Last weekend we had to do a visa run, and the chosen place was Panama City. I was pretty excited that they were sending us to Panama since I've already been to Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada with the school and was hoping they weren't going to send us back to any of those places. Originally they wanted to send everyone to Trinidad so I was looking into going to Colombia, but they waited too long to buy tickets and Panama was the best option they had left, so Panama it was.
Our flights got changed kind of last minute so we left late at night on Friday and got back on campus really early on Tuesday. Our flight was supposed to leave at 10pm Friday, but that didn't happen. We ended up getting to our hotel somewhere around 2-3am. The hotel we stayed at was the Hard Rock Hotel and it was awesome. The place was huge with multiple restaurants, bars and clubs inside. We were lucky enough to get to stay on the 55th floor so we had a fantastic view of the city. Obviously, we just got there, marveled at how cool of a place we were staying, then went to bed.
We got up the next morning for a nice buffet breakfast then just relaxed and regained some energy by hanging out by the pool. The pool offered a great view of the city, but the water was really cold so we opted for having cocktails in the hot tubs instead. It was just overall a relaxing day of hanging out in our nice hotel. We did go out for dinner though in the old city area. The place was called Grapes and had great food. Unfortunately, Venezuela (at least where I live) does not have the greatest of restaurants, so it was nice to sit down and eat somewhere semi-fancy. The food was awesome and Patricia picked out great wines for us as well. Afterwards we all went to a small craft brewery. Though it wasn't necessarily my favorite style of beer, anything other than the watery light beer of Venezuela is a much appreciated change.
The next day we decided to venture out to the Panama Canal. The Canal was about a 20 minute cab ride from where we were staying. We got to watch a *really cool* movie about the canal and go through a museum. We were kind of bummed that no large ships were going through the Canal while we were there, though we did get to see someone's tiny sailboat go through the locks. It must be pretty cool to be that person who can now say they took their sailboat through the Panama Canal. Even though it wasn't the most exciting of places, there was no way we were going to go to Panama and not see the canal. Our original plan was then to do some hiking in a nature preserve nearby, but it started storming, so that was an activity that we never got to do, instead we had lunch and strolled around a HUGE mall. That night we had another nice dinner. This was Asian food and it was at a restaurant in our hotel. It was good, but I don't think it was as good as Grapes.
The next day was our last day in Panama. We all went and wandered around the old city area. It was very nice to walk around and do a little souvenir shopping. It was really pretty and all under renovation. In a few years more buildings will likely be open with shops and restaurants. If I get the chance to go back in a few years when restorations are done I would love to.
After walking around we all met back at the hotel to hang out in the hot tubs for a while. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1am and the hotel staff were nice enough to hold our bags and continue to let us use the pool area and common hotel areas all day. After some time in the hot tub Shannon and I decided to treat ourselves to massages right before the flight. This ended up being a great decision due to the stressfulness of our flights being so late at night. We were the two lucky ones who were relaxed, showered and clean upon getting to the airport.
The airport experience was not very fun. We checked in, went through security and went to our gate to wait. Everything was closed because it was so late so there were no stores to wander around in or anything. We all tried to sleep while we waited for our flight. Our 1am flight ended up not leaving until about 3am. We got into Venezuela really early in the morning, and went through immigration. After stamping in J, Shannon, and Nicola the immigration officer looked at me, then at the officer next to her and said in Spanish "Another teacher going to Anaco..." His response, "as a tourist?" She asked me and I said "yes." They both kind of chuckled, stamped my passport and ushered me past. Clearly, they know that we are not tourists and are in fact working, but don't seem to care at all.
Overall it was a good vacation. Very different than Trinidad and Tobago and Granada since there was no beach time and many more fancy restaurants and bars. It was nice to have a change of pace though. Yesterday and today we just kind of hung out in Anaco and tried to digest some news we were given at a teacher meeting. I think next week Dereek and I are going to Puerto to spend some time on the beach. A friend of his has a three bedroom apartment there right across from the beach and offered for us to stay there. Sounds good to us!
Also, I will be home for Christmas, but the spring visa run we usually do, I think I'm gonna come back to the states, and hopefully with Dereek! He spoke with someone who is going to guide him through the visa process and who said Dereek has a good chance of getting a visa. (he's gotten visas for other people already) As much as I love traveling, it'll be nice to have those two weeks at home and hopefully one of which will be with Dereek. =)
Old arch.
Our flights got changed kind of last minute so we left late at night on Friday and got back on campus really early on Tuesday. Our flight was supposed to leave at 10pm Friday, but that didn't happen. We ended up getting to our hotel somewhere around 2-3am. The hotel we stayed at was the Hard Rock Hotel and it was awesome. The place was huge with multiple restaurants, bars and clubs inside. We were lucky enough to get to stay on the 55th floor so we had a fantastic view of the city. Obviously, we just got there, marveled at how cool of a place we were staying, then went to bed.
