Maine, a family wedding before venturing off to Europe

 There was a family wedding in Maine on September 3. We try not to miss such things. We intended to go to Venice late in the year and decides to visit the Maine Coast in August, go to the wedding and then off  to Europe. We left Mexico on August 15 for nearly three weeks in Maine, a couple days in Boston, and then off to Europe.

While on the coast, we stayed in Portland, Boothbay Harbor, Rockland and Bar Harbor. Then home to Garland (OK, it is Pat's home, Bill grew up 8 miles away in Dexter.)

As you may have noticed, we visit Maine quite often. We visit many of the same places each trip and Pat always eats as much lobster as possible. So we don't want to bore you with the day by day details. Instead we refer you to our postings from July 2018 (see Sidebar).

As a postscript to that posting, we had a lovely trip with great weather. But when we returned home we discovered San Miguel had be inundated with rain with flooding that took out the primary access to the airport.

We did something different this time. For our 55th anniversary we went to a highly praised restaurant in Rockland, Primo. We have wanted to visit in the past but we were typically there in midday, and Primo is only open at night. Advance reservations are needed. We made ours in April, just to be sure. The highlight of. the meals was the seared Foie Gras with olive oil cake. Pat was delighted that they had mackerel as a special.

This was a very successful visit to New England because we reconnected with:

Bill's cousins Maxine and Mary

Elaine, Pat's childhood best friend

Our high school friend Carol

Two friends from University, Brian and Denham

Ken, who we met on our mutual first day of post University work

Marci, a business school friend of Pat's

Evelina, who we first met in San Miguel

To extend the connections further, Maxine (Bill's cousin) asked us to lookup Bill's Great grandfather's (William H. Harding) tombstone while we were in Bar Harbor. We succeeded only to find the stone covered with lichen. We learned it is quite easy to remove lichen so  we can share with you a cleaned up, readable tombstone. 

And of course, the wedding was beautiful — on a picture perfect day with Penobscot Bay in the background.

The proud grandparents (Jim & Sandra) with Uncle Bill.

The gorgeous bride is Pat's grand/great niece (we can't find a definitive source of which word is correct, but she is Pat's niece's daughter). 

On Labor Day we were off to Boston. Along the way we stopped to visit Denham, and spent the night with Marci. Tuesday we were out on Boston Harbor on Ken's boat and Wednesday, after lunch with Evelina, we were off to Lisbon.

Florida

We flew AeroMexico out of Mexico City Terminal 2. We stayed at the NH Hotel there. Their restaurant is the best place to eat in T2 (assuming you have time to relax over dinner). We had a sampler plate  (we don't recall the details) and Scielo MX a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon from Mexico. 

We arrived in Miami on time and proceeded directly to the Budget Counter to pick up our car.  Everything went well until they scanned Bill's driver's license. The light went RED. They tried Pat's license. The light went RED. And they would not let us have the car.  Apparently there was nothing we could do without a different license. We went over to another US rental company and learned they had nothing but trucks or sports cars. And they indicated the other US companies would be the same. We proceeded to SIXT (a German company) and they were happy to rent us a nice BMW SUV. 

Our tour was to take us clockwise around south & central FL. So off we went to our apartment on Casey Key, on the Gulf Coast. We were staying near Venice, one of our favorite shopping and dining locations. On the drive over Bill realized that he was coming down with a cold. More on that later. We had an early dinner at Bodrum, a mid-eastern restaurant. 

We then  bought groceries and settled into our rental. We shopped (successfully) for two days (taking it easy due to Bill's now full-fledged cold). We ate Italian at Restaurante San Marco on the main street one day and at the Burgundy Square Cafe that had caught our attention due to how busy it was when we ate at it's neighbor, Bodrum. While waiting in line Pat learned that the lobster roll was allegedly excellent. Being nervous about eating not-so-fresh lobster but realizing that in nearby in Siesta Key they have great lobster, she risked it. The risk paid off. Yum!

