Randy and Robin's Roving Retirement

Washington DC was a whirlwind of activity. Since Robin had never been here, we wanted to see a lot of the top priorty tourist sites. Yes, here we were more like tourists than Slowmads. We always like to start a new city visit with a Hop On Hop Off tour. The trolley in DC was awesome. Many times there is a recorded guide in multiple languages and you can never seem to find a bus to hop back on. This one had an excellent local guide, who was entertaining, fun and educational. We got off at the Jefferson Memorial and walked through the FDR Memorial and MLK Memorial.

FDR Memorial is quite extensive

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was full of his memorable quotes.

World War II Memorial

Air and Space Museum

We enjoyed this Museum. However after seeing the Destination Moon exhibit in Seattle, this part was redundant for us. Fun seeing the Wright Brothers first plane.

Wright Brothers first plane (above). Great quote(below).

Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit and Robin flying a plane.

International Spy Museum

This is a really fun museum. You are issued a cover identity and occupation. You proceed through different stations to complete your mission.

James Bond Aston Martin

American History Museum

Some great artifacts at this museum. I guess I was surprised that there was a lot of modern history, cell phones, guitars, movie paraphernalia, but it was extensive.

Presidential Medal of Freedom and Horatio Greenough’s Washington.

Steel column from 70th floor of World Trade Center South Tower and piece of Berlin Wall.

Abe Lincoln’s hat from the assassination and Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

Mr Roger’s sweater and sneakers and George Reeve’s Superman suit.

I have always wanted a $100,000 bill.

Visit with Roxanne and Tom

Robin’s cousin, Roxanne and her husband, Tom live in Silver Spring, Maryland. We took the Metro one day to the nearest stop to them and they picked us up. We took a lovely walk at Sligo Creek Park and afterwards relaxed on their screened porch and made conversation. Roxanne whipped up a fantastic dinner and dessert of homemade ice cream and cookies. Tom was kind enough to drive us home.

National Zoo

The zoo was fun. The pandas are going back to China Oct 1, so we were fortunate to catch them. Not to seem like zoo snobs, but this was not our favorite zoo. Quite spread out, shuttle no longer runs and many exhibits did not open until 9am, while gate opens at 8am.

Arlington National Cemetery

A must see was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Also, had to see JFK’s Eternal Flame.

Museum of Natural History

This was a fun museum. A bit heavy on climate change guilt tripping, although the exhibits depict greater climate swings and extinctions for eons before we even walked on 2 feet.

Rooms full of gems and minerals.

The Hope Diamond

Fragment of cartonnage coffin 600 BC

Me as an Australopithecus Afarenses. More hair, less brains.

Holocaust Museum

This is a very memorable, yet emotionally challenging museum to tour. A well structured historical sequence displays the 3rd Reich’s rise to power and the increasing steps of the initial persecution and eventual extermination of 6 million Jews.

The Hall of Remembrance

We are approaching the tail end of our recent travel adventure. Next, we head to Vegas to visit Robin’s daughter, Katy. We will stay with her in her new home. Lots of routine doctor appointments, stocking up on supplies, and going through our storage bins. Therefore, the next blog post will be minimal, but we will experience a few tourist excursion and entertainment options.

Next stop….Las Vegas

We flew into Logan Airport in Boston, where Robin’s son, Joe picked us up from the airport and drove us to our Airbnb in Beverly. Joe and Amber live in Salem, a quick 10 minute drive away. We spent the first 4 days tooling around Salem and Beverly, enjoying coffee shops, visiting the North Shore, meeting Levi, the Morgan horse, taking the Salem Trolley Tour, and exploring the Peabody Essex Museum. We then spent 3 nights at the Killington Mountain Inn and went to Rutland, Ludlow, Quechee, the Hubbardton Battlefield site and saw Joe and Amber’s riverfront property by North Clarendon.

Breakfast stop at A & J Kings in Salem with Joe and Amber

Fun evening at Mission Boathouse in Salem

Robin and Joe exploring Rockland

Meeting our grand pony, Levi at the stables

Joe with Anna and Jacob

The Peabody Essex Museum was huge and so well presented.

Vermont was awesome. Joe & Amber treated us to 3 nights at the Killington Mountain Inn. We had some drizzle and cooler weather than we did in the Boston area. We still were able to explore a lot of the area.

