In 2018, I intend to travel each month. Over the past 3 years, I’ve taken a trip every single month, however, I never wrote down a damn thing about any of those trips! Whether for work, pleasure, or nerdy museum visits, I’ve been to a lot of interesting places and have only recently decided I should be keeping a travel journal of sorts. Each month I’ll write a post about where I’m traveling and hopefully also write a post about a past travel experience. Let’s see how this goes!
This past weekend, Adam and I headed to Panama City, Panama. The city is quite modern and filled with skyscrapers that create a most delightful city skyline. The modern aesthetic of the city is in complete juxtaposition with the Old World charm of the colonial-area, Casco Viejo.
We only had about 48 hours in Panama City (super quick trip), but made the most of it by planning out our stops using Travefy, beforehand. (I always use Travefy to create an itinerary for our trips, even if we don’t follow it exactly, I love having access to my previous research via the mobile app).
Our time in Panama consisted of: a tour of the Biomuseo, viewing the Panama Canal (museum and ship passage included) and strolling through Casco Viejo.
The Biomuseo is a fantastic museum facility located on the Amador Causeway. The museum’s unique design was created by architect Frank Gehry; I loved the colorful and geometric atmosphere!
We viewed the Panama Canal from the Miraflores Locks. Both Adam and I love history and quite enjoyed the Panama Canal museum exhibits at the Miraflores Locks.The process for a ship to pass through the canal takes 8-10 hours but you can spend a couple hours at the locks to see how ships are moved through the canal. We were able to see 4 separate vessels travel through the locks. There was one ship passing, with 8,000 containers onboard, headed from the east coast of the US to Japan. Another had come from Europe with 4,000 cars and was headed for South Korea.
I won’t bore you with too many of the details, but the Panamá Canal is a 48-mile waterway that connects the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean and is an absolute manmade modern marvel. “Hailed as one of the great achievements of the 20th Century, the Panama Canal connects 160 countries and 1,700 ports around the World.” (watch the 2-minute History Channel video I’ve linked here). 
The last part of our day was consumed with strolling the cobblestoned streets of Casco Viejo. This charming colonial-era neighborhood, established in 1673, became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The architecture itself offers enough to justify a trip to Panama City, but the culture, history, people, and food of this beautiful place make it an absolute gem.
We prayed and lit candles at the famous Altar de Oro (Golden Altar) at Iglesia San Jose. We made our way through the vendors in Plaza Francia and Plaza de La Independencia and sauntered by the Palacio de las Garzas (Presidental Palace). We ducked into a quaint little cafe for a late afternoon snack and then headed back to the hotel as the sun was going down.
Adam and I are already planning a return trip to Panama City as we didn’t get to see and do all the things we had originally planned. After the stress of the holiday season, a relaxing little getaway is what we really needed and certainly what we got with our weekend in Panama City, Panama.