We moved on to Sarasota with a stop in Siesta Key for Pat's planned steamed lobster dinner. As luck would have it, the lobster delivery was overdue. Pooh! But the waitress said it should arrive soon and wondered if we would wait. Absolutely. And within 15 minutes the lobsters had arrived!  We drove on to Sarasota to another lovely rental. We bought groceries and settled in again. Then Bill rested and rested. No museum visits for us this trip. Two days more of shopping. Make that half days or less of shopping. Bill needed much more rest. In Venice we focused on shopping for Pat. In Sarasota, for Bill. We were on a mission to find clothes suitable for a wedding AND also for travel. Our great niece Angelyn is getting married in early Sept in Maine. We plan to go to the wedding and then on to Europe (to Venice IT, with a stop in Portugal and then on through northern Italy and maybe to southern France...but that is a story for later.) We think we succeeded admirably with the wedding clothes. Hopefully Angelyn agrees. We'll share the results in our late summer postings.

We moved on for a stay in WDW. On the way, we stopped in Winter Haven to visit with Bill's Mom's neighbors to catchup and to share memories of Polly. After booking our stay in Boardwalk Inn (in the park near EPCOT) we realized that we should have booked a night there for the night before visiting the parks so that we could take advantage of our Early Access. But we were in Ecuador when this idea came to us and for some reason the Disney site would not cooperate. We surrendered to the fates. We ended up staying in the nearby "AC Hotels by Marriot". It was lovely. And we managed to get early access to our room at Boardwalk, so we were in and settled by 10AM!

We had been concerned that we wouldn't get a King Bed room as there are so few at the Boardwalk Inn. We stuck with the Inn anyway because it is sooooo convenient to EPCOT and it's dining options. This worked out VERY well. We were upgraded to the Boardwalk Villas in a 1 BR suite with a fully equipped kitchen and KB. Even a W/D. We had thought about upgrading ourselves but this unit is at least $100 per night more and didn't seem worth it. But we loved the room other than the mile long walk through refrigerated hallways to get to it from the lobby. 

The Boardwalk also has one of the best restaurants, Flying Fish, where we had some great seafood. We started with Grilled Romaine Salad. Pat had Seafood Pearl Pasta and Bill had the fish of the day, a nice sized hunk of grouper. Pat had Key Lime Mousse for dessert. Bill had cognac.

For those of you who haven't been to Disney lately (for us it had been roughly 25 years), the challenge of visiting the park these days is to master the Disney Genie app. You can use the app to book EVERYTHING - the room, the admission fee, the specific park reservation (with or without the "park hopper " option), dining reservations, mobile food orders, and you have two ways to pay extra for faster access to specific rides (Genie+ and Lightning Lanes). There is more you can purchase, strangely enough. But those are the basics. Plus the newest, most in-demand rides, can ONLY be booked via Genie and a Virtual Queue. All of this requires learning the rules, figuring out when you can do what and how to do it. You can still take the easy way out and just wait longer for the rides. It makes Disney a bit less of a happy place but I am not sure if there is a better way to schedule things.

Yes, we are enjoying our second childhood, so why not at WDW. What most folks don't know is that Pat worked on a project to establish the building control (heat, ac, sump pumps, ...) of the park and we were there in October 1971 to celebrate the grand opening. The Magic Kingdom opened with surprisingly many things that are still popular. Apparently there were around 10K attendees (and 5K cast members). Today the average crowd to the now four theme parks is approximately 160,000 per day! Ticket prices on opening day were $3.50 for adults. Today the basic bare bones ticket price starts at $109, this can go up to well over $150/day (depending on demand).

We spent time in each of the four parks, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. 

The Magic Kingdom has a number of old standby rides. Most, if not all, have been updated. These include:  "Jungle Cruise", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Swiss Family Treehouse", "Haunted Mansion", "Peter Pan's Flight", and "Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train". We've done most of these multiple times in the past but we repeated several. They remain entertaining and among the most popular today. More recent additions include "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin",  "Under the Sea ~Journey of the Little Mermaid". Other rides that have stood the test of time are "It's a Small World", "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" and Country Bear Jamboree, but they weren't for us this trip.