Killington Mountain Inn

We explored the town of Ludlow.

We got to see Joe & Amber’s land by the North Clarendon area. They will start building soon. It is close to a small airport where Joe plans on parking his future plane.

The Hubbarton Battlefield Site, where the only Civil War battle in Vermont took place.

We had a fantastic time in New England. Gratefully, we were able to spend a solid week with family which was more than we have in the last 10 years combined! Thank you Joe & Amber for all of your detailed planning, flexibility and generosity. We love you ❤️.

Chefchaouen was quite a change from Tangier. It has a smaller population of 45,000 and is located at 2,000 feet. Known as the Blue Pearl, due to the blue painted walls in the medina and surroundong town, Chefchaouen draws a lot of Instagrammers for its many picturesque hotspots. Just like Tangier, cats, especially kittens were everywhere. Supermarkets are non existent and wine is found at one store and is very expensive. You have been warned 😜.

We always appreciate a professional guided tour, especially walking tours. Abdennour was an excellent guide who spoke good English and had a sense of humor. Even though we had been here a full week, he showed us many new places we had not seen and explained the history of the area.

Chefchaouen means 2 horns and those are the 2 peaks behind the town.

We love the little kitties everywhere. All are friendly, but some are in rough shape.

We actually had use of a small pool at our Airbnb.

The architecture, doorways and views are unique.

Plaza Uta el Hamman, the large central square with many visitors and hawkers eagerly urging guests to dine at their cafes.

Food is unique and generally inexpensive. On left, is Madfouna, also known as Moroccan pizza, a flatbread stuffed with spicy beef and served with a spicy green chutney along with a delightful ginger lemonade. On right, a typical breakfast, OJ, hot Moroccan mint tea, fried eggs, green olives, softcheese, goat cheese, chopped bologna type meat (mortadella-chicken, turkey, or beef) and the plate behind, with a thick crepe and cornbread type bread (harcha) marmalade, butter and honey, all for $4.50 USD.

Panoramic view of Chefchaouen from the Spanish Mosque just after sunset. Quite a hike to get up there, albeit paved. We ended up with over 16,000 steps that day.

Robin with her new best friend, Azzin.

Chefchaouen was a great adventure. Most tourists we see are visiting for a day trip from Casablanca, Fes, or other nearby cities. Spending 2 weeks here gave us time to further experience the Moroccan way of life and their rich and colorful culture. We enjoyed our favorite restaurants several times and really learned our way around the medina. The Blue Pearl was magical, peaceful and exhilarating.

Next stop…. Boston, MA (Salem and Killington, VT)

Tangier was quite the surprise. A very international city, with a mixture of history and modernism in a multicultural setting. Languages, wow! Arabic and Berber, French and Spanish, some English and assorted other European and African idioms as well. The first step in communicating here is to determine what languages you have in common.

Our Airbnb was just blocks away from Bab Kasbah. Bab means gate, so it is the Kasbah entry gate. We enjoy being in the gritty neighborhood as opposed to the tourist area. Street cats and kittens are everywhere. Some are adorable, yet some are mangy and others appear to be near death. There are some dogs as well and they have ear tags if they have been vaccinated.

The culinary experience has been very exciting. Moroccan mint tea is found everywhere. It has a base of gunpowder tea and is always served hot in a glass with fresh mint leaves and sugar. Tajines are one of the main national dishes and usually consist of chicken or beef with couscous and vegetables in a tajine clay pot.

Pastillas are delicious meat dishes swrapped in a filo type pastry topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Blue Mojito (virgin) at Cafe Hafa and decor of Palais Zahia hotel restaurant.

The supermarkets have beautiful arrays of spices and olives. Many locals purchase their food from small, neighborhood markets and the Medina.

The doors and architecture are unique and captivating. Bab Kasbah (gate to the Kasbah) and a side view of the fortress.

Door from James Bond movie, Spectre (above left).

Plenty of history everywhere you look and panoramic views abound.

View from La Maconda restaurant in the Kasbah

Enjoying mint tea at Gran Cafe de Paris, where a scene from Bourne Ultimatum was filmed.

Yes, we even saw Barbie here. Only 35 Dirhams or $3.50 USD.

