Forgot to mention that last
week while walking, we encountered something interesting. First we saw 2 policemen
on a motorcycle. (one to drive and the other to hold the big weapon) Then a car
of police came by, then at least 3 guys walking. They all seemed to be guarding
just the 1 guy. Then trailing behind them was another car of police and another
guy walking. All seemed to be packing heat. They seemed to communicate amongst
the walkers and the vehicles. He must have been someone really important. We
felt special the day the dog made us his mission to keep us safe during our
walk.
Cat, our realtor called
bright and early in the morning to invite us to a Canada Day party on the roof
tonight. Semi pot luck, she said bring something to grill and something to
share. We were to start moving in and were meeting the other realtor at 3:00 to
get the keys etc. She gave us an inventory sheet and said to take our time
making sure everything was there etc.
We just got back from the
party and there were quite a few people there. Lots of food and drink. We met a
few people from the building and a few that were on vacation. Met a nice lady
from South Dakota who was there visiting her niece. Met another couple from
Michigan who are staying for around 6 weeks to figure out what they want to do
next.
Met a few other people and
of course I don’t remember anyone’s names. Greg went down to our condo to
refill our drinks and he said he found a white bird on our balcony. It was
still there when we left the party and came down to grab our things and head
back to the villa as we aren’t ready to sleep there yet. So, Greg and the bird
went round and round for a bit until he finally got it to fly away.
The views are incredible
from the condo. Ocean, crashing waves on the beach, mountains and all the trees
and greenery are amazing! Also, some great sunrises and sunsets....
The kitchen is tiny, but
there is quite a bit of room in the laundry room for shelving so we will need
to get some of those. I’m less than thrilled with the cookware so we’ll need to
buy those. There are tons of glasses and things that we have no use for and I’m
hoping they can take all of the stuff we don’t want so we can use our limited
space for the stuff we buy.
We went to the Westland Mall
and got a bunch of stuff for the condo. The shelves in the laundry room really
help with storage. Since the people that own the condo don’t have room to store
the stuff we don’t want, most of it is in there. Some of the things I bought
are identical or better than what is here, so will toss those things and leave
them ours when we leave. (mop, broom, cutting board etc.)
Bought a TV to put in the
living room since the only one here is in the bedroom. Things are coming
together and we are hoping we can find some time to just relax and be retired
for a while! We ate lunch at the mall at Lenos y Carbon and it is always a huge
platter of food, so we brought home half of it for lunch the next day.
We walk on the beach every
morning. It’s great to watch the pelicans hunting for food. It was our first
weekend in the condo and there were a few more people here that came in from
the city. Other than some fireworks on the beach last night it wasn’t that
noisy. (also wasn’t a holiday or anything) We officially checked out of the villa
yesterday.
The FBI has rejected my
fingerprints for the second time. Each time we have had 2 or 3 sets taken from
different agencies so it’s more than 1 tech doing them. Since they also added a
letter stating that I have low ridge quality and these are the best prints they
can get, I thought that would work. So, tomorrow I will call the FBI to see what
we can do. Some people have said you can request a name search to do the
background check so, will see what’s up with that.
We tried Machetazo for lunch
since several people have said it is quite good (in the grocery & more store)
It was quite tasty and only about $8.00 for both of us. We also went back to
Chollos the Mexican food place we ate at a couple of weeks ago. We have eaten
at Leonardo’s Steakhouse a couple of times. They have a large menu including
pizza, lasagna, salads etc. They also serve a ton of food that we could easily
split. Greg got a lasagna that would have fed us both that included garlic
bread and a soda for under $5.00. I had a ribeye steak for $7.50 that included
2 steaks and sides of cabbage salad, plantains, yucca, arepas, French fries and
a tasty rice. (yes, it’s a carb fest here in Panama) There are more expensive
places to eat here as well, but it’s nice that there are so many decent low
cost choices as well. One of these days we will try some of the local “fondas”.
Fondas are family run and are on the side of the road and where many locals eat
for just a couple of $$ per person. Often they look like they are part of their
house or some makeshift building along the highway. Some are always quite busy,
so they must be tasty!
The 4th of July
was pretty low key here in Coronado. There were expat celebrations in the city
and other areas, but other than a few fireworks on the beach it was pretty
quiet. The local restaurant/bar Picassos had a band on the 6th to
celebrate the 4th, but we didn’t go. We were still busy settling in.
For those checking out our
photos of the world cruise, I finally have added ports through India. I’m
currently working on the UAE. (at least I’m finally to the last segment of the
cruise!)
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