Top L-R: Carousel of Progress, Haunted House, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

Hollywood Studios has a couple great rides but is abysmal on the "hangout" front. Toy Story Land likely makes this a better bet for the younger generations. It was, however, pretty cool wandering through the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area and to be transported to worlds only otherwise experienced in movies. The top ride in HS is the "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror". It is "Haunted House" on steroids. You explore a creepy old hotel and then enter a rickety elevator. Of course during the ride, the lights go out and the elevator goes crazy with some drops that end in abrupt stops, etc.  

Due to technical difficulties (Pat's) we missed "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance". We missed "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" due to technical difficulties with the ride. And we may have misjudged one ride, that a savvy 10 year old told us that we should have checked out ,"Slinky Dog Dash". So these three are unfairly overlooked in our ratings of the rides. Bill's cold was getting the best of him on this day so we went to the room early and didn't return for the Fantasmic light show. 

Top: L-R: Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, Tower of Terror, R2D2's friends, Chewbacca the Wookiee

One evening we headed to Disney Springs. After wandering the shops we went to Wine Bar George which has a great wine list. We sampled a couple from their list before heading to The Boathouse for a nice seafood dinner. We chose the Oberon Chardonnay which was very nice and particularly good with the seafood.

We enjoyed Animal Kingdom, maybe because it is more manageable. It is a relaxing but exciting 1 day visit. It is small in area and packs some great experiences. "Avatar Flight of Passage: Fly A Banshee in Pandora" is a spectacular virtual reality ride, and comes in as #1 or #2 for best in all the parks on the Harding Scale. It is a somewhat intense ride on a banshee and includes a very close-up sighting of a giant whale-like creature along with some high speed flying through narrow rocky chasms. It could be hard for folks with vertigo tendencies, but I (Pat) just close my eyes briefly and all is fine.

There is a "real life" safari through the plains with live animals (not animatronic). 

"Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain" is a more traditional roller coaster with a twist, probably our #4 fav for the roller coaster or virtual reality category. It  is intended to be a race through the Himalayas to find the Yeti. It starts off like a pretty normal coaster but then stops. It seems like a mechanical difficulty. Then suddenly you are going backward in the dark. Let's say it is thrilling. After the encounter with the Yeti we took a break with "Feathered Friends in Flight!" for a behind the scenes look at the birds. Next up: a dive into virtual reality with "Avatar Flight of Passage". The latter was quite the experience.

Top L-R: Feathered Friends in Flight!, Avatar, Expedition Everest

We made Genie+ reservations for "Kilimanjaro Safari", "Avatar Flight of Passage" and "Na'vi River Journey".  And used Standby lines for "Expedition Everest". It was basically walk-ins for the show "Feathered Friends in Flight!", as well as two wildlife walking trails, ("Maharajah Jungle Trek" and "Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail" with birds, giant bats, tigers, gorillas and hippos).

We visited Downtown Miami and Miami Beach (the Art Deco district, Hilton Fountain Blue Hotel and Ocean Drive), the Wynwood District with its giant Street Art, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables with Biltmore Hotel, and Little Havana where the first Cuban's settled along Calle Ocho. We passed by Vizcaya, the Miami Art Museum and elegant home of James Deering of the International Harvester fortune. It is a great place to visit but we've been there already a couple times.

We took one day off from the Parks and visited with local friends (Jim & Terry, Terry was Pat's roommate at the U of M during our junior year. We strolled around Disney Springs making stops for coffee and pizza. We stayed after J&T left and had a light evening meal at Wine Bar George along with several glasses of wine.

EPCOT is the place for adults to both enjoy rides and to hangout. We spent about half of our time at WDW at EPCOT. And luckily we arrived in time to enjoy the "Flower & Garden Festival". Lots of great topiary! Fine floral displays. 

