Vicente a bit then headed up to the roof for a view of the modern skyline at night. We walked Vicente back to his car and headed to check out Casca Corso, a three story restaurant with a roof top bar for a drink and appetizers.