We took a wonderful walking tour with Majid on our 14th wedding anniversary. He took us through the winding medina giving us intricate historical and cultural details. We learned about Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan Marco Polo of the 14th century. Majid was once named as the #1 guide in Morocco. He guides members of the US Embassy when they are in town as he speaks multiple languages. We signed up for a 3 hour tour, but we had to ask him to stop after 5 hours as we were worn out. He even bought Robin a rose to celebrate 🌹.

Cafe Baba- Rolling Stones hangout.

Tangier was very unique, different than we expected. The people were warm and welcoming and we felt very safe even in the grittier areas. We learned a lot about the history and culture of Morocco. We don’t plan to return here, but are glad we had this wonderful adventure.

Next… off to Chefchaouen, Morocco

Madrid was a surprise. Initially it was just to be a few hour layover en route to Morocco, but we decided to change our plans and make it a 5 day stopover. We are so glad we did. Madrid is a world class vibrant city, full of museums, art galleries, restaurants & cafes, musicals, palaces, parks and history sights. An extremely efficient Metro system allows for smooth navigation throughout the metropolis.

Plaza Mayor is a large public square full of history. It was the location of torture and executions during the Spanish Inquisition.

Churros and dipping chocolate at Valor

El Retiro Park is a large city park that used to be the President’s garden. (See more pics below.)

We generally take a Hop On Hop Off bus during our first few days in a new city. It gives us a good overview and allows us to add and subtract items from our sightseeing list.

Temple of Debod, a gift from Egypt. Relaxing with morning coffee

There is so much to do in Madrid! The Rastro on Sunday, Europe’s largest flea market is huge and a worthwhile visit. We want to return and take a private tour of the Royal Palace and the Prado Museum. Also, many musicals are playing, Chicago, Mama Mia and Lion King, all in Spanish. We can’t wait to come back and see some of them. We also want to go to the zoo, and Casa Botín, the world’s oldest restaurant for suckling pig- need reservations way in advance.

Next…. off to Tangier, Morocco 🇲🇦

Almada is just across the Tagus River from Lisbon. We initially planned on spending more time in the Algarve, however the rental costs get so high in July and August that we opted for Almada. We are a few blocks from an area called Cacilhas, which is a ferry town. People come over from Lisbon to dine at the streetside cafes and visit the tourist sites on this side. Many people on this side use the ferry to commute to Lisbon. The water taxi ride is only 1.30€ or $1.43 USD. We purchased a Zapping card, which allows you to reload and is valid for the water taxi, the trains, the Metro and the bus. The transportation is very centralized. All the stations are in the same vicinity making the use of multiple forms of transit easily accessible.

Our Airbnb is smaller than the one we had in Lagos, but we have a spectacular view from the 13th floor balcony, which we call our office 😀. There are multiple markets and cafes, all within short walking distance and even a laundromat down the block.

Our office view from the 13th floor balcony overlooking the Tagus River and Lisbon.

Our day and night views (above), our unit marked in red (below).

View from our 13th floor window shows the convenient location. We have stayed in many Airbnb’s, but we lucked out with this location.

🟣 On left- ATM

🤍- bus stop

🔵-pastry shop

💚- garbage drop

🟡- tram- light rail stop

♥️- mini market

🟣 Arrow – street with 35 cafes, pastry shops, and gelato stores- below

Cacilhas, with its oodles of sidewalk cafes with grilled sardines, pizza, pasta, steaks, salads, Indian food and more.

A glorious seawall walk along the river with the April 25 bridge in the background. It was originally the Salazar Bridge, but renamed after the Carnation Revolution in 1974.

The map shows our loop, as we walk Casilhas to the waterfront, then the seawall, take the elevator (above left) back up to town and then down back to home.

We actually found live music in Almada at Cine Incrível where we saw the Samuel Lercher Trio. Samuel was amazing on piano and Bruno Pedroso awesome on drums.

Our local eateries include Restaurarante Marisqueira “Valle do Rio” and Valdo Gatti. Robin loved the mushroom ravioli at Valdo.

Church of Our Lady of the Good Success is just a short walk down the main street in Cascilhas.

Grilled sardines are everywhere and very tasty.

Beautiful beaches at Praia da Caparica, just 6 miles away.

We saw this restaurant owner several times and finally had to stop and tell him he looked like Stanley Tucci. He said ” he’s my twin brother.”