Plus specialized  food stands. Some tasty tidbits we enjoyed were:

• Potato Pancakes with caramelized ham, onions, and herb sour cream  (German Pavilion)
• Seared Scallops with French green beans, butter potatoes, and brown butter vinaigrette (Canadian Pavilion)
• Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (US Pavilion)
• Fish and Chips (UK Pavilion)
• Prosecco (Italian Pavilion)

There are quite a few fine restaurants. Even so it can be challenging to find availability. Reservations for "sit-down" restaurants open up 60 days before your visit. Because we were staying in the park, we could reserve for the full length of our stay. Even then it's difficult to get any of the top rated restaurants. We managed to snag reservations for Space 220 Restaurant. You ride a space elevator to the "Centauri Space Station" for a fine meal. Prix Fixe dining but since Pat preferred the appetizers, they charged her meal a la carte, using the Bar menu. It was a good deal. 

Epcot has more to offer than the restaurants and World Show Case. We recommend the following:

- "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind",  ...State of the art Roller coaster tied for #1 or #2 on the Harding Scale, available only by Virtual Queue (while we were there). It takes determination to schedule it. One time we tried and missed because availability was ONLY 7 seconds! The ride is super intense physically although not super scary. Loved it. We managed to get it twice! The story is that Xandarians traveled from their home world in the Andromeda Galaxy to Earth (“Terra”) to prepare the first otherworld pavilion at WDW. Cosmic Rewind has a reverse launch and is fast, with a top speed of 60 mph. I read it's so smooth that it doesn't feel as fast as other coasters that go this speed. 

- "Test Track"...the ride in a convertible through various "car tests", ends in a high-speed lap. Basically a pretty fine roller coaster that helped prepare us for "Guardians of the Galaxy". 

- "Soarin', Around the World", ...great iMax float around the world. Fantastic for travelers including the armchair kind! Pretty amazing effects as you fly over landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and the Taj Mahal. Other fine (but less exciting) travel shows are "Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360" and "Reflections of China". 

-  "Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure."  ...4D family-friendly ride shrinks riders down to the size of a rat as they go on an exciting journey through Gusteau’s kitchen. This one actually triggered Pat's vertigo the most, but briefly closing her eyes helped. 

- "The American Adventure" ...very patriotic but felt a bit cliché

- "Frozen Ever After" ...charming but not very memorable.

- "Carousel of Progress" ...fun to see the evolution of technology in the home, it has a catchy tune that stuck with me a bit long.

And the evening "Harmonious Nighttime Show" ...as dazzling as you might expect with lights and fireworks.

A side note re EPCOT, it is definitely more than a bunch of rides, the shops and restaurants take up half of the pamphlet. 

Since we returned to SMA, we noted an article in the WSJ that there is a small industry focused on addressing the frustrations of mastering navigating WDW. Some of us accept the challenge of mastering the tools. Others hire experts and likely avoid the mid afternoon meltdowns that we observed. Read all about it: https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-world-universal-private-tour-guide-416c4af5

We moved on to visit our friends Bentley & Sharon. We met them in the early 90's when Bentley came to Sun Microsystems. Sharon later joined Sun where she & Bill worked together. They now live in Cocoa FL, right across from Cape Canaveral. 

Aside from visiting with them we went to see two launches. The first was the Mar 8 launch of Relativity and a 3D-printed rocket. The mission was scrubbed in the last few seconds (and finally launched Mar 22). It is just mind boggling to even imagine a 3D printed rocket! The press thought so too and had coverage there. A newscaster was talking to Bentley and mentioned they'd like to interview someone who was not from Florida. Bill stepped up to the occasion and we saw him on the news that evening. Even though the launch was scrubbed, we had the excitement of seeing a Trident nuclear submarine departing the nearby maintenance facility. They had closed down the whole harbor. We thought it was due to the launch. But, no. The submarine was the guest of honor.

The next day a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 40 broadband satellites to orbit for the U.K. company OneWeb (March 9). There was just enough cloud cover to obscure much of the launch. Luckily It is a reusable rocket and we sighted it as it was returning to Earth where it executed a pinpoint touchdown. We also got a photo of one resting on the ground. 

