Our port of call today, while we wait for our trip through the canal tomorrow, is a very modern-looking city. It is beautiful by day and at night. My favorite building was the F&F Tower (52 story office skyscraper) which looks like a strand of DNA. The canal has positively impacted the local economy.

“Highlights of Panama City” was the title of our shore excursion today. After boarding the bus, we met our young tour guide who taught us some language phrases in Spanish, Including Panamanian for What’s Up—Que sopa! (Accent on the “a”). He said in Mexico, one just says “Que” with a wave.

We drove through the city skyscrapers to Panama Viejo, which are the 1519 ruins of the original Spanish settlement that has a reinforced bell tower to climb for fantastic views. The church ruins were from four nuns who came from Peru with the Spanish King’s support to start a convent here. The park area had iguanas and birds and many tropical plants that we grow indoors at home, for example, the monstera that grows in Bill’s indoor pool garden.

The modern city has grown around these ruins and the nearby jungle encroaches, too.

The bus then took us to Casco Antigua, Old Quarter, which was built in 1673 after Panama Viejo (the ruins we saw above) was destroyed by pirates lead by Henry Morgan, of the Captain Morgan Rum fame. Our tour guide reminded us that this smiling face we see on the liquor bottles was a real person with a dark side.

The Plaza Mayor is where we collected our group after dispersing to the shops nearby. It was quite warm here without the ocean breezes reaching us. Our tour guide related a story about The Watermelon Incident (1856) while we waited; fifteen Americans and two Panamanians dead because of a stolen piece of watermelon. Pay the street vendors for crying out loud!

Dinner at Teppanyaki was Japanese style where they cook at the grill in front of you. This was a bit different experience as we were serenaded by the chefs.