A benefit to leaving the daily grind has been the ability to travel for longer than the 9 or 10 day American corporate holiday. You wage slaves know what I mean: traveling over two weekends with maybe a Monday holiday at the end. We’ve done plenty of those, but this is the third straight year we’ve left home for the month of January, and each trip has been a pleasure.

Our start in Bogota seems like eons ago as we packed a lot into this trip, visiting Bogota, Medellin, Cartegena, Colombia’s coffee region and then later driving the Pacific Coast of Panama. We wrapped up our time in Panama with a couple of walks around Panama City, with a bit of fun thrown in on Saturday night. After a couple of jam-packed days traversing the canal and taking in some local wildlife, chronicled in the prior post, we just wanted to ease our way out of the trip and prepare to head home.

On Saturday afternoon we strolled from our hotel to Avenida Argentina, which is a popular hipster area listed in guidebooks as a place to visit. There were a lot of bars, restaurants and shops, but it was early in the day so it was mostly quiet. I’m sure it was hopping later.

After a rest, we opted for dinner at an Argentine style steakhouse called Gaucho’s. It’s been a fixture in PC for a number of years. We split a 16 ounce steak, more than enough for us, and a salad. With wine and tip we got out for under $100. The steak was $36 and tasty. Same cut in the US would be at least $50 in a restaurant.

Later we stopped at a watering hotel near our hotel for a nightcap, where we had a good chat with a retired American Airlines pilot who has lived in Panama City for nearly two years. We aren’t about to make the move, but it sounds like the transition is pretty smooth.

Next we made one more stop at the rooftop bar of our hotel, really just out of curiosity. Of course we ended up enjoying the scene. There was a band playing Latin favorites. We didn’t understand the lyrics since they went beyond our limited Spanish vocabulary. But there was a group of local woman who were happily celebrating one of their birthdays, so naturally we ended up dancing with them. Hey, when in Rome…

Our final day, a Sunday, was more relaxed. We strolled the Cinta Costera, which is a seaside park popular with bikers and joggers. It stretches over a mile from the towers of the new city to the old town section where we stayed when we first got to Panama. Later it was pool lounging and packing for the return home.

As I said, Colombia, where we began this trip seems like a lifetime ago, which is in part why we do this blog. It helps us remember the good times we have had traveling. Till the next adventure.