Then we moved on to Pompano Beach (near Fort Lauderdale). Our friends Peter & Peggi from near Seattle were in the area visiting family. On the way to Pompano, we stopped briefly in Vero Beach to visit Pat's cousin Leslie. We had a nice lunch and chat at our usual meeting spot, Mulligan's Beach House where Pat had lobster once again. 

Having visited Vero Beach several times in the past, we knew there is a great seafood market and a great wine store there. We bought some salmon and grouper at Rhonda's Seafood for our dinner with Peter and Peggi in the evening. We also purchased a few bottles of wine at Varietals and More. 

Next day we went to Fort Lauderdale and after some shopping along Olas Blvd had a nice lunch at IT! Italy. 

The following day we walked around the neighborhood near our apartment noting the view of Hillsboro Inlet and Lighthouse from our apartment, an open draw bridge (a frequent scene around the inland waterway), and the floral decor and creative mailboxes of the nearby homes. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Seaside Grill.

We hung out with Peter & Peggi for a few days while also visiting Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton including some nice Greek and Italian meals. We spent some time shopping and visited Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. We only had time for a short stop so we missed the boardwalk that goes to a lookout. And there were crowds of students making for lines. So we passed up the most popular tank (the tank with seahorses). We did however enjoy the large tanks of fish and the sea turtles

We four enjoyed exploring the expansive tranquil grounds of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens where we also learned the story of how many Japanese families came to live and farm in the area introducing Japanese agriculture to south Florida. 

Our final stop was in Miami. We found a rental in a central area (Brickell) in a high rise (34th floor). On the drive in through the high rises, Pat experienced a bit of claustrophobia, probably a bit concerned that the GPS signals could be blocked and then we would have no idea how to get around. Later though, looking out at the skyline from our apartment (day or night) she loved the view and found the towers & lights mesmerizing. 

We thought the location was fabulous. The views of the other High Rises, the convenience to Brickell Village & Shopping Center, dining (we especially liked Alloy Bistro Gourmet), Bayfront Park, and the science museum. There's also a nice trail around Brickell Key. The free Metro Mover and Trolley routes connects it to destinations a bit farther afield. Although access to Miami Beach is by Uber/Lyft. We highly recommend staying in the Brickell area.

We booked a History Tour of Miami with a "Tours By Locals" Guide. An excellent introduction to the highlights and the historic details, really the story of the founding families. We leaned about the Tequestas (the local Native Americans); key founders of Miami (the Brickell family - early settlers, Julia Tuttle - official founder, Henry Morrison Flagler - a founder of the Florida East Coast Railway); Miami Beach developers (John Collins and Carl Fisher); and founders of Coconut Grove (Ralph Munroe & Jack Peacock).

We visited Downtown Miami and Miami Beach (the Art Deco district, Hilton Fountain Blue Hotel and Ocean Drive), the Wynwood District with its giant Street Art, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables with Biltmore Hotel, and Little Havana where the first Cuban's settled along Calle Ocho. We passed by Vizcaya, the Miami Art Museum and elegant home of James Deering of the International Harvester fortune. It is a great place to visit but we've been there already a couple times.

We stumbled onto this exhibit next to the Museum of Science. A lot of colorful Cats & Dogs displayed along a garden walkway.

The Philip & Patricia Frost Science Museum was our destination for this walk. There are  several floors of exhibits including dinosaurs, and fish including sea horses.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped at the Alloy Bistro Gourmet for a late lunch. The tagliatelle with truffles and the gnocchi with foie gras made this our favorite restaurant in Miami and among the best on the trip.

Wynwood Walls is several blocks of giant street art by famous artists from around the world. The artwork covers a wide range of subject matter.  We were fortunate to see one multi-story work in progress. We also learned that Street Art (visual art created in public places) differs from Grafitti (drawings scratched, scribbled, or sprayed on a wall).

We moved on to Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach for shopping and lunch. No luck shopping, but the bears were interesting.

And the lunch at Cantinetta was good. We enjoyed the endive salad with nuts and blue cheese along with the carbonara and lasagna. 

Shopping, WDW, and visiting friends and relatives accomplished. Returning to Venice & Sarasota and finally getting to explore greater Miami frosting on the cake.

