December 25, 2024

PANAMA CITY SKYSCRAPERS - Day 2

My favorite port days are when I am in small group with friends sharing a common interest. Day 2 in Panama City was all that! I love architecture and always go out of my way to see the cool shapes up close and try to know the stories of how they came to be. I tried to use the Panama IA resource - but they needed more notice to set up a tour. So, I did a bunch of internet searches and came up with my own plan to investigate the skyscraper zone of Panama City. The HOHO bus didn't go there, you just saw the building in the distance.  Turns out Scott and the Little/ Olson Family shared my interest, and we came up with a whole game plan for day 2. First, I hired an Uber XL to take the 6 of us to the furthest Building of Interest, The original TRUMP Ocean Club - now a JW Marriott. We evaluated the uber comfort - great AC and decent leg room for all, the language skills of drive with Scott and Whitney's spanish language skills and the drivers overall knowledge of city. Turns out we got the PERFECT UBER driver, his uncle was an architect and he knew alot about the city and all it's landmarks. We asked him if we could hire him for rest of day at $15/hr/ car load - he was thrilled and so were we!

Traffic in the CIty was very slow moving, due to all the people in and shopping for Holidays. The stand stills were great for us because we got to see so much of the skyline. Here are some of the best we saw. F&F Tower an office building called El Tornillo - tornado is the most unique!   
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In sharp contrast we left down town wealthy Ex pat neighborhoods and went to old town - El Barro - original old city, still occupied by some of the lowest income levels of people in town. They have a heavy police presence in this area to keep things calm.

Whitney had read about the making of Molas fabric by indigenous women and found us a free museum to visit in old town, afterwards we went to French Market place where they sold Molas products, I got a lovely unique bag from sweet lady, Kids got shaved ice and Whitney got some original fabrics to use as runners in her villa. We walk through more of old town and got a fun group photo.

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Next, we were off to our last Architectural stop, the Frank Gehry Bio Museo, his only project in Latin America. Have to say we were all disappointed in it's poor construction and had little interest up close. Then onto our final stop, the Duty Free Liquor store then back to ship. In total, we were with driver 5 hours after initial uber ride, had a lot of laughs and really enjoyed the day!

The Oreo Gang and Our great Uber driver guide!

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.

ROTORUA CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.