AND WE'RE HERE (Day One)

Okay, as usual, Ray and I left yesterday at the crack of dawn for a nine am flight out of Dulles International in Sterling, VA.  We left the house at five am and mixed it up a bit by taking I-95 North to I-495 (the Capital Beltway) to some other road, etc.  We usually drive the back country roads, but since it was so early, we were hoping the highway would be easy (and it was very foggy with a spitting of rain).  The highway was super easy!  We decided to park in the garage (paying an extra $40 for the week), so the car would be in covered parking and less hassle and time taking the shuttle to the airport.  We had tried upgrading to business class (Copa Airlines has business and economy) a week prior to our trip, and thirteen hours before our flight, we were told we were successful!  Woo hoo!  This is why points come in so handy for us!  Use the points (thanks to my dad, we learned the system!).  Check in was a breeze, because we could now go through the Premium line, and I found myself eating an apple at seven am.  The bad was we were at the airport so early (two and a half hours prior to our flight), but the good was that the plane would be boarding at 7:50.  Didn't seem as long of a wait this way.  Ray had a breakfast sandwich telling me that we wouldn't be eating on the plane until lunch time.  I could have sworn that on our last visit to Panama (when I was stuck in the middle seat by the baby), we were eating breakfast early on the flight, but what do I really remember these days.  I had my notebook with me with all of the notes from our last trip to Panama, so I read to Ray "lunch was tolerable".  Ray was right in that I would be waiting a while for a meal.  Oh well, I could always take a nap or watch a movie.  More good and bad here though--we boarded the plane around eight am and were in Row 1 Seats E, F.  On this side going into the city, you will not see the canal, but you do see ships.  We prefer sitting behind the pilot in Seats A, B.  And being in Row 1, there is much more leg room (and being in business class, even more so!), but the movie screen comes out of the ceiling, and I could see nothing.  Guess I would be napping.  But wait, the flight attendant started telling us (in English since we asked) that we would be getting drinks and warm nuts soon.  And there's more.  Soon after she took our lunch order.   I was eating Corvina and rice with a hummus platter and salad at ten am.  Ray chose the ravioli.  And a little time later, Ray and I were having vanilla ice cream (I haven't had ice cream in forever since I always order gelato, frozen yogurt or the "light" stuff) with caramel topping and let's not forget having a little Bailey's in my coffee (Ray had his on the rocks.).  So by eleven am, guess who now could tuck herself under her blanket and take a little nap.  haha  What a painless flight.  4 1/2 hours later we were off the plane.  And there was NO ONE on the customs line.  Fingerprints and pictures taken, and there was our luggage!  Premium seats means priority luggage release.  It all came off first.  And there was Miguel waiting for us with "GUINN" on his sign ready to take us to the hotel (cost for a thirty minute drive to the city > $30).  We were in our room by 2:30 pm.  Unpacked and ready to meet up with friends, Clyde and Terry at 3:30. 

We sat in their room (they are the same floor as we are) and chatted for a while, and then they drove us to El Cangrego district where we sat in a garden of sorts at Pomodoro restaurant eating Italian food.  I went all out and tried the corvine there with salad (and the bread with olive oil and balsamic was really tasty), and Ray had Spaghetti Carbonara with a white sangria.  The food was excellent.  The courtyard is within four walls, and one wall that I was facing is a hotel with balconies (or apartments?).  Another wall has a huge water tank dividing the space with the tank painted to look like a huge wine barrel laying on its side.  It was quaint, cozy and just plain nice sitting there chatting and eating great food.

We hit the ground walking so we could see some of the city and while walking, we found a Mas Movil location (a store that sells cell phones, SIMS cards, watches, and stuff).  With a lot of help from Terry's Spanish, and us mustering through it all mixing English with Spanish, the girl behind the counter was able to take Ray's Iphone (Carly's old Iphone 4) that had been unlocked at the Verizon store in Virginia and put a SIMS card in it.  This gives us a Panamanian phone number and data for seven days.  When we return to Panama, we go back to any store with Mas Movil and add more data.  It will still be usable as long as we have minutes on it.  After this daunting task (not really, just interesting to figure things out), we tried going to what had been an ice cream shop and is now a Macaroni and Pasta restaurant (things change hands here all the time).  Then we sat down at another restaurant, but the only thing we could grasp was that the place offered vanilla and Neapolitan ice cream but not chocolate.  Even Clyde had difficulty understanding the waitress, so we politely said "gracias" and were on our way.  Clyde and Ray led Terry and I back to the car, and once we arrived to our hotel (we were all staying at Courtyard Marriott Multiplaza), we could then walk over to the mall.  The mall is huge.  There was a food court on the upper floor where we sat eating gelato sundaes and talking more.  Learning a bit more about Panama and about each other in general.  Bedtime was nine pm!

After yesterday's traveling day and touring, we slept for nine hours (Ray had a great night sleep, but I missed my electric blanket for my feet in an odd way--so I put socks on at about one am!).  Clyde and Terry were given the continental breakfast buffet as part of their stay here, but since we are using Marriott Reward Points and staying the week for free, we would have to pay $13/person plus tax for the breakfast.  No thanks.  Ray and I woke up and once showered, we walked about five minutes to Nikos 24 hours café.  There is PLENTY of food there, and for an $8 breakfast (total), we had eggs, drinks and holadros (YUMMO, but these were not like the one I had at the fonda almost a year ago--I needed some powdered sugar!).  We took pictures of the city, the café, and the mall, and we are now waiting to meet Clyde and Terry.  Today, Clyde wants to stop at the music store in Albrook Mall since he is here, and I really cannot wait to check this humungous mall out!  And we are also going to Ancon Hill (the highest point in the city) as well as driving along the Amador Causeway.  This should be a great warm, sunny, tropical day in the City sharing it with Clyde and Terry and learning even more about this country Ray and I will be calling home very soon.