Boquete

An early flight got us to the David airport. After a 45 minute drive we arrived in Boquete and checked in to our accommodations at Villa Alejandro. Boquete has a large expat population, as does Cuenca (Ecuador) and San Miguel. Honestly we were curious what we would think of the competition. For us, San Miguel is the clear winner for it's easy walkability and compact urban center. The others are nice places to visit. 

We were introduced to the Bajareque upon arrival in Boquete. Anytime during the day there may be what is defined as a fine drizzle but it is more like someone was spraying the area from above with an extremely fine mist. And it comes and goes. You learn to just ignore it. No need for an umbrella.The source of the Bajareque seems to be the fog that comes and goes on the nearby mountains.

We went to lunch at the nearby Valle de Cuzco, yes a Peruvian Restaurant. Hence the picture of Bill in front of Machu Picchu. Pat really enjoyed her Shrimp & Mushrooms dish. A very fine culinary experience. 

Our afternoon introductory tour of the area took us around the city and out to Los Ladrilles, a lateral columnar basalt wall, a great draw for rock climbers. A little further up the road we stopped to appreciate a small water fall. We finished the tour with a local coffee - cappuccino for Bill and frappuccino for Pat. We wanted a light evening meal and chose Vale! Tapas y Mas for dinner. Under new management the menu did not life up to the Tapas and More name. We asked about what might be available and found that they had a nice tapas plate for two (Not listed on the menu. Go figure.)

The next morning we are hiked the Pipeline Trail where there were many birds including the seldom seen Quetzal. The difficulty in seeing birds is two fold, they hide in among the leaves and they move frequently making them difficult to see and extremely difficult to photograph. Thanks to our sharp eyed guide and some good luck we got views and photos. 

Clockwise from top left:  Resplendent Quetzal, Lesser Violetear (top), Yellow-faced Grassquit/Tanager (bottom), Black-thighed Grosebeak, Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Spotted Crown Woodcreeper, Green Violetear, Flame-colored Tanager, Rusty-breasted Wren-warbler

There were also some interesting flora including a tree that had fallen down and was a great example of trees without rings. There are no seasons or dormant periods here causing rings to form.

Pat got tired of waiting for Bill to satisfy himself with each of the many bird photos and started exploring the plant life. She first noticed one that has a resemblance to a flamingo. Then there was the Lulo fruit (a fuzzy ball that ripens to look like an orange but once you cut into it, it is clearly not a citrus fruit.

 Clockwise from top left: Heliconia (red drooping flower), Lulo fruit, Centropogon Grandidentatus (Pat calls it flamingo flower. It is rare in cultivation and seems to lack a true common name), Begonia Grandis, Fallen down tree lacking rings, Montane Longwing (black & red wings with a bands of yellow) amidst yellow flowers.

The tour also included visiting Finca Lerida coffee plantation with lunch and a tour of the processing area. 

Key processing steps include separating the bean from the cherry (hullling), screening the beans for size, and grading the beans. The main methods used here are the Washed or wet process and the Natural sun dried or dry process. Apparently these two techniques affect mouthfeel and flavor in many ways. Most of the coffee that people drink is washed or wet-processed coffee. The Wet method is more consistent and used for producing coffee with higher acidity (for rich lush taste). In the Dry method, the coffee beans absorb the character of the drying flesh of the fruit. For the Dry method, the coffee cherries are dried in the open air and can take weeks to dry. Long strips of beans are spread out on large concrete patios. The workers rake them around 3-4 times per hour to avoid spoilage. They also produce some coffees using the Honey method which leaves some of the pulp on the beans resulting in a sweeter flavor.

They raise Geisha and Catuai coffees. Geisha coffee originated in Ethiopia but is now a major product of Panama. Due to its fruity character, it is highly valued and one of the most expensive in the world.

 At the end of the tour we had a tasting of 4 coffees (representing three processing styles and two types of beans) followed by another coffee and dessert. We returned to Villa Alejandro and our usual evening wine and snack.

