Panama Day 3

The three of us started off this day with a jog down to the hotel where we were to pick up the information and gear for the marathon. Oh yeah, the reason I went down to Panama was to participate in the Panama City Marathon. San José had one around the same weekend, but of course, it's more fun to run marathons in interesting places, like where the world's most important canal is (sorry Suez and Erie). It was a gorgeous jog along the promenade that looks to have been recently constructed, which runs from Casco Viejo to the other edge of the bay, which is just minutes from downtown. Running past the fish market first offers delightful seafood odors, but then degrades into a more rendering plant type odor, but fades away quickly. I think what we most noticed during this run (at maybe nine in the morning) was that it was hot. I mean hot. The sun's pretty strong when you're only 8 degrees above the equator-but more on that later. When we got to the hotel we were kindly informed that the packet pick up wasn't that day, but only the next. We had checked the website the previous afternoon, which still said it was both days, but hey, what the heck. We headed back. 

As we were already sweaty and in active wear, I suggested we climb Cerro Ancon (Ancon Hill) which is the highest point in Panama City. We headed that way, getting directions from a friendly old porch sitter that I think wanted to sit us down for a conversation, but we escaped. We had passed somewhat awkwardly through the entire Panamanian department of health and then some very nice houses, including the restored and relocated home of the original Panama Canal director/commissioner/executive. We were about to turn around when we saw a guard booth, and I decided to ask how to get to the trail. There was a bus of people that had been dropped off next to the guard tower, which should have clued me in, but I still asked, as I finished my question, I noticed in my peripheral vision a sign saying "trail for Cerro Ancon" and as the guard lazily pointed to the sign, I realized the stupidity of my question. On the other hand, we weren't lost, and apparently just took the long way up the hill. We enjoyed the rest of the climb, great conversation,  and occasional glimpses of the city and the bay. At the top we were privileged to great views of the city and the bay, and way more exciting for me: the Panama Canal. There were great views of the parking lots lots and more parking lots full of intermodal containers, the Bridge of the Americas (literally, it connects North and South America-legit), and the Western entrance/exit to the canal. 

We stopped for a little snack at a fonda (small, local restaurant) initially just to get something to drink, but they had great prices, and the food looked good so we enjoyed some de-lic-ious meatballs and patacones, along with more than a few fresh juices. I'm sure the lady's thought I was some kind of goofball, ordering three juices, but the climb up the hill had me thirsty. This restaurant also had some sweet posters on the wall ceilings, an eclectic mix of communist revolutionary heroes, baseball players, and 1960s musicians. If you ever thought that Fidel Castro, Ichiro Suzuki, and Jimi Hendrix don't belong on the same wall, you were wrong. 

After showers and some consulting with other people at the hostel, we headed out to see the Granddaddy of Them All: The Panama Canal. It was awesome. Amazing. The ships were so big. That may seem obvious, but, I'm serious, they were enormous. Very impressive. We went to the Miraflores locks, which is where all the tourists go-there is a museum, gift shop, and decks where you can watch the boats go through. Yes, there are actually bleachers where you can watch, just like a football game, boats crawl through the canal. We saw a fishing boat and a cargo ship go through the locks. I think it's one of those things that is just hard to describe. Screw the bleachers, I was leaning over the railing. Infrastructure, industry, and engineering are quite exciting for me (even with my neanderthal like understanding of physics), so I was pretty stoked the whole time. I was so excited I even took videos, of course, watching water rise against a boat for eight minutes isn't probably going to get lots of hits on youtube, but it was so impressive at the time I thought it might. All I can say is, I'd go again. For the fourth or fifth time in two days, we ran into Eric and Liz, who we had ridden down with and who were also running with us.  Additionally, the canal district is very interesting, as the neighborhoods (astonishingly!) look almost exactly like older neighborhoods in small American towns. 

I had dinner at Ciao Pescao, a pricey but delicious ceviche restaurant. Had the Mexican ceviche, super tender and tasty fish with jalapeños and other Mexican treats mixed in. Their beer list also included Paulaner Heffenweizen, one of my favorite beers, so I was very happy. Henley (another volunteer in for the race) and Jake (accompanying Henley-but not on the run) met up with us, and we then walked around the streets and ended up eating at an impromptu restaurant. By impromptu I mean that the lady brought the gas tank, grill, and cooler of food in the taxi and borrowed a table and chairs from a resident. Low on capital cost, but high on flavor, the fried fish was excellent. as was her ability to get some guy to ride his bike and come back with a box of beers. So, after the double dinner, I was in good shape. Not as good shape, though, as Katherine and Elena, who decided to splurge (in retrospect, I should've too) and ate at Manolo Caracol, a restaurant recommended by Angelo (a volunteer who did the marathon the year before and provided some great recommendations). I should've splurged too, because the restaurant serves 11 or 12 courses, the chef's choice. Katherine and Elena both like to cook/are into food and were both just gushing with praise after the meal.