Lam was our favorite waiter. He was always commending us on our passion for life, from dancing, to drinking wine while playing cards, to our kindness to each other. He said that he felt as though we were locals and he told his other customers about us and how “that’s the way it should be.” Once Randy did a few magic tricks Lam was sure that Randy was performing in Lisbon.

Adventure in Cascais

A fortuitous encounter with a fellow American led us to Cascais. We met Kendall on a bench at our train layover in Tunes. We kept in touch and invited him to join us on a food tour to celebrate Robin’s birthday. He was not available, but said he had extra tickets to see the sold out Lionel Ritchie concert in Cascais. We took the water taxi to Lisbon, the train to Cascais and walked to the venue, the Hipódromo Manuel Possolo. A magical night, starting with Filipe Karlsson, a performer Randy enjoyed. Lionel rocked the house with all his best songs and All Night Long for the encore. The concert ran late and we did catch the train at 1am, but would not be able to catch the last water taxi. We hopped off in Belem and caught an Uber to take us over the April 25th Bridge back to Almada, arriving about 3am. Thanks a million to the wonderful kindness of Kendall.

Lisbon Day Trips

Pink Street near the city center

Food Tour with OhMyCod Tours

Our fun group above, minus our guide, Rodrigo. We met under the Arco da Rua Augusta, built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake.

It was Robin’s birthday and she had a fantastic day. We went to 4 cafes and had 17 tastings including sardines, cod, Mozambican food, chorizo, octopus salad, green wine, Port wine, Ginjinha (sour cherry liquor), and more. At the last stop, the workers sang Happy Birthday in Portuguese, same tune, different lyrics 😀.

Christo Rei

The Christ the King monument here in Almada overlooks Lisbon and the April 25th Bridge. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and completed in 1959.

Belém (just west of Lisbon)

Belém is near the mouth of the Tagus River, and is at the heart of Portuguese history. It was from here in the 15th century (Portugal’s Age of Discovery) that explorer Vasco da Gama set sail for India. It is also known as the home of the pastel de nata (custard tart), Portugal’s national dessert. Pastéis de Belém uses the original recipe first created by monks in the monastery next door (Jerónimos Monastery).

Jerónimos Monastery- construction begun in 1501 and completed over100 years later.

Monument to the Discoveries was built in 1940 and made permanent in 1960 to mark 500 years since Henry the Navigator’s death. It depicts Henry, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and others, 33 in total.

The Belém Tower is a 16th century fortification that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers. It was competed in 1519 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Estoril and James Bond

Estoril, pronounced “shto ril” is a short train ride from Lisbon and is just before Cascais. The claim to fame is that Ian Fleming stayed in the Palacio Hotel and visited the neighboring casino in the 1940’s. There he found WWII spies and dignitaries and this prompted him to create James Bond in the 1953 novel, Casino Royale. The 1969 movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, with George Lazenby as Bond, was filmed at the Palácio Hotel and Casino Estoril.

James Bond leaving his Aston Martin in front of the Palácio Hotel

Our view in July 2023

Town of Sintra and the Peña Palace tour

We took a half day tour with Phillip from One Direction Tours. He met us off the water taxi by the Time Out Market and drove us to Sintra. He informed us about the history of the palace, the royalty, the 16th century and 19th century constructions, and more.

(above) a model of the palace and Phillip explaining the history.

Almada turned out to be a serendipitous blessing for us. We will definitely return to this location. The easy access to Lisbon, the public transportation, restaurant choices and entertainment all make for a wonderful lifestyle here. We found a small town feel in a big city.

Where to next? Off to Madrid for a short stay before heading to Tangier, Morocco.

Lagos, pronounced “lah’ goesh” is located in the western part of the Algarve on the Atlantic Ocean. We have been planning on coming here for years as Covid derailed our initial target of July 2020. With a population of 30,000 year round residents, tourists flock here by the thousands in July and August. Most of the tourists are from Europe, although we have met a few from the US.

It’s all about the beaches here. We can walk to most of the Lagos beaches. There is a long sandy beach called Meia Praia which has a great wooden boardwalk, excellent for long walks. Praia do Camilo is quite scenic with over 200 steps down to the bottom and a short cave to walk through. Praia Dona Ana is also beautiful with ample sand, lounge chairs and swimming.