Next day we had no formal tours so explored the town. First we crossed the river to preview the Flower, Coffee and Craft Festival (scheduled to open that evening). We also visited Felipe Motta Wine Store & Deli to checkout the selection (quite satisfactory). Later we headed to Mikes Global Grille for lunch. We opted for the pea soup with burgers. We returned to the Felipe Motta Wine Store & Deli for some wine and snacks for our evening meal. 

Our second tour day had the 3 Falls hike on tap. We only saw two of the three falls, the trail to number three was steep, rough and slippery. Our guide told us that seeing two was most common and that number 2 was the best. On our return to the car our guide spotted a sloth in the trees near the trail. No need to rush photos with a sloth. The difficulty here is they hide in the leaves and move very slowly making it difficult to find them.

Upon returning to Boquete we went to the Fish House for lunch. We both chose talapia with different preparations. Later we headed back across the river for a full tour of the Flower, Coffee and Crafts Festival. Quite impressive displays and many booths selling plants and many Fresas Café's selling strawberries (fresa in Spanish) with a wide range of toppings.

On our last day in Boquete we explored more of the town across the river. We had lunch at Retrogusto, stuffed mushrooms followed by pasta and risotto. Highly recommend. Another visit to the wine shop for evening snacks and it was time to pack. 

Next morning we were transferred back to David and after a short wait we were on our way to Panama City where we connected to our flight to Mexico City. We had a  long wait (~1.5 hrs) at immigration in Terminal 2, a very large crowd of people. We finally arrived home around 8PM.

Panama City

Flying Panama City based Copa Airlines, we flew over Panama City and the Canal 4 times. I expected to be most attracted to the Canal, but in fact, flying over dozens of skyscrapers was more impressive. The view from above is mesmerizing. 

We arrived at La Compania Hotel (still decorated for Christmas) in Panama City in the late afternoon. We settled into our room and then wandered out to get a Panamá phone SIM for Pat. We decided to dine in CasaCasco, a 5 story building with three restaurants, the Terraza / Rooftop bar and a disco. We had a very nice seafood dinner at Marula on the second floor. 

In the morning our introductory city tour first took us to Quarry Heights (in the former American Sector) with views over the city and of hundreds of stacks of shipping containers. On the walk to the top we spotted a group of Geoffery's Tamarins (aka Panamanian red-crested or rufous-naped tamarins). At the Mirador de las Americas there were Panama Hats (from Ecuador) for sale. From here we observed a ship in the Canal approaching the Bridge of the Americas. 

Later on our quad bike ride along Avenida Amador, we got photos of the city and the Bio Museum (a Frank Gehry design). At the Mercado de Mariscos (which we passed at least twice a day during our stay here) we had a Ceviche Tasting at Restaurante Rompeola (polpo/octupus, corvina/seabass, shrimp and an Christmas special with fruit and seabass - on  the right in the picture). Afterwards we explored the market.  

Then back to the old town. At the Church of St Joseph, just a few steps from our hotel, we viewed the golden altar and then went through the vestry to view the massive "Nativity Scene". We also checked out the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria in Plaza de la Independencia. It's altar, in pastel colors of blue & peach, is less ornate.

In the evening we went back to CasaCasco for some wine at the Terraza / Rooftop bar. We enjoyed the views over the Old Town and on to the modern skyscrapers. We had an evening snack in Exilio Bar at La Compania - some great Arancini (Italian rice balls) and a fine bottle of Negroamaro wine. 

Next day we were off to the Chagres National Park to visit a tribe of Emberá people. They are one of seven recognized Panamanian indigenous tribes. We had a dugout canoe ride up the Chagres River through the rainforest to the falls. A few brave souls were swimming in the quite cold water (but not us). 

We headed back to Emberá Tusipono Village for a trout lunch with the trout served in a large leaf along with some dried meat provided by our guide. We also had culture and craft talks by the locals. We purchased a few gifts at the craft market in the village. Before we headed back to the Old Town we watched them perform a couple dances accompanied by drums, flute, and other instruments. 

