The life of this hostel is done on the terrace
Panama City sits on a bay bounded by two small ledges. In the first rest the aluminum moles that mark the financial territory and that make it similar to other nouveaux riches such as Dubai or Singapore. A whole labyrinth of hotels, banks and casinos that is growing by leaps and bounds, at a speed that Panamanians are often unable to assimilate. On the contrary, in the Old Town life is more Caribbean, slower and more authentic . In this stronghold of authenticity, there are not only endless monuments and mansions that have made it a World Heritage Site. They also bubble ideas, visions and reinterpretations of buildings much more modern than the views in its neighbor across the street. Again the same dialectic. Again the same choice between the exuberant platinum blonde and the charismatic brunette. Obviously, the second wins.
In the Old Quarter the sun shines better, with a more intense color, but without burning. They may be to blame streets like San Felipe or Avenida A . Many of the addresses in this area and throughout the city have American names (the fifth, the eighth, etc.) as a seedy reminiscence of the almost 100 years in which the United States occupied the country to control its channel. These streets are all boast of color and large mansions that are interspersed with chipped facades but with soul. The new old Panama can be a bit hipster, yes, but for good.
The Historic Quarter, watchman of the skyscrapers
The day dawns in Canal House , the only category hotel that rises in the Historic District. Getting up there means having had the same pleasure as Daniel Craig when he demanded to stay there during the filming of Quantum of solace and also have the purchasing power to be able to 'rent' one of the only three rooms that this hotel has. The low cost alternative is the hostel ** Luna's Castle ** which, far from luxury, offers the great atmosphere of its balconies and a chic backpacker atmosphere (that is, full of sympathetic yankees).
Between the two poles will always be The Clementines , which offers the formula of comfort in a colonial building but with affordable prices and a Panamanian brunch to which the most foodie Panamanians make a pilgrimage. The best alternatives to this copious breakfast are the tropical option of the Red Baron or the most malasañera and indie: the super gourmet . One of those places where you can't spend more than five minutes without Joyce's Ulysses or the day's newspaper well displayed to make you look interesting as the canons dictate.
Las Clementinas, the colonial brunch
The walk inevitably leads to the most monumental highlights of the area. Independence Square becomes the nerve center of everything, with its pristine cathedral, its underrated Interoceanic Canal Museum (don't miss his exhibitions) and the craft market which is organized in 5 minutes on its slabs. As an aperitif for this walk there will always be the scraping , a soft drink made with ice and in which you can mix all kinds of syrup and sweet concoction that you can think of (and that has the peddler ) . In the surrounding streets, shops are discovered in which the myth of the Panama hat collapses, which actually comes from Ecuador but was popularized by the Americans under this name.
The sea always present
The search for the sea and the views over the financial area lead to the walk of the vaults . Before going up to discover the metallic and impressive skyline and the **Frank Gehry Museum of Biodiversity** on the other, it is worth hovering in the Plaza de Francia. In what were once the weapons rooms of the old defensive fortress, today they host a little art with the 'Juan Manuel Cedeño' Visual Arts Gallery and a little good atmosphere with the Las Bóvedas bar.
The bars that fill the area all have a very Chico and Rita halo, decadent but charming. The one that best captures the Caribbean essence is Old Havana , where you can even play the game at its dark wooden tables. The chic alternative is the divine wine bar where the good acceptance of Spanish wines here is confirmed.
Old Havana
Wines, architecture... of course, the legacy left by the first colonizing people is quite palpable and positive. But there is still more. Here you eat with the same passion and parsimony as in the Peninsula , but sublimating local products. It is true that one of the most fashionable places in the Panamanian capital is the Summer Red , a Spanish restaurant, but aside from this one, the rest are positive surprises. Like the spectacular lobster of the mustard bar, the refined atmosphere of Capital Bistro Panama or the croaker White House . Oh, and for dessert there are no alternatives: religious pilgrimage to granclement for an artisanal ice cream man.
Refined and essential
Spanish flavor
As much as the financial district is compared, undressed and removed, there is an irrefutable truth: its night view is spectacular . But better if it is done from the Tantalus terrace , without a doubt the most surprising hotel-restaurant-discotheque in the Old Town. Right from the start, it commands attention with its scratchy but organic decoration, in a histrionic challenge to minimalism. but above all conquer with your terrace , from where you can admire the old roofs of the neighboring blocks and the luminous silhouettes of the glass-enclosed masses of the financial district. You could spend a lifetime here. But if the thirst for terraceo and alternate rewards, we will always have other bars like mojitos without mojitos (seriously, really, don't order a mojito) or the golden frog, by far the best brewery in the area.
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The fashionable terrace of the capital