My Paradise in Panama City, by Fernando Wong

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I was born in Panama City and lived here until I left for the US when I was 26 years old. I had a wonderful childhood. My parents were runners, but I fell in love with swimming because I imagined it wouldn’t be hard enough to work a sweat running. I learned to swim at Patcina Patria – now the Eileen Pool Coparropa Swimming – and studied architecture at Universidad de Panamá. Then, in 2001, I visited friends in Florida and Georgia. It was never a goal to leave Panama, but I found work as a landscape designer and stayed; My partner Johnson and I set up Fernando Wong Outdoor Design Living in Florida four years later. Due to the visa system they were 12 years before I visited Panama City again; Now we visit for a week every month. I still love it.

We own apartments in Casco Viejo, a city area dating from the 1600s and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is where I walked and drawn for my architecture classes. Casco Viejo is like a village where everyone knows each other, which we do not have in Miami Beach or Palm Beach where we live. I like to walk early to hear the sounds of people who set the store and hear the birds.

Panama has the best coffee in the world and Casco Viejo is known for her cafes. I go to the Super Gourmet, where the owners are our friends, or at the American Trade Hotel. They are both excellent in Empanada. Whenever we run actions, we walk through the beautiful squares of the city. Plaza de la Catedral has many different architectural styles, including French and Spanish colonial, and an 18th-century cathedral, Metropolitana La Catedral. Plaza Herrera has many Royal Poinciana trees, and I like to see people sitting there; Sometimes there are nuns around. I choose a bench that has the largest shade but brings a letter to sit because of birds.

I like to walk early to hear birds

My extraction here has influenced my work: my gardens are full of lush, exotic planting – palm, Banyan and Capok trees – while respecting the classic rules of architecture. I have vivid memories of my parents taking me to the natural metropolitano parquet, nearly 600 hectares of tropical forests in the city. Weekenddo weekend, they would force me and my two sisters to run in the park with them. Now I get people there because it is the only city -based natural park in Latin America. Is the house of the rose tree tree, which mostly blooms at the beginning of the year with stunning pink flowers on bare branches. While I want zero to run when I am there, it is an extremely beautiful place to relax and see most native birds-goodys and yellow-green tyrannules, a popular Panama bird calling it at home.

The best time to visit Panama City is the dry season between December and April, especially February. The average daytime temperature reaches 31 ° C but is very fiery because you are close to the Pacific Ocean. From our apartment in Santa Familia we can see the islands of Panama including Taboga, where I went as a child. A ferry lasts about 45 minutes. There is a beautiful hotel there, Villa Caprichosa, where we like to lunch and enjoy the slow pace of life.

Casco Viejo has more than a hundred restaurants. Kaandela is my first solution because it is small and intimate; It is in a yard and is very romantic. My favorite dish is Belly Belly Lollipops, which are cooked in a secret sauce that brings the aroma of meat. Aphrodisíaco is another favorite. We are friends with the owner, who is from Rome, so it is authentic Italian food. Nice nicely because, although you can hear people on the street, you can still hear the person you are having dinner. We also enjoy going to the club at the American Trade Hotel, which has singers and bands from all over the world. When we have guests, we always take them to the Museo de la mola – a museum dedicated to the Guna, the indigenous people of Panama – and the Panama Canal Museum. Channel ownership has recently been questioned by President Trump. Meeting the president and I have tried first in the way he speaks, I am sure this is just the initial phase of a long negotiation that will result in something that works well for both countries.

Panama is mostly Catholic and holds religious holidays throughout the year. They make extraordinary Easter and Christmas parades, where they carry statues from churches across all beaches and streets, singing and holding candles. I like to hear the bells that sound. Come to Panama City. The airport is very closed, it is safe and reasonably priced to go out. It is a beautifully diverse place.