Panama City is a very beautiful city. The first thing you see in Panama’s skyline is the contrast between the old (the Casco Viejo, old part of town, founded in 1673) and the new (Balboa avenue, banking area and Punta Paitilla). While the modern part of town is a fast moving city with skyscrapers everywhere, all kinds of restaurants and night clubs, a lot of small shops as well as big department stores and shopping malls, cellphones ringing allover, the Casco Viejo takes you way back in time with it’s narrow streets, cafes and it’s great architecture.

Nice things to do include a visit to the Amador Causeway that connects three small islands to the mainland. Grab a bite in one of the many restaurants it has to offer, ride a bicycle, rent a boat and go fishing on one of the worlds best spots for sport fishing, watch the cruises dock at the marina at the end or to just take a walk and enjoy the sea breeze.

At the periphery of the modern town you will find the ruins of Panamá la Vieja, the first town founded by Spaniards at the Pacific in 1519.

Just outside the city center in the former ‘Canal Zone’ you’ll find the Miraflores locks where the ships enter the famous Panama Canal. It has an visitor center well worth your visit and a restaurant with a million $ view.

Within view of the Miraflores locks you’ll find the City of Knowledge, formerly Ft. Clayton.   This cluster of academic institutions, NGO’s and tech companies includes a Spanish language school  (ILISA).

Apart from $1-and-under kind of shops, vendors lining the streets hawk clothing, accessories, plastic gizmos, and knickknacks. Shopkeepers like to blare music or announce their deals through megaphones to pull buyers in. It’s a slice of everyday Panama, but it’s also street theater and people-watching as fascinating as catching sight of Kuna Indian women lining up at McDonald’s. Don’t wander too far off Avenida Central, and keep an eye on your personal belongings. This area is patrolled by police and is generally safe during the day.

The restaurant is in a converted chalet-style home and is neither formal nor casual, rather somewhere in between. Try the rib-eye with mushrooms, filet with anchovy sauce, a traditional paella (a Catalan-style seafood risotto), grilled octopus, or fresh tuna steak in peppercorn. Can Masoliver has a well-chosen wine list, too, with mostly Spanish (along with a few Chilean and Californian) varieties.

The pasta here is fresh, homemade, and hearty, and you can build your own pasta dish by choosing from capellini, spaghetti, fettuccine, and so on, and pairing it with one of 15 sauces. I like the cannelloni with spinach, and the lasagna Bolognese, and there’s also a fresh fish of the day and meats. Some of the vegetable dishes, like pasta primavera, are cooked so long that they resemble ragout; if you’re looking for vegetables, stick with a fresh salad, of which there are many flavorful varieties such as fresh tomato with basil and mozzarella. At night, patrons can dine in the adjoining Wine Bar and order off Pomodoro’s menu.

Additionally, the food is light and fresh, and powerful air-conditioning provides a refreshing escape from the hot Panama City streets. The chef, a Lebanese immigrant, patrols the dining room for quality control, sometimes refilling the occasional guest’s hookah pipe, which is de rigueur in this establishment. A Lebanese Table, with a selection of dishes, for four guests is $58; a special combo large enough to feed two is just $10.