Back in Panama city we toured more of the Old Town focusing on the balconied buildings, a market, and harbor views from Plaza de Francia.  

Next day we traveled 1.5 hours across the country to the Caribbean/Atlantic side. Along the way, we stopped at the Canal Expansion Visitor Center where we watched a ship pass through the new locks. The process takes about 30 minutes. The water for the locks comes from the Chagres River. Much is stored and reused (see basins to the left of the lock below). The ships are guided and towed through with strategically placed tugboats. We also spotted a smaller ship using the old locks.

The new locks, built to accommodate much larger ships, opened in 2016. The sign in the bottom right below shows the details of the container ship we watched pass through the lock. 

On our way to lunch at Marina Hotel at Shelter Bay we stopped for a portrait with the ship passing under the Puenta Atlántico (Atlantic Bridge). After lunch we visited the ruins of Fort San Lorenzo (aka Royal Castle of San Lorenzo on the Chagres), a Colonial Military structure built by the Spanish. The fortress is at the mouth of the Chagres River (bottom left photo). Construction of the fortress spanned 1595-1599. It was attacked by Sir Francis Drake in1596, destroyed by Henry Morgan in 1671, rebuilt in1677, destroyed again in 1740 and rebuilt yet again in 1741. Before we left the area, Pat made a point of getting her feet wet in the Atlantic. 

Along our way back through the San Lorenzo National Park & Rainforest, we saw howler and capuchin monkeys, as well as a white nosed coati. We got a view of both the old and new locks from the Puenta Atlántico (bottom left photo). 

After we arrived back at our hotel, we hurried off to the waterfront so Pat could get her feet wet in the Pacific....exactly 2 hours later than when she tested the waters of the Atlantic. 

That evening meal we ate at Luigi's. one of the restaurants in the hotel. We had pizza & bruschetta with a chocolate caramel dessert with hot chocolate sauce. 

Two neighboring national parks were on tap for the next day. Parque Nacional Soberania showed us its stuff with another sloth, another coati, a broad-billed motmot and a ringed kingfisher, more hummingbirds, as well as capuchin and howler monkeys.  

After lunch overlooking the crocs and turtles lounging in the water below, we hired a boat for a cruise on Gatun Lake, a key part of the Canal system. We had some great views of another crocodile, more monkeys including a Geoffroy's tamarin (bottom center), and tiny bats resting on a tree trunk.  

As a break from observing wildlife, we checked out a couple ships passing through the canal, enjoyed the views of German WWI crane known as "Herman the German", and watched a passenger train using the tracks that predate the Canal, or perhaps more accurately were stage one of the Canal system.  

And on our way back to Panama city we had another wildlife highlight, we saw our first Toucan on the trip.

Our room was in the American sector of the hotel. There was also French & Spanish sectors. The American sector was decorated with equipment reminiscent of the early Canal building era. Our elevator was decorated with instruments to resemble a vintage time machine.  

In the morning we visited the Mola Museum, dedicated to fabric handcrafts and culture of the Kuna people of Panama who live in the coastal San Blas region. Molas are a brightly colored textile art handmade using a reverse appliqué technique. Two to seven panels of various colors of cloth are stacked and stitched together and decorated by cutting away parts of each layer. The remaining edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. It's a lot of work! The women make these for traditional blouses, as well as flat pieces that can be framed or used on cushions.

We really enjoyed the Greek dinner at Tavernaki (chicken Gyro & pork souvlaki and salad accompanied by Greek wine of course). The restaurant owner used to work on the Canal first for the Americans and later for the Panamanians. He entertained us for awhile telling us how brilliant the Americans were with the deign of the Canal. I hate to say it but I don't think I ever heard an American that proud of American accomplishments! The restaurant is in an old building that housed a Speakeasy. We got a peak inside as the owner told us about the old days and the special events he holds there throughout the year.

On the way to the Multiplaza Mall we saw the F&F Tower (another high-rise with a twist). The mall itself felt like most malls around the world although with a little more US flavor. 

After packing for the move to Boquete, we opted to stay in the hotel for evening snacks and wine at Exilio