Panama City

DAY 1

After leaving the wintry chill in Nashville, we arrived in Panama City, a swelteringly humid metropolis where we would start our trip. We checked into the hostel and took a smelly, crowded bus for 25 cents to Casco Viejo, a vintage town sprinkled with a chic, new touristy restaurants mixed with a smattering of old colonial-style buildings, churches and museums. The view of the skyline was incredible from where we stood, but there was not a whole lot to do in the area, so we started walking back to the city along the boardwalk.

We scoped out some of the town's Christmas decorations and stopped to watch some kids playing basketball. I suppose we got so distracted by activities around us, because before we knew it, we had walked about 1.5 miles, and we were already halfway to the city. So we kept walking... all the way back to the hostel to rest for the night.

DAY 2

Today, we went to Miraflores Locks, the first of three locks in the Panama Canal. The four-story museum and film were informative, but what was even more impressive was watching a huge ship pass through the locks. A few years ago on Semester at Sea, I passed through the canal, so it was neat to see it from the opposite vantage point.

After checking out the canal, we took a taxi to Amador -- a causeway that passes through a few islands with a spectacular vista of Panama City. We walked around a bit, grabbed a beer and a good view, and nearly blew away from all the wind. At the outdoor restaurant, we met Cynthia, an L.A. resident who was traveling alone and joined us for dinner. She had a car, so she took us back to our hostel for the night, saving us a would-be costly taxi ride since the buses stopped service at 5 p.m.