View from the top of Praia do Camilo stairs

Lagos marina

Our neighborhood is just north of the walled city. Right around the corner is a bakery, called Delicias, with wifi access and delicious ham and cheese toasted sandwiches for 3.20€. Next to it is Happy Sumo, a Japanese/Chinese restaurant with wonderful food, friendly staff and decent prices. There are 2 Chinese stores across the street from each other, selling clothes, electronics, craft supplies and any household supplies you need.

Our complex and our view from the hill

Sunset from our balcony and we have a baby seagull on the next roof.

Our favorite convert consisting of bread, olives, crostini and paté, cheese, and butter, at Borsalino.

Old Town Lagos

It is short walk to old Town inside the walled city. Many shops and restaurants as well as historical sites.

The slave market (left) is the oldest known in Europe, dating back to 1444. Entrance to the walled city, central Lagos (right).

Lagos Zoo

Catamaran Ride

We took a 3 hour catamaran ride with our fellow Senior Nomad friends, Jeanne and Phil. Amazing view of the coastal beaches and formations.

Beaches!!!

Dona Ana is a nice swimming beach with minimal stairs to reach the sand. Rooftop restaurants are popular at the top of the stairs.

Praia do Camilo is a very scenic beach. Excessive seaweed makes it not so pleasant for swimming. There is a cave tunnel to a separate section of the beach.

Praia da Luz is a great swimming beach, easy to get to from the parking lot. The community is notorious as the location where Madeleine McCann disappeared from in 2007. We took a lovely morning day trip with Jeanne and Phil.

Sagres

Another fun day trip with Jeanne and Phil, courtesy of their rental car. We drove to Sagres, the SW corner of Portugal and Europe, known as the end of the world.

Albufeira

Robin and I took a day trip, a bus ride to a neighboring town. Then an Uber took us to old town. Different vibe than Lagos, yet lively and scenic.

We were dropped off on a narrow street and wandered through the upper older portion of Albufeira.

Overall, Lagos was awesome. Our Airbnb was probably the nicest, largest, best equipped and most centrally located on our travels. We experienced wonderful weather with a few very hot days. Culinary delights including grilled sardines, swordfish and salmon. Next stop Almada, just across the river from Lisbon, so a 4 hour train ride.

Praça do Comércio

Lisbon is a vibrant, historical city, with so much to explore, eat and drink. We had no expectations upon arriving here and it has been nothing but joyful. The food is amazing and after months in Panama where the selection is limited, we are in food heaven. The Pastel de Bacalhau Codfish Cake with a glass of Port is our new favorite. The Pastel de Nata is an incredible egg custard tart and it appears that in 2009, The Guardian rated it as one of the 50 best things to eat in the world.

After a few days of recovery from Trans Atlantic weariness, we learned the Metro subway system and ventured out. Our own neighborhood was very convenient with a croissant bakery downstairs, numerous restaurants close by, an amazing grocery store, Continente, down the block, as well as the Metro station entrance and the Jardim Mário Soares park. Randy’s Portuguese is improving daily, however the majority of people speak some English, with many completely fluent. Another takeaway is that the cost of living here, groceries, dining, transportation is less than in Panama. Of course, we usually travel and stay outside of the major tourist center where prices are higher. On another note, we haven’t been this cold in a long time. Temperatures drop to 58F (14C) overnight, while In Panama it is more like 74F (23C).

Exploring Lisboa

We took an enjoyable 1 hour city tour in a bus with a video screen.

Walking the Avenida da Liberdade with the Rodeo Drive brand stores and stopping for a drink and a snack in our neighborhood park, Jardim Mário Soares.

Randy with a Pastel da Nata, the custard tart, Robin with a ham and cheese croissant. Yes, we love the food in Portugal.

Bread and pastries everywhere.

A fortuitous meet-up with Karen and David from Ajijic, Mexico. We got together at Lisbon’s Time Out Market (mercado da ribeira).

The market was packed inside, so we ate at a cafe outside and Randy brought his cards.

Praça do Comércio

Santa Justa lift and a Sangria stop.

A sardine store?!

Our typical breakfast at Sam Croissants, 2 ham and cheese croissants , breakfast tea and abatanado coffee, all for about $5 US.

Lisbon Zoo

This was an incredible zoo, with multiple entertaining shows, modern, well maintained habitats and a skyway cable ride. We spent about 5 hours exploring here.

Sumatran tiger

The Enchanted Forest bird show was fun with some unique birds and animals

Wow, there was even a pet cemetery in the corner of the zoo. I thought it was for zoo animals, but no, just dogs and cats.

