July 8- Another Panama City trip

I seem to have gotten behind on this blog (for good reason, I promise- cool pictures coming in the next few days!), but we had another great trip into Panama City last week.  The REU students took the early boat in so that we could get supplies from the impressively-huge Albrook Mall.  We had meetings and the weekly seminar in the afternoon, and then spent the evening in Casco Viejo.  Early mornings are generally not my thing, but the sunrise made it worth it this time.

We ended up having dinner at a place called Tantalo- a great restaurant with an incredible rooftop bar.  We had an amazing view of Panama City- the historic buildings of Casco Viejo in one direction, and skyscrapers in the other.  Tantalo also has some of the best mojitos in Panama City.

Getting home was a bit more of an adventure than usual- a train had broken down where the road crosses the tracks near the dock, so we had to get out of the van and climb through the train.  Definitely an adventure!  It was a clear night, so the boat ride back was fantastic- we lay out on the deck and looked at the stars and the canal's buoys going by.  A really wonderful day.