We got up the next morning for a nice buffet breakfast then just relaxed and regained some energy by hanging out by the pool. The pool offered a great view of the city, but the water was really cold so we opted for having cocktails in the hot tubs instead. It was just overall a relaxing day of hanging out in our nice hotel. We did go out for dinner though in the old city area. The place was called Grapes and had great food. Unfortunately, Venezuela (at least where I live) does not have the greatest of restaurants, so it was nice to sit down and eat somewhere semi-fancy. The food was awesome and Patricia picked out great wines for us as well. Afterwards we all went to a small craft brewery. Though it wasn't necessarily my favorite style of beer, anything other than the watery light beer of Venezuela is a much appreciated change.
The next day we decided to venture out to the Panama Canal. The Canal was about a 20 minute cab ride from where we were staying. We got to watch a *really cool* movie about the canal and go through a museum. We were kind of bummed that no large ships were going through the Canal while we were there, though we did get to see someone's tiny sailboat go through the locks. It must be pretty cool to be that person who can now say they took their sailboat through the Panama Canal. Even though it wasn't the most exciting of places, there was no way we were going to go to Panama and not see the canal. Our original plan was then to do some hiking in a nature preserve nearby, but it started storming, so that was an activity that we never got to do, instead we had lunch and strolled around a HUGE mall. That night we had another nice dinner. This was Asian food and it was at a restaurant in our hotel. It was good, but I don't think it was as good as Grapes.
The next day was our last day in Panama. We all went and wandered around the old city area. It was very nice to walk around and do a little souvenir shopping. It was really pretty and all under renovation. In a few years more buildings will likely be open with shops and restaurants. If I get the chance to go back in a few years when restorations are done I would love to.
After walking around we all met back at the hotel to hang out in the hot tubs for a while. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1am and the hotel staff were nice enough to hold our bags and continue to let us use the pool area and common hotel areas all day. After some time in the hot tub Shannon and I decided to treat ourselves to massages right before the flight. This ended up being a great decision due to the stressfulness of our flights being so late at night. We were the two lucky ones who were relaxed, showered and clean upon getting to the airport.
The airport experience was not very fun. We checked in, went through security and went to our gate to wait. Everything was closed because it was so late so there were no stores to wander around in or anything. We all tried to sleep while we waited for our flight. Our 1am flight ended up not leaving until about 3am. We got into Venezuela really early in the morning, and went through immigration. After stamping in J, Shannon, and Nicola the immigration officer looked at me, then at the officer next to her and said in Spanish "Another teacher going to Anaco..." His response, "as a tourist?" She asked me and I said "yes." They both kind of chuckled, stamped my passport and ushered me past. Clearly, they know that we are not tourists and are in fact working, but don't seem to care at all.
Overall it was a good vacation. Very different than Trinidad and Tobago and Granada since there was no beach time and many more fancy restaurants and bars. It was nice to have a change of pace though. Yesterday and today we just kind of hung out in Anaco and tried to digest some news we were given at a teacher meeting. I think next week Dereek and I are going to Puerto to spend some time on the beach. A friend of his has a three bedroom apartment there right across from the beach and offered for us to stay there. Sounds good to us!
Also, I will be home for Christmas, but the spring visa run we usually do, I think I'm gonna come back to the states, and hopefully with Dereek! He spoke with someone who is going to guide him through the visa process and who said Dereek has a good chance of getting a visa. (he's gotten visas for other people already) As much as I love traveling, it'll be nice to have those two weeks at home and hopefully one of which will be with Dereek. =)
View of the city from our hotel window.
Hotel pool and city view.
Shannon, Patricia, Morley and I relaxing at the pool/hot tubs.
Lobby bar of our hotel.
Flight of beer from the craft brewery. Haven't seen a flight of anything since being home. And it was free! Free flight for the table to test the kinds of beers they had to decide what we liked best.
La Rana Dorada or Golden Frog
In the museum at the Panama Canal.
Museum
The Panama Canal
Watching a little sailboat go through the canal
Myself at the Panama Canal
That was the big storm cloud that prevented us from hiking in the nature preserve. It rained a lot.
Cool table at the Asian restaurant in our hotel
Matt and I with the view of the new part of Panama City.
Nice path that leads from the new part of Panama City to the historic part.
New section of Panama City
Morley and I
No beaches where we are, but I got to put my feet in water that is as close to the Pacific as I've been. This little bay connects to the Pacific ocean!
Historic section of Panama City
Cool bridge type thing
The city was celebrating breast cancer awareness month. The buildings in this area were also beautiful once they were restored.
Old and new Panama City
Pretty church
Old arch.
Description of the old arch pictures above.
There was cool art everywhere
I liked these painted tires with plants growing in them.
Another church
Not sure what festival these devils were for, but they were in a sort of garage that had the doors open and two men sitting out front chatting. I asked if I could get a picture and they said of course and took a photo with Matt and I in it. =)
Jealous I won't be on the east coast in the spring to meet Dereek!
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