Riding the zoo cable car skyway about the zoo treetops.

Lisbon Aquarium

The aquarium is very modern and well laid out. Sea otters, sharks, rays, jellyfish, penguins and loads of fish are present throughout the 3 level facility.

Cuttlefish

We found Nemo!

Lisbon was awesome and now we are off to Lagos, Portugal in the Algarve for 5 weeks. After that, we will be returning to the Lisbon area, staying across the river in Almada.

Até logo! (See you later!)

The purpose of this trip was to connect with Debra and Charles and celebrate New Years together. This was important to us as we had to cancel our July visit to Fort Myers, Florida due to my cardiac incident in Seattle. Three weeks in a small Mexican beach town is a very pleasant time, especially when shared with good friends.

Chocolamor was our favorite nearby coffee and breakfast cafe. Randy loved the chai latte with canela (cinnamon). We shared crepes, ham and eggs, BLT’s, carrot cake and more. Bolivar and his family were a pleasure to visit with.

View across the street from our 2nd floor balcony. We actually had about 1800 sq ft.

Dancing salsa in the street with a dog joining us. Good times! (below) Acting crazy.

The beach and the buffet at Chacala were awesome and we made several trips there.

We enjoyed a boat ride to Isla de Coral (Coral Island) for Debra’s birthday.

Thursday Market was always a good time. We found nuts, jewelry, bowls, a bag and a hat.

The view was incredible from Vista Guayabitos overlooking Guayabitos beach.

Pelicans begging for fish and a 7 color canary at Chocolamor.

Sunsets at the malecon were a frequent meeting time to enjoy conversation.

The last supper at Avanti Trattoria for a pleasant farewell before our return to Panama.

Our time with Debra and Charles was absolutely amazing. Robin was able to reconnect with her longest and dearest friend in a way that only 3 weeks in an unstructured environment can provide. I was able to spend quality time with Charles, who is quite a pleasant, charming and intelligent man with a great sense of humor. We can’t wait to meet up with them again, as we traveled so well together. Perhaps Panama or Portugal? Time will tell.

Now we head back to Panama to install new tile on our terraza floor as well as complete a few other small projects. It will be great to connect with friends and fellow expats in Playa Blanca.

Next travel adventure: in May we head to Portugal- starting in Lisbon for a week and then to Lagos in the Algarve. We are still selecting our 3rd Portugal location and after that, we are off to Morocco for a month, Madrid for a week, and then to Boston to visit Joe & Amber.

Happy trails!

We made it back to Panama to our new condo in Playa Blanca for 6 weeks. It was time for remodeling, stocking up, meeting new friends and having visitors, Ron and Eva.

Our view from inside and outside

New friends, Sheila and Dave, drove us to Las Bovedas, a restaurant in the Ensenada area. We were joined by more new friends, Melody and Jeanette for a wonderful lunch and walk.

We enjoyed a delightful Thanksgiving at La Esquina and we love Pippop’s ice cream.

Robin loves being back at her beach

Javier and our team of workers removed the tub from the master bathroom (left) and put in beautiful glass block and new tile in both bathrooms. We got a new washing machine, had new toilets installed as well as one ceiling fan in our master bedroom and one on the terrazza. On top of that we had 3 new air conditioners put in. We are almost done now, with the retile of the terrazza being the main project remaining.

A few fun social encounters as Christmas approaches.

Ron and Eva come to Panama

Ron Perkowski and I met sometime in 1961. We didn’t keep in touch much after college, but with Facebook, we reconnected and Ron visited Seattle in the 2010’s. He just became our first visitor to our new condo in Panama. We stayed at the Marriott in Panama City to meet up with Ron and explored Casco Viejo. The next day, we took a Panama Canal tour and then drove to Playa Blanca. Ron got an Airbnb in a neighboring building with our identical floor plan. Eva, his friend from Indonesia flew in a few days later. We found a zoo just a few miles away, took a pleasant day trip to El Valle and enjoyed some lovely meals and happy hours.

El Valle is a beautiful mountain town in the caldera of an extinct volcano.

We wrapped up our visit and headed to Panama City to spend the night before flying off to Mexico! We will land in Puerto Vallarta and then head to La Peñita de Jaltemba for 3 weeks to spend New Years with Debra and Charles.